100 Days In: What I Learned and What We Now Understand About the Levy and Carryover

100 Days as Russell Township Trustee

April 9, 2026

100 days ago, on January 1, 2026, I became a Russell Township Trustee.

From day one I set out to do a few things clearly and deliberately.

Understand our finances.

Improve transparency for residents.

Support our departments with responsible, informed decision-making.

As of April 9 I have reached that 100-day mark. And today I want to share something important.

We now have a clear understanding of how we moved from we may need a levy, to recognizing significant carryover, to exercising financial restraint at the end of March. That question has been asked repeatedly by residents. It deserved a real answer.

WHAT I SET OUT TO UNDERSTAND

From the beginning I focused on one core issue.

Do we fully understand our financial position, not just where it ends up, but how it evolves over time?

Through reviewing public documents, asking questions on the record, and working through our financial reporting structure, a clearer picture has emerged.

To be equally clear.

I did not find evidence of fraud.

I did not find evidence of intentional wrongdoing.

What I found were timing, visibility, and process gaps that made the financial picture difficult to follow in real time.

A QUESTION FROM THE FIELD

On the afternoon of March 30, before that evening's special meeting, concerns were raised by department leadership about the disconnect between the narrative of financial need that had been communicated to them and the actual fund balances reflected in UAN reports.

The question being asked was simple.

Are we broke, or are we solvent?

That is the same question residents have been asking.

Last month a neighbor stopped me during an evening walk with my dog and asked me something that has stayed with me. They said they voted for the police levy because they were told the township needed it.

Now they are reading about millions in carryover. They wanted to know how both things could be true at the same time. So do a lot of residents. This post is my attempt to answer that honestly.

A TIMELINE: FROM CARRYOVER TO CONSTRAINT

To understand how quickly the financial picture shifted it helps to look at the sequence.

• January 1, 2026: Township begins the year with approximately $6.89 million in carryover, which is needed to carry the township through its receipt of the first property tax collection in early March.

• February 18, 2026: Certificate of Estimated Resources issued.

• Early March: First tax collection received.

• March 19: Board discussed capital and operational priorities at a public meeting.

• March 20 through 25: Approximately $1.45 million moved into investment accounts.

• March 26: Draft appropriations reflect Board direction.

• March 30: Capital items removed due to Certificate of Estimated Resources constraints.

• April 2: Fund movement confirmed in public session.

Note on fund balance figures. The $6.89 million figure above reflects primary operating fund balances as of January 1, 2026. Total township fund balances including capital reserve funds were approximately $7.54 million as reflected in the publicly posted EOY 2025 Cash

• Reconciliation available at russelltownship.us.

Nothing about that timeline reflects money disappearing.

It reflects how timing, certification, and presentation intersect.

WHAT THE NUMBERS ACTUALLY SHOW

At the March 30, 2026, meeting I did not have access to a full set of Township fund balance reports as reflected in the UAN system. I subsequently requested these reports from the

Fiscal Office and reviewed them on March 31 to better understand the Township's financial position.

Here are the primary operating funds as of that review.

General Fund: $1,712,620.12

Road and Bridge Fund: $1,824,980.09

Police Fund: $2,440,595.93

Fire District Fund: $1,071,410.54

Fire and EMS Fund: $227,355.56

Total: $7,276,962.24

These funds support the day-to-day operations of Russell Township and are part of a broader township cash position.

Just as importantly, when reviewing transaction-level reports, the underlying activity tells a consistent story.

Revenues were received as expected, including tax settlements and investment income.

Expenditures followed normal operational patterns.

Fund balances remained strong throughout the first quarter.

When you look at both summary reports and transaction-level data the conclusion becomes much clearer.

The system was functioning. The challenge was understanding it in real time.

A KEY QUESTION ABOUT VISIBILITY

In reviewing how these balances are presented an important question emerges.

What determines whether Township funds are considered active and available for appropriation?

Through conversations with township officials across Ohio and experienced local leaders a consistent understanding emerged.

If a fund has a balance it is generally considered active and available for appropriation.

Many townships operate with that assumption. If money exists in a fund it is visible, acknowledged, and part of the budgeting discussion.

What was discussed during our April 2 Board meeting did not fully align with that approach.

WHY THAT MATTERS

If funds with balances are treated as active, they should be reflected in the Certificate of Estimated Resources, visible in budget documents, and part of appropriation discussions.

If they are not the issue is not missing money.

It is reduced visibility into available resources at the time decisions are made.

And that distinction matters.

Because decisions about equipment purchases, department operations, infrastructure

investments, and potential levies depend not just on how much money exists but on how clearly it is presented.

MARCH 30: WHY THE CONVERSATION SHIFTED

On March 19 the Board discussed and expressed informal support for a number of capital and operational priorities based on the information available at that time, including requests brought forward by the Road Superintendent, Police Chief, and Fire Chief.

These discussions included items from the Road Department such as paving projects and equipment needs, as well as public safety-related items for the Fire and Police Departments including vehicles and equipment intended to support operations and reliability.

By March 30 several of these same items were no longer included in the permanent appropriations resolution. In a March 30 communication to the Board, the Fiscal Officer recommended removing certain capital and operational items, citing constraints related to the February 18 Certificate of Estimated Resources and project readiness.

At the same time Township financial reports reflected significant overall cash balances across funds including the Township's primary operating funds.

That is the tension.

Not a disappearance of funds, but a difference between what exists and what is fully visible within the budgeting structure at a given moment.

WHAT I NOW UNDERSTAND

We did not move from needing a levy, to not needing one, to being flush with cash, to financial restraint because the money disappeared.

We moved through those phases because assumptions presented during the 2026 Budget Workshops differed from what was later reflected in actual financial reports. At the time of those discussions the Board did not have a complete set of UAN financial reports or a full understanding of which reports to review, which limited visibility into the Township's overall financial position.

Funds were repositioned. Decisions were made within certification constraints. Visibility into those funds was not always aligned with timing.

Based on observations during recent Board discussions, concepts including active versus inactive fund classifications and intrafund transfers did not appear to have been clearly articulated or consistently understood at the Board level.

PROCESS OVER PERSONALITIES

If there is one lesson from these first 100 days, it is this.

Process matters more than personalities.

Strong processes ensure shared data, aligned timing, and transparent decision-making.

That is how trust is built.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Supplemental appropriations will revisit priorities as discussed on March 30 and April 2 in public meetings.

The 2027 budget will be built with improved structure.

Departments will be more directly engaged in financial discussions.

Transparency efforts will continue.

FINAL THOUGHT

100 days in one thing is clear.

Understanding how our finances move over time is just as important as knowing where they land.

That understanding is now clearer.

And I intend to keep building on it with transparency, consistency, and a commitment to getting it right one motion or resolution at a time if need be.

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References and Source Materials

The following public records and financial reports were reviewed in preparing this analysis. All documents are either publicly available, presented during Township meetings, or derived from the Uniform Accounting Network (UAN) system used by Ohio townships.

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Uniform Accounting Network (UAN) Reports

• Cash Summary by Fund (2025 and 2026)

• Fund Status Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Revenue Status Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Appropriation Status Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Fund Activity Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Bank Reconciliation Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Investment Journal Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Interfund Transfer Listing Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Purchase Order Charges Reports (2025 and 2026)

• Transaction Log Reports (2025 and 2026)

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Township Meeting Materials and Communications

• Russell Township Board of Trustees Meeting – March 19, 2026 (budget workshop and discussion)

• Russell Township Board of Trustees Special Meeting – March 30, 2026 (permanent appropriations)

• Russell Township Board of Trustees Meeting – April 2, 2026 (public discussion of fund classifications and financial reporting)

• Fiscal Officer Email to Trustees – March 26, 2026 (Permanent Appropriations documentation and recommendations)

• Fiscal Officer Communication – March 30, 2026 (recommendations and certification constraints related to appropriations)

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Budget and Appropriations Documents

• 2026 Permanent Appropriations Resolution (Resolution 2026-10)

• 2026 Budget Documents as adopted by the Board of Trustees

• Certificate of Estimated Resources (dated February 18, 2026)

• UAN Line Item Appropriation Detail Reports

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Financial Summary and Analysis Materials

• Township Financial Snapshot Summaries (derived from UAN reports)

• Meeting One-Sheeters prepared for Board review

• Fund-level and cash reconciliation summaries

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Key Financial Concepts Referenced

• Certificate of Estimated Resources (CER)

• Encumbered vs. Unencumbered Funds

• Active vs. Inactive (Investment) Fund Classifications

• Fund-Level vs. Line-Item Budgeting

• Supplemental Appropriations (ORC 5705.40)

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Note to Readers

This analysis is based on a review of the public record and financial reports available at the time of writing. The goal is to present a clear and accurate timeline of events to help residents understand how the Township’s financial position was represented and how it evolved over time.

All conclusions set forth herein are solely those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views, positions, or determinations of the Russell Township Board of Trustees. These conclusions are derived from and grounded in the publicly available record and are presented for the purpose of promoting clarity, transparency, and informed public discussion.

The views expressed here are mine only and are intended to keep residents informed about township issues. Decisions of the Russell Township Board of Trustees are made only during public meetings.