Cleveland, OH – Agreement was reached early in the scheduled timeframe after a collaborative process between the County Executive and the County Council.

The 2.9 billion dollar biennial budget, which overcomes a 68 million dollar annual deficit does so without adding any more debt, without raising taxes, incurring layoffs and without reduction in critical services for the neediest in the County.

At the same time the Executive and the Council agreed to fund transformative initiatives in order to position the County and its residents for the future.

“I am thrilled we were able to get to an agreement in record time with a budget that is balanced and that promotes our transformational priorities for the future,” said County Executive Armond Budish. “I truly appreciate the great leadership and collaboration from Council on what was an arduous process but one that ultimately led to this successful outcome.”

“I wish to thank my colleagues for their diligence and commitment to what is right in ensuring a balanced, responsive and fiscally responsible budget”, said Council Finance and Budgeting Committee Chair, David Greenspan. “This budget fulfills the vision of providing an effective and efficient use of resources to deliver the highest quality of services to the residents of the county, while remaining within the fiscally prudent parameters established by the County Executive. I would like to thank the County Executive and his staff for working diligently with Council to address the challenges contained in this very complicated budget.”

The initiatives which Armond Budish and his administration put forth in this budget follow his strategic imperatives: Job Growth and Development, Fairness and Equity and Government That Gets Results.

Key funded initiatives include:

• 10 million dollar investment to launch The Cuyahoga Early Childhood trust, a public-private partnership that will fund a County-wide extension of high quality pre-kindergarten to the neediest children in our community.
• A 1.5 million dollar investment aimed at catalyzing a coordinated public/private approach, working with the City as well as area hospitals to give all babies born in Cuyahoga County the opportunity to live to their first birthday,
• Cuyahoga Jobs Creation Fund that leverages ½ of the Casino Revenue funds and other county dollars to create a long-term fund for economic development projects. The fund is not built on borrowing but is built on creating a sustainable funding source to position the County for job growth.
• Workforce Transformation plan that will coordinate currently disconnected systems already in place and that focuses on lifting residents from poverty into a sustainable family wage with benefits so that they are no longer dependent on public benefits. This transformation is aimed at supplying much-needed talent for our businesses and setting our residents up for strong wage and career pathways.
• An Innovation and performance team focused on enterprise-wide efficiencies and performance metrics.
• Continued support for the mental health and drug addiction services provided by the ADAMHS Board
• Continued support of the Demolition fund over three years. 

All of these initiatives promote coordinated systems approaches that enhance what is currently working and help take those solutions to scale. They leverage public-partnerships where the County is acting as a convener and a collaborator. They are focused on helping County residents get ahead instead of picking them up when they fall behind.

“I am very proud that Council’s continued unanimous support for critical health and human services funding is reflected as a priority in this budget”, said Council President Dan Brady. “I feel confident that the 2016/2017 budget keeps our promise to the voters Cuyahoga County, who have generously supported the County’s mission. I am pleased we have been able to establish a close working relationship with the executive, which enabled us to reach consensus on the budget. This achievement sets an encouraging precedent as we move forward to meet the challenges facing our County”.