The Eastern Delaware County Joint Recreation District set a virtual meeting for Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. to consider a budget amendment for the remainder of 2025 and to begin preparation of the 2026 budget. Board members and staff said the meeting will include appropriation adjustments needed to fund the Pizzuti Solutions professional services agreement and the Ohio Plan insurance premium.

Why it matters: the district has no operating levy and relies on member-jurisdiction contributions; securing appropriations and cash transfers from Sunbury, Galena and Berkshire Township is required before staff can execute the Pizzuti contract and bind insurance coverage. Staff reported the city of Sunbury has already approved an appropriation to cover the district’s share for the remainder of the calendar year.

Discussion and next steps: staff explained options for handling partial-year appropriations and the need to request formal budget adjustments in each political subdivision. The board asked staff to coordinate with the administrators and elected officials of member jurisdictions to present the requested appropriations and to follow the cooperative-agreement population shares calculated by the Delaware County Regional Planning Commission.

The board also discussed planning for potential ballot activity in 2026 and noted that timing for a November ballot would be tight; staff and consultants recommended more public engagement and potentially additional consultant work if the board proceeds to a ballot measure. Board members agreed staff should reach out to member jurisdictions’ administrators and mayors so those bodies will have the appropriation requests in their budget cycles.

The next steps are: 1) staff will prepare a proposed budget amendment for the Sept. 15 virtual meeting; 2) staff will request written funding commitments from member jurisdictions to enable contract execution; 3) staff and board will begin a 2026 budget discussion informed by the needs-assessment deliverables once available.