Cortland council approves minutes, bills and three March tax-advance resolutions

The Cortland City Council on March 3 approved minutes from its Feb. 19 meeting, authorized $78,085.87 in bills for payment and adopted three resolutions asking the Trumbull County Auditor to advance March real-estate-tax settlements to city accounts.

The council approved Resolution R-14-25, requesting the auditor advance $100,000 for the city’s general fund; Resolution R-15-25, requesting $200,000 for the Police Levy Fund; and Resolution R-16-25, requesting $200,000 for the Fire Levy Fund. Each resolution was submitted by the finance director and received a motion and a second before a roll-call vote in which members present voted “yes.”

Why it matters: the measures formally request early disbursement of real-estate-tax proceeds collected in March to be applied to the named municipal funds. The resolutions themselves ask the county auditor to make the advances; they do not by themselves change tax rates or levy language.

Details of formal actions

- Approval of minutes (Feb. 19, 2025): Motion and second recorded; roll call approved the minutes.

- Approval of bills to be paid: $78,085.87 approved on motion and second; roll call approved.

- Resolution R-14-25: “A resolution requesting the Auditor of Trumbull County, State of Ohio, to advance the amount of $100,000 collected through Real Estate Tax March settlement for use in the general fund of the City of Cortland, Ohio.” Submitted by the finance director; motion and second recorded; roll call vote recorded as yes by members present; outcome: approved.

- Resolution R-15-25: “A resolution requesting the Auditor of Trumbull County, State of Ohio to advance the amount of $200,000 collected through real estate tax March [settlement] for use of the Police Levy Fund of the City of Cortland, Ohio.” Submitted by the finance director; motion and second recorded; roll call vote recorded as yes by members present; outcome: approved.

- Resolution R-16-25: “A resolution requesting the Auditor of Trumbull County, State Of Ohio to advance the amount of $200,000 collected through real estate tax March settlement for use in the fire levy fund in the City of Cortland, Ohio.” Submitted by the finance director; motion and second recorded; roll call vote recorded as yes by members present; outcome: approved.

Council members did not expand on the purpose of each advance during the roll-call votes; the resolutions as read request the county auditor to make the advances to the named funds. No “no” or abstention votes were recorded during the roll calls presented in the transcript.

Other brief reports

Finance director Patty reported the auditors are issuing refunds for current agricultural-use-value tax that will be deducted from the city’s first settlement; the city’s share to be deducted is $736. Patty also referenced the Morco union contract (no details provided). The council received the finance report and asked no follow-up questions in the meeting record.

Ending

The council moved from new business into departmental reports and later voted to go into an executive session on personnel matters; no final actions from that executive session appear in the public portion of the transcript.