WARREN — Trumbull County Board of Elections Chairman Mark Alberini on Tuesday vigorously defended increases provided to the board’s director and deputy director that Commissioner Denny Malloy has been arguing may be too large during a time when the county is working to slash its spending.

Commissioners over the last several weeks have been going over general fund budget requests being made to the county for 2025.

Malloy said the wages of Trumbull County Board of Elections Director Stephanie Penrose and Deputy Director Edrea Mientkiewicz’s salary increased from $71,790 per year to about $96,000 per year. He said each appears to have received wage increases of $23,000.

Malloy suggested the next highest-paid workers in the department are being paid approximately $47,900 per year for doing much of the same work.

“It has been misconstrued that we’ve given our directors $18,000 a year raises,” Alberini said. “We absolutely did not do that. What we did was restructure their compensation. They were hourly, plus received overtime and comp time.”

The board restructured both employees’ compensation so they would receive a higher hourly wage, eliminated overtime and limited the amount of comp time they could earn, he noted.

“We are doing what we believe is responsible for eliminating peaks and valleys,” Alberini said. The board of elections budgets for two elections per year.

“Rest assured they will not be making significantly more money than they made last year,” he said. “Some years they will be making less. Some years, they will make a little more. Whatever it is, it will be negligible.”

Alberini said the board of elections has, over the past several years, been “spot on” in projecting its annual budgets.

“We know what we need in funding the operations of an election,” Alberini said.

Last year, the board of elections received a general fund budget of $2.1 million. This year, the election board is requesting $1.5 million, which is considerably less than in 2024, because it is not a presidential election year.

“If you give us 28% less than last year’s budget, we are going to come back to you and you’re going to pay it anyway,” Alberini said. “You’re obligated by law to pay for the board of elections and to fund elections.”

Alberini argues its overtime hours are mandated by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.

“It is out of our control,” he said.

He noted that other employees in the department already have had wage adjustments in previous years.

“We are one of the most fiscally sound departments in Trumbull County,” he said. “This is not a raise.”

Malloy noted department heads in Trumbull County are not supposed to receive overtime hours, so increasing the amount they are paid to make up for overtime hours they were not supposed to receive is not a valid reason for an increase.

“You want Trumbull County to make up for a mistake that you’ve made over the years,” Malloy said.

Malloy said Portage County’s Board of Elections operates with a $1.5 million budget.

“They are doing the same thing that you’re doing,” he added.

In 2024, during a presidential election year, the board of elections spent $2.4 million to operate. It is proposing to decrease its spending to about $2.1 million in 2025.

However, in recent weeks, the commissioners discussed providing the board of elections $1.7 million for its 2025 budget.

Alberini said its department heads have been eligible for overtime for the entire 12 years he has been on the board and the 20 years that Penrose has been with the board of elections. He said his board would be willing to work with the county to make sure it is fiscally compliant with county and federal rules.

Malloy emphasized that commissioners must balance its general fund budget, so they don’t have to provide the elections board the budget it wants.

Commissioners will meet with department heads Thursday to provide them with what the commissioners believe their budgets should be for 2025.

Commissioners last week trimmed a proposed $81 million-plus budget provided by the department heads to the projected $66.5 million budget. The departments will have to trim their budgets to the commissioners’ recommendations.

The county must finish its budget by the end of March.

Commissioner Tony Bernard said the board of elections could have reduced the amount of the pay raises to $80,000, instead of $96.000.