Staff photo / Dan Pompili New Austintown police Chief Valorie Delmont takes the oath of office from township Fiscal Officer Laurie Wolfe at Monday’s regular trustees meeting, with Trustees Chair Bruce Shepas watching from his seat. Delmont takes over for Robert Gavalier who retired at the end of February after a 44-year career, 20 of which he spent as chief.

AUSTINTOWN — The township’s new police chief is officially on the job.

Valorie Delmont was sworn in Monday evening at the regular meeting and department heads, and then took the chair occupied for 20 years by her predecessor, Robert Gavalier, who retired at the end of February.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve not only our police department but also our Austintown community,” Delmont said. “I promise to always do my best and try my hardest and I will not disappoint. I’d like to thank my family for their support, for all they have sacrificed and done for me to have this opportunity. I appreciate it and I promise I will not let you down.”

Delmont’s first official meeting as chief got off to a great start when her department and the fire department received gifts from the Austintown Eagles Club.

The local fraternal organization presented checks of $5,000 each to the departments.

“We know there’s going to be budget cuts, so we just thought we could do a little something to help you out just like you help our community,” said Eagles President Bob Marshall.

Money coming into the department is not exactly something the township has been used to lately.

During her portion of the meeting, Fiscal Officer Laurie Wolfe noted that the police department began 2024 with $222,000 in cash and ended the year with just $422, having received $688,000 in transfers from the township’s general fund. The department’s total expenditures for the year were $7,026,000.

“If the police fund continues to spend according to this schedule, the general fund will be under $1 million by the end of 2025 and possibly at zero by 2026,” Wolf said. “We will be working to reduce expenditures so that the township can continue to run and provide the services residents depend on.”

Wolfe said $787,000 in ARP funds received in 2023 and 2024 were spent on police, fire and dispatch services, but those funds have been exhausted.

In November, Austintown voters rejected a 2.4-mill levy that would have raised another $2.26 million for the department. Trustees have said that levy may reappear in the next year or so, depending on the township’s success in saving money through cost reduction and increasing revenues through renegotiation of dispatching contracts. Austintown also hopes to see a recreational marijuana dispensary open up, which would generate additional tax revenue for the budget.

Trustee Rob Santos, who also serves as president of the Mahoning County Townships Association, said he and other local officials are working to prevent the state from removing a 36% local community share of the 10% tax levied on marijuana dispensaries. He said that revenue was the lion’s share of the township’s reasoning for approving a dispensary in Austintown.

Trustee Bruce Shepas told Delmont he knows she is taking over at a tumultuous time and that the belt will be tight for her department and the township as a whole.

“We’ll make those decisions together, and we will work together to provide the same high level of services that we as a township have always provided for as long as I can remember,” he said. Shepas said he also was pleased by the turnout for Delmont’s swearing in, which filled the meeting hall with police officers — current and retired — and Delmont’s family and friends.

“I was so happy to see so many of our officers and our retirees here to support you,” he said. “It’s understandable that so many of the young guys would want to be here, but to see those retirees, that really says a lot.”