TRUMBULL COUNTY, OH - The Trumbull County MetroParks Board is asking commissioners for funds needed to stay open for the second half of the year.

The board said if they don't get another $65,000 by the end of this month, they would be forced to close the parks.

“They asked us for 130 [thousand] initially. We gave them half to get through the first half of the year, and now they're asking for the full other half which is a zero cutback from what the request is,” said Denny Malloy, Trumbull County commissioner.

The park board said this year's request is already a reduction from last year. 

Randy Fabrizio with the Trumbull County MetroParks board said the park had a budget of $137,000 last year, which is $7,000 less than what was requested for 2025.

“We've been working without a secretary for almost a year and our executive director, he has voluntarily moved down to working four days a week rather than five,” said Fabrizio.

Malloy is hoping these cutbacks will allow the parks to operate with even less. 

“I hope that they could adjust their request just slightly, to maintain that until the end of the year. I think that they will provide good quality service to the public at the same time, working in the budget as we need them to,” said Malloy.

Even so, the county commissioners all agree that funding the MetroParks are important.

“Our residents, as taxpayers, enjoy those parks. They enjoy those trails, and those need to be funded properly so that we could move forward and offer that to our residents,” said Rick Hernandez, Trumbull County Commissioner president.

This request is at a time where tensions are high over the dam removal at the Trumbull County Metroparks. Multiple Warren Township residents showed up to the commissioners workshop meeting, expressing their concerns with the board’s request.

A decision on funding will be made at Wednesday's commissioner meeting.

Fabrizio said the request will help with operations through the end of the year. At the end of 2025, the board plans to ask commissioners for funds that will help with 2026 operations.