AUSTINTOWN TWP., Ohio - Austintown Township trustees voted unanimously Monday to approve a $500,000 transfer from the township's general fund to the police department. 

Township leaders said this is happening to prevent deeper staffing cuts, at least for now.

"The police department is definitely in financial trouble," said Austintown Police Chief Valorie Delmont, "We're trying to maintain services and do that without making any cuts to any of the services that we normally provide."

The department has already reassigned a detective back to patrol and plans to pull another officer from the task force later this year just to meet minimum coverage.

With the township's savings running low, Township Administrator Mark D'Apolito said the money being used now was built up during the COVID-19 era when federal relief funding allowed the general fund to remain more stable.

"It was money that the township put away in those previous years because it wasn't facing the strain that it's facing today post-COVID," D'Apolito said.

He added that the current situation is beginning to strain other areas of government as well.

"It's been quite suffocating," he said, "There are roofs that we can't address on schedule, and HVAC systems not being addressed on schedule."

The township expects the police department will require more financial help by the end of the year.

D'Apolito and Delmont said the previously failed police levy going back on the ballot in November is critical to avoiding further cuts.

"The levy is going to be necessary to keep the police department functioning," Delmont said, "If we drop minimum staffing, the entire township will suffer. It will be less safe for the officers that are out there."