LFC Comments by Brian Massie – average citizen
We are concerned about the overall growth of the public sector in Lake County. Unless we do something to slow it down, the aging population in Lake County will feel a severe impact in their personal budget. We are very concerned about the private sector’s ability to pay for the public sector.
Did you know that there are over 2,000 Lake County employees, making it one of the largest employers in the County.
Here is a schedule of the revenue realized by the various political sub-divisions in the County. There are 18 separate levies that will generate ~$91,500,000 for the County general fund and the 8 separate political sub-divisions.
Here is a condensed summary of the revenue received by each County sub-division. The “General’ refers to the Lake County General Fund.
Stay tuned for an article that we will write about Lakeland Community College, and their settlement of a wrongful employee termination lawsuit. They have a renewal levy on the November 2nd ballot. The court of public opinion will need to decide if they have been good stewards of the taxpayers’ money.
Another concern that we have is that the political sub-divisions each have their own “rainy day” funds that allow them “flexibility” so that they do not have to keep coming back to the taxpayers asking for additional tax levies. This also eliminates the need to be accountable to the taxpayers. For example, the Mental Retardation levies (Deepwood) have generated $65 million in excess rainy day funds. Draining the taxpayers with excess property taxes will suck the lifeblood out of the community and stifle economic development.
Remember, these schedules are only County entities and do not include the local school board or the local municipality.
Since we live in Concord, we have provided the following schedules for the residents of Concord. It provides the details on all Concord levies.
Here is a schedule that will give Concord residents (those in the taxing district #8) a better idea of their overall property tax burden. Remember, each mill equals $35.00 per $100,000 of home valuation. Each homeowner in district 8 has 25 separate property tax levies, for the county, township and school.
Concord residents need to be aware that in all likelihood there will be ~5.0 mill levy on the ballot next May. They are contemplating spending ~$130 million on a new high school.
All Lake County residents need to be aware that the County is still very serious about spending at least $100 million on a new jail. The Commissioners have discussed tapping into the 1.1 mills available on the inside millage.
With the assistance of the very capable employees at the Lake County Auditor’s office, we will be writing an article that, hopefully, will shed some light on how the triennial revaluation is determine. We can tell you that the State of Ohio is the driving force behind the increase in valuation, and the County Auditor’s role is to follow the guidelines established by the State. There will be an overall 16% increase in Lake County’s home property values for the current triennial revaluation.
A big thank you to Auditor Chris Galloway and his staff for their help with our project to better understand the triennial revaluation. Mr. Galloway has gone out of his way to provide any documentation and statistics.
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A sidebar – …We just received a call from our friends Holmes and Watson…they invited us over for a cool beverage and to meet their new friend Morris….wonder what that is all about??? Sounds very interesting…
Categories: Lake, Ohio Counties