By Brian Massie and Leonard Gilbert
The Massie / Gilbert team continue to work on the behalf of Lake County citizens. Our efforts to better understand how the various taxing authorities and County government work together to provide needed services for the citizens have led us to the conclusion that there are no “checks and balances” in the system. We see an ever expanding public sector that, in our opinion, is outgrowing the private sector’s ability to pay for the services.
When we say “checks and balances”, we are referring to the complex property tax system that is barely understood by 5% of the population, and the undeniable fact that millions of dollars are being “sucked out of the private sector”, and retained by the various taxing authorities in their “rainy day” funds.
The citizens may be their own worst enemy by continuing to vote for property taxes without understanding the personal financial impact of a tax levy, or whether the tax levy is truly needed. However, there is no mechanism in the system to ensure that the taxing authorities are being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. NONE!
There are no gatekeepers to protect the financial interests of the taxpayers, and a complex system of taxation that puts a citizen’s home at risk. This, ultimately, will impact the citizen’s ability to stay in their home.
ANY TAX THAT CAN LEAVE A CITIZEN HOMELESS IS IMMORAL!
We traveled to Columbus to meet State Representative Brian Stewart, representing District 12 (Columbus area), to voice our concerns on behalf of Lake County citizens. We tried to meet with our own legislators, Daniel Troy, Jamie Callender, and Jerry Cirino, but to no avail.
We sent the following letter to Mr. Stewart.
Re: County Budget Commission Review
Dear Representative Stewart:
Thank you for meeting with Mr. Leonard Gilbert and I in your office and listening to our concerns about the ever-increasing property taxes and the role of the County Budget Commission. We will be sure to keep you informed as we continue to meet with citizens throughout the State of Ohio.
We have decided to distribute a survey throughout the State of Ohio to try to receive input from the citizens about the property taxes. If you have a question that you would like to add to our survey, please let us know.
We have been following, with great interest, the Lake County Budget Commission for more than a year and have concluded that they serve no purpose. We thought that the role of the Budget Commission was to be the “watchdog” for the taxpayers and guard against the accumulation of excessive cash and to ensure that the taxing authorities are being “good stewards” of the taxpayers’ money.
We have also concluded that there are no checks and balances in our local government. We are deeply concerned that our local government’s growth is exceeding the private sector’s ability to pay for the ever-increasing services. This follows the warning that former State Representative and Lake County Commissioner Ron Young stated on his last day as Commissioner: “What have I learned about Government”.
“The two top priorities of the government are to protect itself and grow”.
Here is a link to Commissioner Young’s statements: https://youtu.be/n12T1oc2CrQ
On December 5, 2023 we wrote a letter to Representative Bill Roemer, Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. It dealt with the subjects of Local Government Funds and the Role of the Budget Commission in Local Government. A copy of the letter is attached.
What is perplexing to us is that the manner in which the Lake County Budget Commission operates is different from the other counties in Ohio. They are constrained by the legal advice given by the Lake County Prosecutor, Mr. Charles Coulson. We have attached Mr. Coulson’s memorandum dated February 6, 2023 to the Budget Commission regarding: “Authority of the budget commission to reduce levies approved by the voters outside the ten-mill limitation”.
While attending a Budget Commission meeting, we recorded Prosecutor Coulson and Auditor Galloway discussing the role of the Budget Commission. Link to Coulson and Galloway discussion: https://youtu.be/vfEetffNh1Y
We did reach out to Representative-elect Mr. Dave Thomas of Ashtabula on July 17, 2024, and he stated, after listening to our concerns, that he was considering putting the clarification of the role of the county Budget Commission on his agenda when he takes office in 2025.
In summary, we are hoping that the State legislators:
1. Clarify the role of the County Budget Commission.
2. Provide guidelines to the County Budget Commission that can be used when reviewing the tax budgets received from the various taxing authorities in the County.
3. Provide guidelines on the cash reserves that may be maintained by the taxing authorities.
4. Provide for the addition of two independent citizens, not tied to a political party, to the Budget Commission.
5. No member of the Budget Commission should have either a direct or indirect interest, or relationship in any taxing authority in the County. (Lake County Prosecutor Coulson is the legal representative for the Lake County Board of Developmentally Disabled, a taxing authority in Lake County.)
6. Ensure that the members of the Budget Commission are entitled to legal protections by the County Prosecutor if the taxing authority decides to file a lawsuit against the Budget Commission members either as part of the Commission or individually.
Mr. Gilbert and I are ready, willing and able to discuss these issues with you, and will gladly speak before any committee formed by the legislature to address this issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Massie – Lobbyists for Citizens
Leonard Gilbert – Citizens Against Property Taxes
Here are the documents mentioned in our letter to Representative Stewart:
We will be sure to keep our readers informed of any progress we make with Representative Stewart, and others that are interested in solving the growing problem of increasing property taxes, and the lack of checks and balances in Lake County government.
Categories: Community Activism, Lake County - General, Real Estate Taxes