By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall, An Independent Populist, Average Citizen
Clerk of Courts, Faith Andrews, submitted the following letter to the three Lake County Commissioner, declaring a surplus in the Clerk of Courts’ Certificate of Title Fund.
Faith Andrews
Lake County Clerk of Courts
As provided for in Section 325.33 of the Ohio Revised Code, I wish to declare an excess of Two Million ($2,000,000.00) Dollars in the Certificate of Title Fund (252) and request that it be transferred into the General Fund.
I would respectfully request that $100,000 be allocated to COC Cost Center 12700711-654 (Postage) and $50,000 be allocated to COC Cost Center 40600511-512 (Salaries). The requested allocations will be required to fund these line items for 2025. The funds will need to be available immediately as of January 2025, which is why I am respectfully requesting that you allocate these funds now. As you know, Commissioner Regovich requested that I assist the Commissioners with the Roads and Bridges fund. Therefore, I would also respectfully request that $500,000 be allocated to the Roads and Bridges fund.
I told the People that I wanted to give back $1M every year. Promises made…Promises kept. Over my term, at the request of other elected officials, I have provided Title Surplus funds in the amount of $4,073,860 for the following projects that have benefited all the people of Lake County:
$52,150 – Public Defender’s Project [Commissioner Hamercheck and Public Defender Clapp] $20,000 Auburn Career Center’s Telecommunicators Course of Study [Commissioner Hamercheck] $2,640,710 – COPS Grant for Additional Sheriff Deputies for Townships [Commissioner Hamercheck] $247,000 Grand River Winery Archway [Commissioner Plecnik]
$300,000 – Sheriff Department Gun Range – Phase 2 [Commissioner Hamercheck and Sheriff Leonbruno] $214,000 Prosecutor’s Software Upgrade [Prosecutor Coulson]
$600,000 Juvenile Court Software Upgrade [Judge DeLeone]
Further, over the course of my term, I have provided Title Surplus funds in the amount of $800,000 to fund upgrades to technology infrastructure (hardware, including servers) for both the Legal and Title Divisions, costs associated with the Digitization Operation at Victoria Place so that the People do not have to continue to bear the burden of a project that exists only because of the incompetence of the previous Clerk Maureen Kelly, and annual licensure and support costs associated with the Court Management System and its many third-party applications.
Finally, should you agree to the allocation of the $150,000 to the two funds referenced above, there will be $1,850,000 remaining from this surplus declaration for you to do as you please. Merry Christmas!
Thank you in advance for your consideration, I remain
Respectfully,
Faith Andrews
Categories: Lake, Lake County - General, Lake County Politics, Uncategorized