By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
We have written many articles on the ineffectiveness of the Lake County Budget Commission. They are merely a “rubber stamp” for the taxing authorities in the County. This is primarily due to the legal opinion of the Lake County Prosecutor. He stated that the Budget Commission could not change the taxing authorities’ property tax revenue collected from outside millage (voted on by the taxpayers). Unfortunately, there are differing opinions throughout the 88 counties in the State on the role and authority of the County Budget Commission.
Freshly minted State Representative David Thomas (District 65) has “hit the ground running” since being elected. His stint as the Ashtabula Auditor has given him a tremendous background and valuable experience dealing with property taxes. He has been very kind and gracious meeting with us several times to allow us to present our position on property taxes.
He has introduced HB 309, which is an overhaul of the duties and responsibilities of the County Budget Commission. Here are some links that provide the details on the proposed legislation.
https://ohiohouse.gov/legislation/136/hb309
Lake County Auditor Chris Galloway has provided the following proponent testimony for HB 309.
In our opinion, the County Budget Commission needs to be the “financial watchdog” for the taxpayers of the County. In our opinion, the proposed legislation does not go far enough to protect the taxpayers. The Prosecutor should not have a role on the Commission due to conflicts of interests. In Lake County, the Prosecutor represents Deepwood and the Crime Lab. Both taxing authorities have excessive cash accumulation, but the Auditor and Treasurer cannot do anything about it because of the power of the Prosecutor’s office.
Also, the independent taxing authority known as Lakeland Community College has used and abused Lake County taxpayers ($20 million a year in property taxes), but the State has abdicated their authority as a watchdog for the taxpayers. There needs to be a local “financial watchdog” protecting the taxpayers.
Stay tuned…we will update our readers on the progress of this proposed legislation.
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Categories: Lake, Real Estate Taxes, State of Ohio, Uncategorized