At the same time we were studying how our real estate taxes had increased 42% in the 11 years since we moved into Concord Township, our friend and excellent real estate agent that we have used many times over the… Read More ›
Lake
November 2018 Ballot Issues…….the tax levies just will not stop!
We had heard about Lakeland Community College putting a tax levy on the ballot, so we asked the Board of Elections if they have any information. The Board of Elections made the following comment when they sent us the information… Read More ›
Volunteers Needed….so where is RSVP when you need them?
Thanks to a couple of our Lobbyists for this information: Lake County Council on Aging seeking volunteers By Community report, The News-Herald Thursday, July 5, 2018 The Lake County Council on Aging is seeking volunteers in all program areas —… Read More ›
Proposed Wickliffe Property Tax Increase….it is a killer for seniors on fixed incomes!!!
Thanks to Lobbyist Kim for the “heads up” on a proposed Wickliffe school board property tax increase. http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20180630/wickliffe-school-board-reconsiders-options-for-future-building-needs?source=most_viewed We need to get the word out to our friends in Wickliffe. The proposal is for 6.49 mill increase. Remember our calculations… Read More ›
ADAMHS Board annual meeting
In our effort to be honest and transparent on all issues, we want to be sure to document when a governmental agency does the right thing for taxpayers. We became aware of the annual meeting of the ADAMHS Board at… Read More ›
So how do other States deal with property taxes and seniors?
Thanks to our Lobbyists Jim from Painesville for this great article on State Property Tax and Assessment Freezes: http://www.ncsl.org/research/fiscal-policy/state-property-tax-freezes-and-assessment-freezes.aspx We will continue to push for tax relief for seniors and those living on fixed incomes.
Public Meeting on the extra $5.00 license fee….what a tangle web we weave…
I attended a public meeting on Tuesday 6/12 held by the County Engineer, Mr. Gills, and the County Commissioners. The subject was the proposed permissive motor vehicle $5.00 tax. Here is what I learned: Another $5.00 tax, approved by the… Read More ›
Our mission to help all Ohioans keep their homes has started
We are moving forward with our project trying to prevent Ohioans from being priced out of their homes because of the ever-increasing real estate taxes. We are going to start with nine counties in Northeast Ohio, and will be asking… Read More ›
An Aging Population…..we are all playing the back nine of life
We have known for quite some time that our population is aging (it is the “baby boomers” rounding third and heading home), but we have never seen any projected numbers. So we thought that we would try our hand at… Read More ›
Lake County Demographic Reports….
These are very interesting statistics about the Lake County population. In light of our concerns about the increasing real estate taxes pricing seniors and those living on fixed incomes out of their homes, we can see why our property taxes… Read More ›
Music & Memory …….a $50,000 study from Senior Levy funds
While reviewing the Willoughby-Eastlake Board of Education’s meeting minutes, we noticed a $50,000 receipt from the Lake County Commissioners’ Office, and a subsequent payment to RSVP. So we went upstream and asked Mr. Jason Boyd, County Administrator, for the details… Read More ›
Letter to the editor….Citizens are starting to get it..
Thanks to Lobbyist Elliot for this letter to the editor in the News-Herald: Your opinions How levies are hurting some residents: I am writing to thank those Painesville Township homeowners who evidently have never seen a property tax increase they… Read More ›
RSVP…our final chapter
We have been quite critical of the Retired Volunteer Service Program and Willoughby-Eastlake schools for their lack of candor when answering our questions about their program. Our questions started last year when we discovered that RSVP had received $744,000 over… Read More ›
Lake County Commissioners’ Retire/Rehire Policy
We have previously posted about the long standing practice of public employees “retiring” from their position and then returning to work in the same capacity and same pay and benefit scale. This is commonly known as “double dipping”. The Lake… Read More ›
Commissioners’ Meeting 5/17/18
I addressed the Lake County Commissioners today and discussed the following items: I mentioned that I attended the Sunshine Law Training at Lakeland Community College. Since we learned that a citizen may ask for the compensation package of any public… Read More ›
Public Employees Retirement System……COLA…how sweet it is….
As we continue our research into public finances, we discovered this information on the Lake County Auditor’s website. As you know, we are concerned about private citizens getting priced out of their homes because of increasing real estate taxes. This… Read More ›
Our Debate Over Real Estate Taxes Continues
In previous posts, we mentioned that we have filed a request for a revaluation of our property to reduce our real estate taxes. We initially filed our request with the Lake County Auditor’s office in January, 2018. We just received… Read More ›
RSVP…..chapter 3….getting closer to answers
We continue to analyze the RSVP financial information received from the Lake County commissioners. Here is a summary of the revenue and expenses reported by the Commissioners for 2016 and 2017. Please be advised that we doubt that this is… Read More ›
RSVP…….the journey to get answers continues
We are operating under our basic premise that if we stay on the current path of ever increasing real estate taxes, we will price seniors and those living on fixed incomes out of their homes that have worked all their… Read More ›
Our challenges to the Republican party……are they up to the task?
We went to a “meet the candidate” night last evening. We spoke to leading local Republicans after the speeches and discussed with them the plight of seniors in Lake County being priced out of their homes, and the problems in… Read More ›
Commissioner Cirinio’s News-Herald article
Thanks for the following copy of the article Commissioner Cirino wrote for the News-Herald…..We agree completely with Commissioner Cirino on the devasting impact that it will have on Lake County. The question now is: What can we do about it?”
Email to Commissioners on Perry Plant closure….it will impact all of Lake County
We sent this email to Commissioner Cirino today. We will make you aware of his responses. Commissioner Cirino, At the last Commissioners’ meeting, you mentioned about the impact of the closure of the Perry Nuclear Plant on the real estate… Read More ›
State of Ohio House Bill 586…..give credit to Rep. John Rogers
Although we have disagreed with State Representative John Rogers’ decisions in his second job as the Executive Director of the Lake County Land Bank, we must applaud his efforts to at least try to do something for seniors in Lake… Read More ›
Unfunded Pension Liabilities……what a tangled mess
We have done some more research on the issue of unfunded pension liabilities, and at the risk of ‘getting too deep into the weeds’, we will offer some explanations of what we have discovered on the Lake County Auditor’s website…. Read More ›