Thanks to Lobbyists Jim and Elliot for this article that indicates that other States have recognized what we have been saying: The ever increasing real estate taxes are pricing seniors out of their homes that they have worked all their… Read More ›
Lake
Continuous levies…..We see a disturbing trend to fool taxpayers.
We have been noticing a trend by the political sub-divisions to change existing levies and enact new levies with the term “continuous”. The word “continuous” means “forever”. Rather than ask for a levy for a limited duration in years, the… Read More ›
NOACA…What is it?
The initials NOACA means the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency. Here is a link to their website: http://www.noaca.org/ There was a meeting in Chardon on Thursday so that NOACA could hear from Geauga residents. Our friends from Auburntownship.org were there and… Read More ›
Lake County Library District……Another tax levy on the ballot…updated 7/20
Updated: Friday, July 20, 2018 11:30 am. On the Commissioners’ agenda for their meeting on 7/19 is a resolution to place a 1.0 mill Lake County Library District renewal levy on the November ballot. “RESOLUTION TO PLACE A RENEWAL OF… Read More ›
Conservation easements….What are they?
In an effort to understand what impacts our real estate taxes, we inquired about conservation easements. “A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in… Read More ›
Real estate tax calculation….Is there a better way?
Updated 7/18/18 12:45 pm We believe that is a safe bet to say that the current method of calculating real estate taxes is very confusing to most taxpayers. Quite simply, there has to be a better way. Why are we… Read More ›
A Journey Through the Board of Revisions…how we got our RE taxes reduced
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 ›
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 ›