Our latest foray into the Lake County politics started when we attended a Commissioners meeting and Commissioner Cirino introduced a resolution prohibiting Commissioners from accepting campaign contributions from employees that are under the direction of the Commissioners. Cirino resolution on… Read More ›
FT
Commissioner Dan Troy’s Folly…..want to see how politics works in Lake County?
Updated 9/27/18 4:40 am…to include legal ruling from the United States Supreme Court case decided on 6/28/96. Thanks to Lobbyists Arzella and John for the heads up on this issue. This is the first of a three part expose on… Read More ›
Property Taxes and the Amish…..we are destroying a culture
We attended a Geauga County Tea Party meeting last week, and discovered some real patriots that were interested in helping the Amish community, although they are not part of the community. Following their Christian principles of being kind, tolerant, patient… Read More ›
What should we expect from our politicians….do the ends really justify the means?
We have a few questions for the citizens of Lake County: 1. Are there absolute truths, or is it acceptable to think that all truth is relative? That is, you have your truths, and your neighbors have their truths. 2. … Read More ›
Lakeland CC set once again to fleece taxpayers……
Thanks to Lobbyist Arzella for this News-Herald article on Lakeland Community College’s desire to once again dip into the pockets of Lake County taxpayers. One could say that this is a “bitter pill to swallow’, but we think of it… Read More ›
November 6 Ballot Issues…….what will they cost us?
Thanks to Lobbyist John M. for getting us the final ballot issues that will appear on the November 6th ballot. November 6th ballot issues final Once again, we wanted to provide a service to Lake County taxpayers by providing the… Read More ›
One Reason Our Local Taxes Have Increased….we can thank the State of Ohio
Thanks to Lobbyist Ryan for this article on how Governor Kasich’s created a $2.7 Billion cash surplus in the State’s budget by reducing funds distributed to local governments. https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/08/gov_kasich_should_share_ohios.html https://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2018/07/ohios_rainy_day_fund_grows_to.html (LFC Comment: It is now incumbent on taxpayers to ensure… Read More ›
Property Tax Questions Answered……ok, I know that I am getting “deep into the weeds”
At the risk of being considered a “bit of a nerd’ on the property tax issue, here are some facts that probably very few – check that- no one been wondering about…..many thanks to Mr. Zupanicic, and Mr. Ron Young… Read More ›
Ohio School Funding…..has the time arrived for change?
Thanks to Lobbyist Arzella for her research on the school funding issues….It seems that the unfairness of the use of property taxes has been discussed by citizens and politicians for quite some time. Here is a letter to the editor… Read More ›
Property Tax vs Income Tax for Public School Funding…
Did you know that a public school district could request an income tax be placed on the ballot versus a property tax? Here is a link to an April 8, 2018 article by Ashtabula’s Star Beacon detailing Geneva’s request for… Read More ›
A Paradigm Shift in Public Education is Needed….here is one idea
Thanks to Lobbyist Siobhan for letting us know about Gregg Lawson, of the Buckeye Institute, speaking out for universal school vouchers. Here is a link to a web-site that details their ideas about Education Savings Accounts. http://theohiostar.com/2018/09/16/ohio-think-tank-recommends-politicians-end-education-by-zip-code-and-go-for-real-reform/ The State legislators… Read More ›
Property Taxes for Public School Funding….can it ever go away?
If you have been reading our past posts, you know that we are very concerned that if we stay on the path of ever escalating property taxes, we will price seniors and those living on fixed incomes out of their… Read More ›
Morley Library…..shining a light on their actions
Another taxpayer sent a letter to Aurora Martinez, Executive Director of the Morley Library, asking for information. Here is the letter (name has been redacted): Lobbyist letter to Morley Library Ms. Martinez, with the help, no doubt, of the prominent local… Read More ›
State Issue #1….all is not as it seems
We have not heard much about State Issue #1 that will be on the November ballot, so when we received this letter written by the State of Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Conner, we thought it worthy to pass it along… Read More ›
State of Ohio Report Card Grades…..
Thanks to Lobbyist Jim W. for this article: (LFC Comments: Here are the overall grades earned by each school district. Unfortunately, our research into the whole idea of State report cards leaves us disillusioned about their accuracy. In any case,… Read More ›
Ohio School Funding….a lot of talk, no action
Thanks to Lobbyist Arzella for this article on school funding……everyone knows there is a problem, seniors are being pushed into poverty, but no one really has the spine to do anything about it because the public school’s special interest lobbyists… Read More ›
Concord’s Limited government…..an oxymoron to be sure…
Thanks to Lobbyist Arzella for this information from the News-Herald. All I can say is….hmmm…right, and they would never put a continuous levy on the ballot either…..the evil of increasing government works in incremental steps…(I updated my comment based on… Read More ›
The Truth on Renewal Levies…..100% accuracy is our goal…
We had been told that there is a new law that allows renewal levies to realize an increase in their property tax revenue based on the State mandated reappraisals of property values. Rather than just accepting that statement as a… Read More ›
Reply on inside millage tax increases
We did hear from the Lake County Auditor, Mr. Ed Zupancic, in reply to our question on the increases in property taxes due to the current reappraisals. Looks like we will have to wait until later in the year when… Read More ›
DeRolph versus the State of Ohio…..a bit of history and reality for seniors
Our focus on the impact of increasing property taxes on our seniors has led us into learning the history of the DeRolph versus the State of Ohio, where the Ohio Supreme Court found that using property taxes as a funding… Read More ›
A “Post-Truth” World…a “cause or a symptom”?
I was exposed to the “Post” world years ago when I was discussing Bible theory with my neighbor. He stated, quite matter of factly, that Europe was ‘post-Christianity’. That statement caused me to do some research, and to my amazement,… Read More ›
DeWine…less testing, more funding for schools…really?
Thanks to Lobbyist Kirsten for the heads up on the proposed education plan by Mike DeWine, candidate for Governor of Ohio. “Less testing, more learning: DeWine unveiled his education plan on Thursday, calling for fewer tests and more state funding for… Read More ›
Property Taxes…….lets see if numbers can “talk”
We have recently been working with the Liberator Group trying to expand our understanding of what is happening to property taxes in Northeast Ohio. We have received comparative property taxes for a ten year period, by political sub-division, from the… Read More ›
SPLC and Lakeland Community College…..
The Southern Poverty Law Center and Lakeland Community College have joined forces to get out the vote. “Register to vote on campus! It’s easy and only takes a couple minutes. Visit our table in the A-Building outside the bookstore this… Read More ›
Inside Millage……back to basics…
We were asked to try to explain “inside millage”, so we thought we would share what we know about this confusing topic. I found several website that address “inside millage” versus “outside millage”, but they all got very complicated. … Read More ›