More questions than answers

Group begins drive for referendum on sales-tax increase

By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com

JEFFERSON — Petitions for a referendum on the county sales-tax increase should be ready to circulate today, said members of a referendum committee that held a press conference at Henderson Memorial Library on Tuesday afternoon.

Roy Brommer of Roaming Shores read a statement announcing the citizen referendum effort, a backlash to the commissioners’ 2-1 vote on Friday to increase to 1.5 percent the county’s portion of the sales tax, effective April 1. The commissioners amended the original resolution to state they also would place the issue before voters on the May ballot but collection of the tax by merchants would begin April 1. That would give the county more than a month of taxation without a vote of the people, said Commissioners Board President Joseph Moroski, who accordingly voted against the measure.

Moroski wanted the issue to appear on the May ballot without first enacting the tax increase. Commissioners Daniel Claypool and Peggy Carlo have taken the stance the county needs to start collecting the tax in April because, if it were placed on the May ballot without also enacting the “emergency” provision, the county would not see any money from the tax until December.

The crux of the referendum is not whether there should be a tax increase, but giving voters the right to decide that, Brommer said.

“We strongly believe that any sales-tax increase should be voted on by the people of Ashtabula County before it is enacted,” Brommer said.

Brommer’s press release identifies himself, Melissa Pope, John Kusar and former Ashtabula County Auditor Sandy O’Brien as contacts for the petitions. Kusar said the effort has no political affiliation.

“We’re just people who got together and decided we the people have the right to vote,” said Kusar, an Austinburg Township trustee and treasurer of the county Republican Party. “This isn’t partisan politics.”

The Ohio Revised Code 305.31 sets forth the process of calling a referendum on a sales-tax increase when that issue is passed by a majority, rather than unanimous, vote. A referendum group has 30 days from the date the resolution is adopted by the commissioners during which to collect enough valid signatures to take the matter to voters.

If only it were that simple.

Kusar accuses Claypool of stonewalling the process, by refusing to give him a certified copy of the resolution on Friday afternoon after the vote was taken. Kusar did obtain a copy Monday, but he said the referendum effort lost valuable time in the interim, reducing to 27 days the window of opportunity to gather the roughly 3,800 signatures needed to get the issue on a ballot.

ORC 305.31 is clear that “the board of county commissioners shall make available to any person, upon request, a certified copy of any resolution or rule subject to the procedure for submitting a referendum under sections 305.31 to 305.42 of the Revised Code, beginning on the date the resolution or rule is adopted by the board.”

Kusar said the timing of the whole resolution and vote is suspicious because the 30-day window provided by ORC will fall two days after the filing deadline for the May ballot: Feb. 18. Given all the hoops that ORC requires a referendum effort to jump through, there is simply not enough time get the issue on the May ballot.

Further, there is doubt that the county has enough time to meet all the certification requirements by the filing date. Moroski said the certified resolution was completed just Monday and the Commissioners Board clerk is in the process of notifying all the proper authorities.

“I think that was always a question if we would be able to make the deadline,” Moroski said Monday evening. “I guess it will come down to how the process goes.”

Kusar doubts whether the issue will appear on the May ballot, which would result in the county collecting the tax from April until November without the consent of taxpayers.

“In effect, this referendum petition may be the only option for the voters of Ashtabula County to vote on this sales-tax increase,” Brommer said.

However, some are of the opinion that the successful filing of a referendum effort will halt collection of the tax until the voters have their say.

Kusar accused Claypool of knowing how the process works and using that knowledge to the commissioners board’s advantage.

“This is dirty cloak-and-dagger politics,” Brommer said. “The last time we seen (sic) political gamesmanship like this, we had a commissioner by the name of Bob Boggs in office.”

The referendum group is also questioning the absence of “emergency tax” language from the resolution and the legality of amending a resolution after public hearings were held on a version which did not include the May ballot amendment.

“Can they do this, or do they have to have another round of hearings?” Brommer asked. “At this point, there are more questions than answers.”

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