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November 2008 |
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By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A former Wapakoneta law enforcement officer’s future is now in the hands of seven state Supreme Court justices.
Former Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Harrison’s 6-year-old sex crime case reached the pinnacle in Ohio’s court system Wednesday, as justices heard arguments from Harrison’s attorney Dean Boland and state prosecutor Scott Longo.
Each party had 15 minutes to present their case to the justices. After both attorneys argued their cases, a single word in Harrison’s sentencing entry and a grilling delivered to Longo by justice Maureen O’Connor left Boland optimistic about his client’s future.
In June, 2003, Harrison plead guilty to a six-count bill of information after child pornography was found on his computer. After entering his plea, the man who served as police chief from 1988 to 2002 was sentenced to one year in jail.
Seven months after he completed his sentence, it was discovered by county prosecutors that Harrison should have been sentenced with an additional five years of mandatory post release control, or probation.
During a court hearing, Harrison was given the option to either be re-sentenced or withdraw his plea. Harrison chose the latter, taking things back to square one.
With the plea withdrawn, the state of Ohio slapped Harrison with a 23-count indictment which he was ultimately found guilty of and sentenced to six years in prison.
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
Botkins BOE proposes income tax levy
By ANDREA POTEET
Staff writer
BOTKINS — Botkins Board of Education members took the first step this week in getting an income tax levy on the November ballot.
Board members passed a resolution Wednesday proposing a 1.25 percent income tax levy be placed on the November ballot. Officials anticipate the levy will raise an estimated $514,500. If the levy passes, the school district would expect to receive revenue from the levy in April 2009.
The Botkins School District is operating with a cash balance of $735,000 this year, approximately $250,000 less than the $998,000 in 2007, because of increases in expenses.
Costs of health insurance, fuel, and other operating expenses have continued to rise, Superintendent Connie Schneider told the Wapakoneta Daily News.
School board members anticipate using a significatn portion of these savings to make up the difference between funding and expenses in the future.
Board members said they expect operating expenses starting in July 2008 to be $250,000 more than last year, while Ohio Department of Education funding has remained constant the past four years.
Therefore, the cash balance is expected to decline again unless another source of funding is approved by voters.
“Next year, we’ll be eating into our cash balance,” Botkins School Treasurer Patrick Elsass said. “In 2010, we’ll have a deficit (if the levy does not pass).”
Elsass estimated the school district spent $250,000 more than revenue collected this year.
Without the levy, Elsass expects the school district to end with an estimated balance of $300,000 in June of 2009.
No cuts have been implemented yet, Elsass said, but if the levy does not pass, he projects “very serious cuts” would have to be implemented.
Board members initially proposed a 1 percent income tax levy, which would generate an approximately $410,000. With that amount, the school’s budget would still be tight and board members might have to return to voters to ask for another income tax levy, President Brad Reed said.
The school district currently operates with a carryover cash balance of approximately $1 million, or 25 percent of its annual budget of approximately $4.2 million. The cash carryover is used to ensure the board has enough money to do business while waiting for tax and state revenue to be received.
“I don’t think the residents of this district want us to operate in a substandard matter,” Reed said. “That’s what would happen if we operated with too little.”
Reed said board members decided on an income tax levy instead of a millage because it is the most fair way of collecting funds from residents. Continuing property tax levies of 14.4 mills and 4.95 mills for Botkins Local School have been in effect since 1976 and 1978, respectively.
“We are such a rural community, a lot of our residents are farmers, and a millage in some ways kind of hits people who own more land,” Reed said. “There’s a certain amount of millage that’s already there and it seems fairer to go with our income. Those are the people with the kids in school.”
Reed said that the income of residents is likely to keep pace with the economy, as opposed to a millage, based on property tax, which tends to stay steady in the village though taxpayer’s expenses increase.
Board members also expressed concern the 1 percent income tax levy, which applies only to earned income would generate less than expected. Social Security and other retirement benefits would not apply to the income tax levy.
“One percent keeps us from sinking,” Reed said. “I don’t think it necessarily floats us. One-and-a-quarter percent keeps our head above water.”
Board members expressed concern that community members must realize their desire to be fiscally responsible, and school board members are asking for what they need to operate.
Reed said that while budget cuts may be imminent if the levy does not pass, board members have not yet discussed what would be cut.
“We’re not at the point of really even thinking about specific cuts in services right now,” Reed said. “We know that if we don’t get additional operating moneys, that’s inevitable, but our expectations are that we will, and operate the school in a manner the residents have come to expect.”
This is the first new operating levy sought by the school district in 26 years. The last levy, passed in 1981, ended early when it was decided they could operate without the additional funds.
Since 1981, the school district also completed four renovations without operating levies.
If the levy does not pass, Reed said board members plan to place the issue back on the ballot in March. If passed then, the board would begin receiving the money as soon as September.
Reed said school district has sufficient funds to operate the school for at least a year while waiting for the levy to pass.
“If it’s this time next year, and we still don’t have the levy passed, it would be uncomfortable,” Reed said. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 June 2008 )
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