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A county auditor should not have to be sued by a citizen to compel compliance with the Open Meetings Act. (part 1)
The county auditor, treasurer, and prosecutor comprise the county budget commission, a public body subject to the Open Meetings Act. The Portage County Budget Commission never complied with that law until I sued it on January 8, 2020. Then the first ever notice of a meeting of the Budget Commission appeared in the Record-Courier: On…
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Beware valuation changes
There are various way that your taxes can increase. Voted levies are one way. When the voters approve a levy above the statutory 10 mills, the amount of money that levy will produce is fixed based on the total valuation in the two classes, residential/agricultural and non residential/agricultural, and the millage of the levy. When…
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The Auditor should appoint deputy auditors
A county auditor is permitted by law1 to appoint as many as five2 deputy auditors as unclassified employees. Deputy auditors may perform any of the duties of the auditor3 but may not exercise the authorities of the auditor such as acting as a member of the county board of revision or county budget commission. It…
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Bringing transparency to government
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton wrote in a 1996 opinion the following: One of the strengths of American government is the right of the public to know and understand the actions of their elected representatives. This includes not merely the right to know a government body’s final decision on a matter, but the…