8-Mill Levy Renewal Resolution

RESOLUTION DECLARING THE NECESSITY OF LEVYING A TAX FOR CURRENT OPERATING EXPENSES IN EXCESS OF THE TEN-MILL LIMITATION AND REQUESTING THE COUNTY AUDITOR TO CERTIFY MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

WHEREAS, Council for the City of Norwood anticipates levying a tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation as described herein; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 5705.03 of the Ohio Revised Code, Council for the City of Norwood is required to certify to the county auditor a resolution requesting the county auditor to certify certain matters in connection with such a tax levy; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the city of Norwood, State of Ohio:

SECTION 1. That pursuant to the provisions of Section 5705.19(a) of the Ohio Revised Code, it is necessary that a renewal of an existing tax be levied in excess of the ten-mill limitation for the benefit of the City of Norwood, for the purpose of current operating expenses at a rate not exceeding eight (8) mills for each one dollar ($1.00) of valuation which amounts to eighty cents ($0.80) for each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of valuation, for five years.

SECTION 2. That the question of the passage of said tax levy shall be submitted to the electors of the City of Norwood at an election to be held on November 6, 2007. If approved by the electors, said tax levy shall be placed upon the 2007 tax list and duplicate, for collection in the calendar year 2008 and continue for five years.

SECTION 3. That pursuant to section 5705.03 of the Ohio Revised Code, the county auditor is hereby requested to certify to Council for the City of Norwood the total current tax valuation of the City of Norwood, the dollar amount of revenue that would be generated by the number of mills specified in Section 1 hereof, and the Clerk of Council of the City of Norwood be and is hereby directed to certify forthwith a copy of this resolution to the county auditor at the earliest possible time so that said county auditor may certify such matters in accordance with such Section 5705.03 of the Ohio Revised Code.

SECTION 4. That is found and determined that all formal actions of the Council for the City of Norwood concerning and relating to the adoption of this resolution were adopted in an open meeting of the Council of the City of Norwood, and that all deliberations of Council of the City of Norwood, and of nay of its committees that resulted in such formal actions, were in meetings open to the public, in compliance with all legal requirements, including Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code, and the rules of Council for the City of Norwood adopted in accordance herewith.

SECTION 5. This resolution is hereby declared to be an emergency resolution and a measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and general welfare and shall go into effect forthwith. The reason for said emergency is the necessity to certify a copy of this resolution to the county auditor so that the county auditor may certify such matters in accordance with Section 5705.03 of the Ohio Revised Code.

6/29/07 Institute for Justice Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 29, 2007

Ohio Passes Weak Eminent Domain Reform, Property Owners Left Unprotected

Arlington, Va.—The Ohio Legislature could have protected property owners across the state. Instead, they passed some of the weakest eminent domain reform in the nation.

On Wednesday, June 27, the Ohio Senate passed a weakened version of Senate Bill 7. The legislation originally offered substantial eminent domain reform to home and small business owners across the state, but the House removed all of the significant protections. A companion measure, Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would have applied SB 7 to all local governments in Ohio, earlier failed to pass the House. SB 7 now awaits the governor’s signature.

“There was a real chance for reform this year, but in the end, very little will change for home and small business owners in Ohio should SB 7 become law,” said Steven Anderson, director of the Institute for Justice’s Castle Coalition, a national grassroots advocacy group committed to ending the private-to-private transfer of property using eminent domain. The Institute for Justice successfully defended homeowners in Norwood and Lakewood, Ohio, from eminent domain abuse. Anderson testified before last year’s Eminent Domain Task Force and committees in both the Senate and House this session.

As originally passed by the Senate, SB 7 would have better-defined blight, using objective criteria to designate a “blighted parcel” and requiring at least 90 percent of the parcels in a neighborhood be blighted for the government to forcibly obtain non-blighted ones. The weaker reforms passed by the legislature allow a combination of subjective—and likely impermissible under the state constitution—factors, such as age and obsolescence, dilapidation and deterioration, excessive density, faulty lot or street layout to be used by condemning authorities to take property for private gain. The final version of SB 7 does include better notice for property owners when their land is under threat, as well as procedural and compensation changes, but they will do little to prevent perfectly fine property from actually being taken.

“Real protections against eminent domain abuse were whittled away,” Anderson said. “While the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled, just one year ago in Norwood v. Horney, that the right to property is fundamental, the Legislature unfortunately doesn’t share that conclusion. I have no doubt that Ohioans will continue to make their case until their representatives finally listen.”

In all, 40 other states have passed legislation responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London decision. For a review of those states and the effectiveness of the reforms, see the Institute for Justice’s 50 state report card, available at http://www.castlecoalition.org/publications/report_card/.