Here’s how local members of Congress voted on aid package

Four of Ohio’s 16 members voted no.

A majority of southwest Ohio’s Congressional delegation voted yes on funding to help Ukraine battle the Russian invasion.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed the $95.3 billion foreign aid bill funding Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other U.S. allies after a drawn out Congressional battle that delayed funding even as Russia made inroads in its war against Ukraine.

The U.S. House of Representatives handled the funding in four separate bills, adding in a bill to force TikTok to be sold or banned. The four were then combined as one in the Senate, which approved the bill 79-18 on Tuesday.

All but four of the 16-member Ohio delegation in the House and Senate approved funding

IN YOUR EPAPER for Ukraine.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio and U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana; Warren Davidson, R-Troy; and Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville all voted no. Davidson also opposed funding for Israel and the TikTok ban.

The rest of the Ohio delegation voted for all four bills in the House or the combined bill in the Senate, including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and local members of Congress: U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton; U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, R-Columbus and U.S. Rep, Greg. Landsman, D-Cincinnati.

The bill includes $60.8 billion to assist Ukraine, with Biden on Wednesday approving a $1 billion shipment to be sent immediately, including air defense capabilities, artillery rounds,

Ukraine

flooding events, such as the one in 1913 that devastated the region. The conservancy district was created in the years after the Great Flood more than 100 years ago.

Lodor’s announcement came a day after state lawmakers and a U.S. Congressman sent letters to the MCD echoing what Hamilton City Council already has asked the board to do regarding planned higher assessments to property owners for flood protections: Pause.

“I think what we’re trying to do right now is to slow the car down a little bit, and then I’m looking forward to getting into this a little bit and figure out what we can do to help MCD,” said Ohio Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, who is drafting a letter to the Miami Conservancy District Board of Directors.

“The big thing is that a lot of this came as a shock to many.”

In the letter, lawmakers asked the Miami Conservancy District, which is funded through the assessments on properties impacted by the 1913 flood, to “pause their current property value reappraisal and reconsider the methodology used.”

The letter was signed by 18 lawmakers, including all four from Butler County.

While this assessment impacts more than 43,000 properties across the region, nearly 900 properties will see Miami Conservancy assessments on the annual tax bills exceeding $1,000, including more than 200 in Butler County. More than 83% of the people paying the maintenance and capital assessments would see their MCD assessment at less than $250.

The Miami Conservancy District has proposed a new 1% capital assessment and a 0.59% increase to the 2.19% maintenance assessment thousands of residents are already paying. The assessments will cover costs related to the upkeep and rehabilitation of the levee and dam system.

According to the Miami Conservancy District, the region’s flood protection system is seeing more frequent and intense rainfall now than in the system’s history.

Storage events occur when heavy rainfall is held back by dams in the system — the conservancy district has seen a 228% increase in the number of storage events over the past 80 years.

The new assessment and increased rates are being applied to updated property values. Rates are currently based on values from 12 years ago. So combined with recent, historic increases in property values, the charge increase on some properties is substantial.

Lodor said her recommended pause could take perhaps 12 to 14 months, and they would reflect on the current funding approach, benchmark with other similar organizations and evaluate other models to seek best practices. The goal would be trying to find “what is the best way to do this for really the next 50 years.”

In the meantime, Lodor said, they will manage the assets they have.

“We are good stewards of the financial resources we have,” she said.

The issue has also grabbed the attention of Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Troy, who sent a letter Monday to Gov. Mike DeWine, Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Jason Stephens, encouraging them to “review and update (Ohio’s) laws governing conservancy districts” as the recent assessment announcements “have highlighted substantial taxation authority lacking adequate public recourse that threatens taxpayers and the vitality of communities.”

Davidson applauded community and elected leaders rallying opposition to the new assessments, but he highlights there are thousands of assessed property owners who essentially “lack representation” in this matter.

The nine Common Pleas Court judges who are involved in the review and approval of the reappraisal of benefits methodology are the only elected representation for taxpayers, Davidson said.

However, the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct says a judge “shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism” and “shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.”

When the assessments were made public, some in Butler County went into sticker shock. Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill will see its assessments of its two properties increase more than 50 times, collectively jumping from just more than $8,800 a year to nearly $478,000.

Before Lodor said she would recommend the pause, Creech said “the timing couldn’t be worse” for the assessment announcements.

“My thinking was we need to come together as legislatures and say, ‘Hey, we understand there’s a problem and we need to sit down and talk about it, and not rush into this,’” he said.

“They need funding, and I can’t say enough great things about MCD and what they do, but we cannot just be wiping out people and businesses to accomplish the goal.”

Creech said nothing legislatively would be done until they sit down and talk with conservancy district officials.