Attorney files suit against county commissioners

Attorney Gerald Phillips made good on his threats April 5 by filing a lawsuit against state and county officials in attempt to block the recently enacted sales tax increase.

The suit filed with Lorain County Common Pleas Court will be heard by Common Pleas Judge D. Chris Cook.

A general election ballot measure to raise the county sales tax by .5 percent was overwhelmingly rejected by voters with nearly three times as many votes against it as for it.

The commissioners voted to increase the county sales tax by .25 percent in a 2-1 vote Dec. 14 paving the way for the increase to take effect April 1. Commissioner Matt Lundy was the dissenting voice in the vote. An attempt to pass the increase the week before was voted down.

On March 15, Phillips, who practices in Avon Lake, made a “formal demand” of the commissioners to place the repeal of the increase on the general election ballot this year claiming the process used to pass the increase was illegal.

The following week, Phillips returned, this time making a “formal taxpayers demand” of Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Gerald Innes to take legal action against county officials to “prevent the misapplication and collection of public funds and to restrain and prevent the illegal use of funds,” as a result of the increase.

At the time, Phillips said he opposed the way the increase was enacted and expressed to the commissioners he would be willing to help them to educate the public on the need for the increase, if they would yield to his demand.

The suit names the county commissioners, County Auditor J. Craig Snodgrass, County Treasurer Daniel J. Talarek, Ohio State Tax Commissioner Joseph W. Testa, Ohio State Auditor David Yost, Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel and Ohio State Budget and Management Director Timothy S. Keen as defendants, according to the filing.

Plaintiffs named in the filing are: Brandon Michael Bobbitt, of Oberlin; Curtis Weems, of Avon Lake; Joyce Early, of Lorain; Dennis Flores, of Lorain; Maureen M. Phillips, of Avon Lake; and Original Mailbox Co., in Avon Lake.

The filing also contains a provision seeking class action certification on behalf of county residents, those outside of the county affected by the increase and trustees of the state responsible for collecting and distributing the tax.

In the filing, Phillips claims the commissioners violated their own resolution that they would abide by Robert’s Rules of Order to govern their parliamentary procedure.

It also claims the commissioners violated Ohio’s Sunshine Laws and state law, which governs additional sales taxes levied by counties.

The lawsuit asks the court to “restrain and prevent the illegal use of funds based upon the unlawful and illegally passed permissive sales tax increase.”

It also seeks ancillary and injunctive release, as well as the refund of any taxes collected.

Commissioner Ted Kalo said he couldn’t discuss the details of the suit.

Kalo said he does not believe there is any validity to its claims.

“I believe we did everything per our county prosecutor’s advice in how things could be done,” he said.

A representative of Yost’s Office declined to comment on the case until legal counsel had a chance to read it.

Representatives of the other state agencies could not be reached for comment.