Supreme Court should ask Columbiana judges for proof

We can almost guarantee that the Ohio Supreme Court will order Columbiana County commissioners to provide whatever level of funding the court system in the county wants. Why? Because in past battles between the judicial and non-judicial branches of government over the allocation of public dollars, the judiciary has invariably prevailed. Yes, judges do stick together.
But despite that record, we would urge the justices of the Supreme Court to take a close look at the request from the Columbiana County courts for an order that would, in effect, force the commissioners to allocate $487,753 from a treasury that's empty.
In the words of Commissioner Sean Logan, "We don't have it." No, Logan isn't exaggerating. Recall that in the May primary election, Columbiana County voters rejected a 0.5 percent sales tax increase, thus depriving government of about $3 million in annual revenue. The money would have been earmarked for adult and juvenile detention facilities, thereby freeing up general fund dollars that would have been used to restore services that have been cut due to a major shortfall in the general fund budget.
Property tax giveback
When a 1 percent tax was approved by the voters in 2000, commissioners kept a promise to reduce property taxes by 2 mills. That giveback is costing the treasury about $2.5 million a year.
That's why the lawsuit filed in the Ohio Supreme Court by Atty. Frederick Emmerling of East Liverpool on behalf of the judges in Columbiana County deserves more than a cursory glance by the justices. Emmerling contends that the courts have "reached a critical juncture" and that without the assurance of adequate funding, they could be forced to cease operations.
Atty. Emmerling should be required to provide the Supreme Court with a detailed analysis of the operations of the various courts and other criminal justice entities in the county and to show why $487,753 is the bottom-line figure.
We are aware that, as a result of past high court rulings, judges have only to argue that the money they are seeking is for the "proper administration of justice." But when a county treasury is empty and voters have made it clear they aren't willing to support a tax increase, the commissioners should not be forced to shut down most of the other government agencies in order to meet the judges' demands.
Just because the commissioners appropriated $1,034,592 for court operations this year does not mean they are bound to allocate the entire amount.