COLUMBIANA COUNTY Commission hires Akron lawyer in fight to hold onto local government funds

East Liverpool is asking that the distribution law be struck down.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LISBON -- An Akron lawyer will represent Columbiana County commissioners in yet another round of their legal battle over local government funds.
On Thursday, commissioners hired Atty. Stephen W. Funk of the law firm Roetzel & amp; Andress. He will be paid $175 an hour, which Commissioner Sean Logan said is significantly less than his standard rate of $215 an hour.
Commissioners are among those who were sued in June by East Liverpool over the formula used by the county budget commission to distribute local government funds.
Local government funds come from an assortment of state taxes. The state doles out the money each year to county budget commissions, which in turn distribute it among the county's townships and municipalities.
The lawsuit, filed in common pleas court, says a recent revision in state law governing distribution of the money is unconstitutional.
Largest share
In the past, East Liverpool received the largest share of funding among the county's municipalities because it is the county's largest city. The new law, though, allowed budget commissions to adopt a formula based on population and real estate values, which commissions say is more equitable.
The new formula reduced East Liverpool's share from 27 percent to just more than 4 percent.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said Ohio law allows the county to keep 50 percent of the revenue regardless of how the budget commission decides to hand out the other half.
"We don't really understand why we're even in the lawsuit," Hoppel said.
Logan said Funk has a strong background in constitutional law, which is why commissioners hired him.
There is no ceiling on what Funk will be paid, but Logan said he will do no work unless instructed by commissioners.
Humane Society board
In other business, commissioners appointed Peter C. Johnson Jr. of Hanoverton to serve a three-year term on the Salem Humane Society's board of directors. Johnson is president of Salem Humane Society Inc., which operates an animal shelter in Salem.
bjackson@vindy.com