COLUMBIANA COUNTY Townships consider joint representation in suit

By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners are offering townships a chance to save on attorney fees in a lawsuit filed by East Liverpool over local government funds.
Commissioners said Wednesday that the county's townships, who are named along with commissioners in the lawsuit, can be represented by the Akron attorney commissioners have hired to defend themselves.
Under a joint representation plan, the first $10,000 in legal fees would be paid by the county. Any amount beyond that would be shared by the townships, commissioners said.
If townships don't join the county, they'll probably have to hire their own attorney or join with other townships to hire someone, commissioners said.
The county township trustee association initially indicated it would recommend that townships band together to hire an attorney, Commissioner Gary Williams said. But after further consideration, the group may decide to recommend joining the county, added Williams, a former association president.
So far, trustee boards in two of the county's 18 townships -- Liverpool and Fairfield -- have voted to join commissioners.
Earlier this month, commissioners hired Atty. Stephen Funk of Roetzel & amp; Andress to represent them.
Funk will be paid $175 an hour. The rate will remain the same whether Funk represents just the commissioners or townships as well, Williams said.
Usually, commissioners and townships are represented by the county prosecutor's office.
But Prosecutor Bob Herron has said he will be representing only the county budget commission, which also is named in East Liverpool's lawsuit.
Herron is a member of the budget commission. The panel includes the treasurer and auditor. Representing both bodies would be a conflict, Herron has said.
Money back
East Liverpool's lawsuit, filed in May, seeks to erase a 2002 Ohio law sponsored by state Rep. Charles Blasdel of East Liverpool, R-1st.
The city claims the law is unconstitutional.
The law was used by the county to drastically reduce East Liverpool's share of millions of state tax dollars known as local government funds.
A new formula, created using Blasdel's law, enabled the county budget commission to reduce the city's share of the funds from 27 percent to a little more than 4 percent. The change gave more money to other cities, villages and townships in the county.
East Liverpool also is suing cities and villages in the county. They are likely to use their own law directors to defend themselves.