AUSTINTOWN Did trustees' levy decision break law?

Trustees say delaying the vote prolongs the township's financial problems.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Township residents will have the opportunity to vote on a 2.5-mill continuing levy for the township's fire and police departments this year, township trustees say.
It will be up to elections officials, however, to determine whether the levy will appear on a ballot sooner rather than later. Those officials want to know whether trustees violated the state sunshine law when they decided to hold a special election for the levy in August.
The levy would generate about $1.4 million a year for township police and fire departments. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home in the township about $76 annually.
Trustees approved a resolution Monday to hold the special election for the levy Aug. 5. The resolution, however, was not listed on the agenda for Monday's special meeting.
A state appeals court held in 1998 that trustees violated the sunshine law if they take action at a special meeting that is not listed in the published notice of the meeting.
"Obviously, we're going to have to look into it," said Michael Sciortino, director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections. He said he will discuss the resolution with the county prosecutor and the Ohio Secretary of State's office.
Out of options
Township Administrator Michael Dockry submitted a resolution to the board of elections Thursday afternoon seeking the special election. It was the only request for a special election filed in the county.
The deadline to file requests for a special election was 4 p.m. Thursday.
If elections officials determine the special election can't be held because trustees violated the sunshine laws, the levy will be on the November ballot, trustees say.
"I don't think we have any other options," Trustee Bo Pritchard said. "It's either that or watch our township government get decimated."
Township officials have said that because of increases in the cost of insurance, workers' compensation, wages and decreases in revenue, about $1.2 million needs to be cut from the budget to avoid a deficit. Trustees have already laid off several employees.
Trustee David Ditzler said trustees may have to make additional budget cuts if they have to wait until November for a vote on the levy.
Acted in 'good faith'
Ditzler and Pritchard both said they weren't aware the resolution for the special election had to be listed on the agenda of Monday's meeting.
"If we had known that, we could have scheduled another meeting," Ditzler said. "We did it in good faith."
Pritchard said trustees had discussed the pros and cons of a special election for several months. He said there were some worries about the cost of the election and the trustees' ability to mobilize the community to support the levy before Aug. 5.
Sciortino estimated that the township would have to pay the county between $20,000-$25,000 for the special election.
Trustees agreed Monday to hold the special election so that they could address the township's budget problems as quickly as possible, Trustee Richard Edwards said. Trustees also said they didn't want to put the levy on the ballot in November, when the school board also is expected to ask voters to approve a levy.
"You want to give the community the opportunity to look at issues on their own merit," Ditzler said.
Court case cited
When asked about Monday's vote on the resolution, Mark Gribben, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, cited a 1998 court case in which the appeals court agreed with lower courts that "the term special meeting [in the sunshine law] necessarily implies that such a meeting can only be held when there are specific reasons for holding it.
"It follows that the notice of a special meeting must refer to those specific reasons, and that those specific issues are the only ones which can be addressed at such a meeting," the ruling states.
The agenda for Monday's meeting stated that trustees were going to conduct bargaining sessions with employees.
hill@vindy.com