MAHONING COUNTY BED TAX Franklin Co. judge denies injunction sought by CVB

The bed tax brings an estimated $450,000 annually.
By MICHELLE HLADIK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Commissioners can use Mahoning County's bed tax for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and a new visitor's bureau while a lawsuit on the issue continues.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Sheward has denied a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the Youngstown-Mahoning County Convention and Visitor's Bureau against Gov. Bob Taft and the county commissioners.
The suit was filed last month after commissioners voted to redirect the county's 3-percent bed tax to the airport.
Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said she is pleased that the judge recognized the right of the county commissioners and the state Legislature to identify local needs and address them without raising taxes.
"The CVB should not be the ones to dictate policy to the state Legislature," Sherlock said. "I think that is absurd."
Concern over funds
Sherlock said she is concerned that the visitors bureau has spent about $30,000 on paying lawyers for the lawsuit.
She said that's money from the bed tax and should be turned over to the new board so it can be spent for promoting the area.
"That is public money," she said, noting that the CVB appoints its own members and does not answer to commissioners or any other governing body.
"What it comes down to is that they have zero accountability," she said.
The injunction would have stopped commissioners from using the funds for anything other than the CVB until the lawsuit is settled.
Columbus attorney Kevin McDermott said he wasn't surprised or discouraged by the judge's decision.
"It's only one step in a long race. Lawsuits are marathons, not sprints," he said.
The suit, which challenges the constitutionality of provisions in the state budget allowing counties to redirect certain funds, was filed in Franklin County because Gov. Bob Taft is named as a defendant.
Tom Lyden, director of the Youngstown-Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Mahoning County Administrator Gary Kubic gave the only testimony at the hearing earlier this week.
Generated by tax
The tax, charged on all hotel and motel room rentals since 1987, brings in an estimated $450,000 annually. Previously the funds have been used to operate the bureau which promotes travel and tourism, but commissioners voted to use 2 percent of the tax for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and the remaining 1 percent would be used for a new CVB.
Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Linette Stratford represented commissioners at the hearing.
She and Kubic told Judge Sheward of the importance of the funds for the airport. Lyden explained the bureau also needs the bed tax to survive.
According to Lyden, the "health and vitality" of the hotel business in the area depends on the bureau and the bed tax is its sole funding source.
Stratford said the CVB's balance of more than $600,000 would sustain it for more than a year.
Judge Sheward is also considering motions from Stratford's office and the state attorney general's office to dismiss the case. It is uncertain when he will rule.
Judge Sheward's official written decision denying the preliminary injunction is expected to be released early next week.
"There are still a host of issues," McDermott said, explaining the lawsuit will continue unless the judge agrees to dismiss the case.
McDermott said he expects the case to take several weeks, but believes everyone involved wants to resolve the issue quickly.