Ban proves hard to enforce

The smoking ban is showing itself to be costly for Ohio counties.

TOLEDO (AP) — County health departments are running up steep bills in their efforts to stamp out smoke across Ohio.

A year after the state’s smoking ban went into effect, some county health departments have found enforcement to be too costly, with at least a dozen local entities turning over inspection and violation duties to the Ohio Department of Health.

Under the law that went into effect last May, local health departments receive 90 percent of fines collected from businesses and individuals. The fines range from $100 to $2,500 and were intended to fund enforcement, but the state has collected a total of just $30,000 from local health departments around the state.

That amount falls far short of easing the financial burden placed on local departments, officials said. The Toledo-Lucas County health department alone has spent $40,000 hunting down violators, while banking just $630 in fines. Costs stem from overtime, mileage and other added expenses.

“It is a [financial] concern, and we’ve voiced that concern to the state,” said Alan Ruffell, the county’s director of environmental health.

Officials have received 29,714 violation complaints across Ohio, according to statistics compiled by the state.

In Erie and Ottawa counties, officials hired a part-time contract employee to help lower costs. That position alone costs nearly $16,000 a year, Erie County Health Commissioner Peter Schade said.

Counties struggling to enforce the ban can choose to turn over enforcement to the state with 30 days’ notice, said Ohio Department of Health spokesman Kristopher Weiss. But state health officials are working with local departments to make the process more efficient and less costly, he said.

Inspectors should be able to write tickets and hold civil hearings, instead of being forced to navigate cumbersome, paperwork-intensive procedures, said Brad Espen, Wood County’s director of environmental health.

Other officials say warning letters and fines should not be sent as certified mail, which is time-consuming and costly.

“You just get buried in it,” Espen said. “By the time you collect $100, you’ve already spent way more than that.”