Oakhill tax bill wouldn’t be a game-breaker in any event

Vindicator Editorial: October 3, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

The Oakhill Renaissance Place project may end up costing Mahoning County another $400,000 more than had been originally planned.

That’s unfortunate for the county. Though at the same time it could be good news for the Youngstown City School District, which would get the bulk of the $421,000 in real estate taxes that had accumulated before the county bought the building in a bankruptcy sale.

By a narrow vote this week, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Mahoning County can’t pursue a tax exemption that had been sought by the former owners of the old South Side Hospital. The 4-3 vote and the emphatic dissent suggest that tax lawyers might be arguing the case again sometime. But as of now, unless the county successfully pursues another legal tactic, it appears the county is going to have to pay.

This is but the most recent controversy surrounding the county’s purchase of Oakhill for $75,000 from the bankruptcy court. The county agreed to be responsible for more than $900,000 worth of mortgages and liens on the property, including the $421,000 tax bill for which Southside Community Development Corp., the former owner, had sought an exemption. The Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday barred the county from continuing to pursue that exemption.

Still a good deal

Regardless of whether the county has to pay the outstanding tax bill, Oakhill continues to be a good purchase for the county.

Its purchase facilitated the removal of the Department of Job and Family Services from its crumbling offices in an East Side shopping center. It allowed the county coroner’s office to remain in its quarters, which include morgue facilities that would have been expensive to duplicate. Other county agencies, including the Veteran’s Service Commission, Green Team, auto title department and board of elections are scheduled to move there from the county’s South Side Annex.

Over time, the county will be able to adapt about 400,000 square feet of space to long-term and economical use.

Also, by stepping up, the county saved a solid building that otherwise would have fallen into disrepair and become a blight on Youngstown’s South Side.

If the county must pay the tax bill, so be it. A payment schedule can be arranged for the county, just as it would be for any other taxpayer who fell behind but could show a willingness and ability to meet its obligations.

Certainly any talk of putting the building into a bundle of liens to be sold to an outside investor is nonsensical. County Treasurer Lisa Antonini knows where to find the county. Selling the lien for pennies on the dollar would the height of irresponsibility.

The county owns the building. The county is making increasingly good use of the building. If there is valid reason to believe that the county is entitled to a pre-sale tax exemption, regardless of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, the commissioners and the prosecutor’s office have an obligation to pursue it.

But there should be no more political gamesmanship from either side.