Port authority board member questions legality of bed-tax use

Port authority board member questions legality of bed-tax use

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Western Reserve Port Authority member Andres Visnapuu says he questions whether the Mahoning County commissioners are legally allowed to increase the bed tax by 2 percent, despite legal opinions that say they can.

Visnapuu acknowledges that he is not an attorney, but he believes the county should seek additional clarification of whether bed-tax money can be used for economic development.

The question should be answered before commissioners decide whether to increase the bed tax so that the Ohio Auditor’s Office doesn’t later order that the port authority pay the money back, Visnapuu said.

Commissioners are planning to have public hearings “sometime after Easter” to gather more information on raising the bed tax, Commissioner Carol Rimedio Righetti said Friday. No dates have been set.

Commissioners from Trumbull and Mahoning counties also plan to meet with each other on the topic at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Trumbull County Commissioners meeting room at 160 High Street N.W.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.