Lepore-Hagan submits bill to eliminate YMHA debt

COLUMBUS — Amended House Bill 390, a tax-related bill that includes an amendment to give the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority the opportunity to correct a decades-old tax liability issue, unanimously passed the Ohio House of Representatives today.

“I’m very pleased to have worked in a bipartisan manner to try to help the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, which serves families in need throughout our community,” said State Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown.

“The debt burden related to the YMHA’s Rockford Village should never have existed in the first place. The amendment to HB 390 is a common-sense approach to remedying a long overdue problem,” she said.

YMHA completed renovations to its Rockford Village development in 1999-2000 but, due to a clerical error, failed to re-apply for the property’s tax-exempt status. The total Rockford Village tax debt, which has been accumulating since 2002, includes at least $1.35 million in tax, $178,000 in penalties and $374,000 in interest.