CLEVELAND, Ohio – In the massive last-minute lame-duck bill that passed just before the holidays, Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a change that would weaken a 40-year-old ethics law, to make it easier for local officials to do business with the government.

We’re talking about the bill — and the lack of public scrutiny — in Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.

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Here‘s what we’re asking about today:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a little-noticed provision passed the the lame duck Legislature before it adjourned. DeWine said the provision would have exempted mayors and other public officials from longstanding ethics laws. Reporter Jake Zuckerman got the story on how this sleazy provision got passed in the first place. What’s the deal?

DeWine did sign another provision that came out of nowhere in the lame duck session, with zero discussion or testimony. Why did DeWine say he signed legislation allowing police departments to charge $75 per hour of police body cam footage?

Reporter Laura Hancock wrote about some staggering increases in the prices of certain kinds of liquor in Ohio in recent years. What are some examples, and what is driving the increases?

Case Western University released a study that turned what we know about the illegal drug trade on its head, raising questions about how law enforcement has strategized its war on drugs. What does the study show?

The new U.S. Congress is in place, but before longtime senator Sherrod Brown rode off into the sunset, he reflected a bit for reporter Sabrina Eaton. What was his message?

We did something unusual on New Year’s Day and published in a big way a story we published in a big way six months earlier. What’s the story, and why did we go big on it again?

A big story in 2024 was the giant leaps in home values for tax purposes in Cuyahoga County, which led to an informal appeals process for people who thought their assessments were too high. How many appealed? How many were successful?

It’s a boom, of sorts. How much did permits for commercial construction increase in Cleveland in 2024?

When people talk hunting in Ohio, they largely talk about deer. But Pete Krouse reminded us that a whole lot of other critters are targets as well, including some you might not expect. What are they?

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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris Quinn (00:00.921)

Hey, hey, we’re back. Happy New Year. Happy 2025. We’re happy to be back on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plane Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Leila Tasi, Lisa Garvin and Lara Johnston. And we took a couple extra days off last week because illness saddled a couple of us and we thought it would be better to come back strong.

Let’s go Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed a little noticed provision passed by the lame duck legislature before it adjourned. DeWine said the provision would have exempted mayors and other public officials from long standing ethics laws. Reporter Jake Zuckerman got the story on how this sleazy provision got passed in the first place. Layla, what’s the deal?

Leila (00:49.1)

Yes, tucked inside that giant bill at the end of the year was this little surprise. It’s an amendment that would have let small town mayors basically steer public contracts to their own businesses. And guess what? It didn’t even require the best price for those contracts, just the best quote treatment. So the backstory is that this all traces back to Mayor Ed Kidston of Pioneer, Ohio.

He’s not just the mayor, but also he’s the CEO of a water treatment company. Kinstin’s lobbyist pitched the idea to state lawmakers and they ran with it. They slid this amendment in at the 11th hour, but DeWine wasn’t having it. The head of Ohio Ethics Commission warned that it could open the door to some shady deals and DeWine thought that that was probably true, so he vetoed it. The concern here is that that’s not hypothetical. There have been real cases of mayors bending the rules.

like one mayor who hired his son as a city employee and then gave him a raise. That mayor was sentenced to 18 months of probation. And there was another mayor who asked the commission for an opinion on whether the city could do business with his hardware store. In that case, the commission actually said yes, the city could do that as long as it met those four terms of the current exemption. So supporters of this provision argued that this was just about practicality. In tiny towns, sometimes the mayor is the only game in town.

But critics say without stronger guardrails, this is just a recipe for self-dealing.

Chris Quinn (02:18.649)

Well, with this in the next story we’re talking about, it’s evidence of what is wrong with the lame duck session. If you really do believe, if you’re a legislator and you do believe this is necessary to help small-time governments operate, have hearings. Do this in the sunshine. Nobody knew this past except, thank heavens, for Mike DeWine and his lawyer staff because it found it. This wasn’t discussed. It was never proposed as a law.

They just snuck it in with cryptic language that nobody saw to basically allow mayors to be as sleazy as could be and violate long, longstanding ethics rules. This legislature is a disaster. The fact that they would do this with no sunshine whatsoever is evidence of everything that’s wrong with our supermajority, with Matt Hoffman, with Jason Stevens, and with lame duck sessions. We should pass a constitutional amendment.

that blocks the passage of any legislation in a lame duck session because this is the nonsense they try to get through. I’m glad Mike DeWine figured it out and vetoed it.

Leila (03:22.628)

Yeah, and.

Laura (03:22.67)

Can I add that we already have a law that says you can’t publish a bunch of laws together that don’t have anything to do with each other? We just don’t follow it.

Leila (03:29.338)

Good point. That’s a good point. You know, I think supporters of this are so off base that that, and that should be really troubling for Ohioans because this isn’t about streamlining services for small communities. Let’s get real. This is about blurring the lines between public service and personal gain. Because if small towns genuinely face resource limitations, wouldn’t the better solution be expanding access to regional resources or

Creating cooperative purchasing agreements rather than relaxing ethics laws that protect taxpayer money? That’s an insane way to deal with a problem like this.

Chris Quinn (04:08.035)

Right, right. And to say it doesn’t even have to be the best price. This is a way for small time mayors to be corrupt, to make it easier to be corrupt. And that’s the last thing we need in Ohio. I’m so glad that the Ethics Commission spotted it, alerted DeWine and DeWine did the right thing. The thing is, DeWine’s got two years left. After DeWine goes, do we have a single politician who will be ethical and honest and have any kind of integrity? I don’t know.

Lisa (04:39.893)

.

Lisa (04:55.967)

Well, he basically said that, you know, if there are any unforeseen consequences, we can fix it later on. But this bill was sponsored by Bill Cites, the outgoing Republican from Cincinnati. He was approached back in November by attorney general Dave Yost with draft language for this bill. He never introduced it or held public hearings on it. And then it was shoehorned into that omnibus.

you know, HB 315 at the 11th hour of the legislative session. It was signed into law Thursday by Governor DeWine. As you said, this allows law enforcement agencies to charge up to $75 an hour for body cam footage requests with a maximum of $750.

The ACLU Ohio lobbyist, Daniels says, this is no accident. It was done to avoid public input and scrutiny. The fee is excessive and it will affect the ability for journalists and the general public to obtain footage. But Seitz on the other hand says, don’t act like this is a big thing. He says, how many budget bills have 8 million last minute provisions that nobody sees? He says, there are lots of them. He says,

Some additions to House Bill 315 would have had a better chance for vetting if the General Assembly didn’t take an extended break from the end of June to the lame duck session. Fraternal Order of Police Ohio President and Marion Police Chief Jay McDonald says they get regular requests. All the footage must be reviewed for redactions before they’re sent out. He says he gets

weekly emails from this company, although he didn’t say what company it was, with multiple requests. Sometimes they get 70 requests per email. And he says, honestly, I don’t think police departments will exploit this new law.

Chris Quinn (06:35.939)

Look, there’s a lot to talk about with this. And the first thing is there is a problem. When the public records law was created, it was never contemplated that video would become such a big thing. And they do need to watch all that video and redact stuff that is exempt under the records law. If you have an incident with three different police officer body cams that last 90 minutes, as they point out, that’s four and a half hours of time you’ve got to go through.

Lisa (06:58.645)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (07:04.163)

And then, and it’s not easy editing video. It’s not a simple thing. And there are YouTubers and Tik Tokers that are gross. They are profiting on human misery. They want to get the drunkest drunks in a DUI fall on all over themselves so they can make fun of them and have a high time. It’s a video version of what used to be a big deal. The worst mug shots. There were websites that made lots of money by getting really ugly mug shots and

A lot of people have gotten away from that. On the other hand, these are our records. We paid for these records. We’ve paid for the generation of these records. And should you have to pay $75 for it, if we would have had hearings, you might have had an idea like everybody gets their first three work crests free. And then if the YouTubers are hammering them, they can get more. could say, well, the YouTubers would just get other people to do it. So you could put in a high fine if you misrepresent yourself as

doing it privately something I mean you would have had testimony the Ohio News Association would have gone in and represented itself and said look this is how we think it should work sites is full of beans for him to say it’s OK because it’s how we always do it thank God that guy is gone he’s out and he’s a bum that’s wrong we should not say business as usual makes it OK that was what Jimmy Demores said when he was corrupt in Cuyahoga County how do you justify.

Lisa (08:17.237)

Do business, yeah.

Chris Quinn (08:31.995)

passing something like this that’s onerous on private citizens trying to get their public records without a single discussion.

Lisa (08:40.521)

Yeah, and DeWine, he could have lion-eyed and vetoed it, but he didn’t. He called it a workable compromise. He says police departments can lower the fees or they cannot charge fees at all. And as I said earlier, you know, if there are unforeseen consequences, then they can amend the language of the bill. Now, Cleveland, the city of Cleveland’s already said, we’re not going to charge local news organizations for body cam footage.

Chris Quinn (09:01.367)

I would hope that Dewine suggesting that they talk this through more. I would hope the new legislature comes in and says, let’s have a conversation about this. Let’s bring in the Ohio News Association and others to talk about how this might work better. I should point out that most of the media in the state wrote a note to Dewine saying, please veto this. But we didn’t because I just don’t feel like when we cover Mike Dewine,

On one hand, we should be asking him for favors on the other. I don’t think he should have signed the law. I think it’s bad public policy. I think he should have sent it back and said, do this right in the new legislature. But I do understand the reason behind it. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Reporter Lara Hancock wrote about some staggering increases in the prices of certain kinds of liquor in Ohio in recent years. Lara, what are some examples and what’s driving those price hikes?

Laura (09:55.904)

Well, the pandemic had something to do with it. Raw materials and labor increased in cost. And some distillers can absorb some of that inflation, which we’ve dealt with and all sorts of things. But some don’t and are passing that off. So they’re passing these price increases into the customers. And as people’s drinking preferences have changed, so have the pricing. So Ohio is one of 17 alcohol control states. That means the Ohio Division of Liquor Control.

heavily regulates the store selling the high proof liquor. That’s why you cannot buy high proof liquor at a target. You got to go to a liquor store, even if it’s in Giant Eagle. So they have to buy from the state warehouses and they maintain uniform prices. You’re not going to get a better deal in Cincinnati than you are in Cleveland. So they listed 593 products that and how the price increased between January of 2020 and September of 2024.

and these are sold everywhere. What happens is they require the supplier to set the price and then they market up 30 % to cover their own overhead costs. I had no idea how this all worked, but then they add a liquor gallaudage tax plus a 5 % surcharge to arrive at this base retail price. So that’s how they come up to it. And the number one increase was Laird’s Applejack Blend. It went up 21%.

Some of these things are really expensive liquors like Glenlivet 18 went up 12.4%, Glenfinch went up 10.8%. I am not an expert on all of these or really any of these and I don’t know the last time I was in a liquor store. But I guess the good news is you’re not buying bottles of these every week. You do not go through this as fast as you would some wine.

Lisa (11:32.457)

The good news is you’re not buying bottles of these every week.

Chris Quinn (11:39.533)

I do wonder if the prices are going up because demand has dropped as well and they’re trying to get more money. Dry January is the story of the week. Everybody’s been talking about it. There’s been a million recipes for mocktails. I saw a story over the breakout of California that all these high-end restaurants are getting backed up on their wine because people have stopped ordering wine with their dinner, particularly red wine. It’s down by, I forget the percentage, but it was multiples of 10.

Laura (11:44.759)

Yeah.

Lisa (11:44.991)

Yeah.

Chris Quinn (12:08.515)

And I just wonder, we’ve never seen this. We report every year the total gallonage of liquor sold in Ohio. I don’t think it’s ever gone down, but I wonder if we’re about to see that demand dropping because the government has become more more clear and the science has become more and more clear. Liquor causes cancer. There’s no way around it. There’s a proposal by the surgeon general right now to put that warning on bottles that alcohol causes cancer, which doesn’t say now.

Lisa (12:32.052)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (12:37.487)

And I just wonder if that’s part of what’s going on. Jobs Ohio gets the profits from the liquor sales and if demand is lower, they might be jacking up the price for the people who are still buying it.

Laura (12:48.626)

Right. Just kind of like a syntax with cigarettes. And so we’ll just keep making them more and more expensive. And then the people who really shouldn’t can’t afford to smoke are doing it anyway. it’s interesting that has permeated my psyche in the last, I don’t know, half a year thinking, do I really want to have a glass of wine after dinner? Or is it it worth it? Because before it was always this like moderation idea. And so I wonder how many other people are having second thoughts about that.

Lisa (13:09.205)

Is it worth it?

Lisa (13:18.481)

Well, and also too, at least in the bourbon market, the Japanese are really into bourbons and they’ve driven up the price of high-end bourbons, you know, and Ohio has to have a lottery for these bottles because people are like, as we talked about, you know, they want to open the bottles to keep people from reselling them, but that’s what’s happening. And if you think about a bourbon like Pappy Van Winkle, after 23 years, there’s not a whole lot left in that barrel. And, you know, you need those 23 years to age it. you know, it’s kind of a

Laura (13:33.516)

Right.

Lisa (13:48.156)

or Ouroboros as it were.

Laura (13:50.254)

And then there’s also this idea about tariffs that if they come to be under Donald Trump, then the brands that manufacture outside the United States are stockpiling now because that might affect their ability to supply later.

Chris Quinn (13:50.266)

Yeah, that’s it.

Lisa (13:53.32)

Right.

Chris Quinn (14:05.305)

We could be at just a very interesting inflection point when it comes to liquor in this country. It’ll be interesting to see what the next few years bring. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Case Western Reserve University released a study that turned what we know about the illegal drug trade on its head, raising questions about how law enforcement has strategized its war on drugs. Leo, what does that study show?

Leila (14:30.572)

This study found that most illegal drug users in the state aren’t buying from classic drug dealers, you know, the ones from movies and TV. Instead, they’re buying and selling among friends and peers. In fact, seven out of 10 users surveyed had brokered a drug deal just in the past month and that 90 % of them had sold to their peers at some point. But we’re not talking big time trafficking. It’s more like picking up drugs for friends.

sometimes charging a little extra or keeping a bit for themselves. Professor Lee Hoffer at Case, who helped lead this study, says this highlights why cracking down on dealers doesn’t actually stop the supply. The illegal drug market adapts, and it’s thriving through this kind of peer-to-peer brokering. The study was published in the journal Contemporary Drug Problems, and it surveyed users in Cleveland and Portsmouth, and most were opioid users. These brokers usually

usually bought from several different sellers and acted as the go-to for about seven other people. And Hofre says the takeaway is pretty clear. Law enforcement efforts that target street dealers really aren’t enough. The market is just too flexible. He suggests maybe it’s time to focus on reducing demand through what’s known as harm reduction. Things like clean needle programs and fentanyl test strips or social workers handling some 911 calls, which is a trend that

is really taking hold in big cities, including Cleveland. So it’s a different way of thinking about a longstanding issue, and maybe this is a step closer to solutions that actually work.

Chris Quinn (16:05.371)

Well, I think that nails it though. It’s you’re never going to cut the supply unless you cut the demand. If people want it, they’ll find a way as this shows there. There’s always going to be a way to get the illegal drugs. So if it’s a public health issue you’re dealing with, then go with the demand with all the different strategies you can do that way. Because this really does. I’m OK. The big importers, where they get the car full of packages of heroin and things.

Leila (16:13.102)

Yeah.

Leila (16:34.521)

Yeah.

Chris Quinn (16:34.703)

They take a lot off the street, but clearly the people who are buying the drugs are finding a way to get them.

Leila (16:40.416)

Right, right. mean, if peer-to-peer brokering is how most drugs are moving, then it’s really time we rethink how we measure success in the war on drugs. Arrest stats and dealer crackdowns look pretty good on paper, but if the market barely flinches, are we really, we’re just playing whack-a-mole here. I mean, as that professor said, the better question is, how can we scale up harm reduction and mental health services to reach the brokers and users before they’re

engaged in these networks. Because if most brokers are also users, maybe supporting them could cut off a major access point for others.

Chris Quinn (17:17.967)

Right. Yeah, it’s fascinating study by case local study. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Bernie Moreno is an Ohio senator now, but before longtime Senator Sherrod Brown rode off into the sunset, he reflected a bit for reporter Sabrina Eaton. Lisa, what was his message?

Lisa (17:37.203)

Yeah, Sabrina sat down and talked with him after his farewell address to the US Senate, which is where he said his fight for the dignity of work will continue, but in a different form going forward. During his interview, he wasn’t ready to disclose his future plans. He says, I’m putting my future on hold for now. I’m focused on finding jobs for my 75 staff members in Ohio and DC. And he says he really doesn’t need a paycheck come January 1st. He said he might seek public office.

He said that he might run against whatever Republican is appointed by Governor DeWine to fill J.D. Vance’s Senate seat in 2026. He’s 72 years old now. He’s been in politics since 1982 when was the Ohio Secretary of State and he became a Senator in 2006, actually defeating Governor DeWine for that job. And he got support from many Trump voters in this last election because he says he stands for workers. And his message to Democrats is this.

He says, you need to listen to workers and you need to restore their trust. He says their disillusionment with the democratic party began with the 1993 passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He says that workers felt sold out and betrayed and they still talk about, his constituents still talk about NAFTA 30 years later. And he also killed the Obama era Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership.

He, so he says, you you need to get these workers back and maybe not focus so much on identity politics and make that tent bigger than you think it is. And he also says for Democrats currently in the legislature, he says, Trump is not going to reinstate that federal overtime payroll that affects 4 million workers. And he says, Democrats really need to fight for that.

Chris Quinn (19:19.535)

What’s interesting about him talking about running again, beyond that he’s 72, he’s done his bit for God and country. He really doesn’t know Ohio anything. He was a very good senator, did lots of service. But the fact that people are talking about him speaks to how weak the Democratic bench is because there is nobody else. And in two years, you won’t have Trump on the ballot. You’ll have the rebound election. There’s always a rebound in the midterms. And it is possible somebody with Sherrod Brown’s name

could win that thing. Now, if John Husted gets appointed Senator, he’s gonna be very hard to beat because he knows how to raise money like nobody’s business. And I think he would have some popularity with the voters. But if it’s somebody else, some of the other candidates that have been tossed out there, I think sure, it would have a chance in two years. It’s just pathetic that we have nobody else on the Democratic side that can raise a challenge. So it seems to me that Republicans are gonna rule

for a long time unless it’s a weak candidate that Sherrod runs against.

Lisa (20:22.983)

One, think Democrats need to stick to the center. think if they move too far, too fast in a progressive direction, they’re going to lose centrists. think that they, I think their tent, they think they have a big tent, but I think their tent is pretty small and they have disillusioned blue collar workers. So, and that was a big part of their, you know, their constituency.

Chris Quinn (20:42.459)

The Republicans have boxed in the Democrats. The transgender issue was the perfect example. It’s this issue that affects a tiny, tiny percentage of the people. But the Republicans shoved it at the Democrats. And instead of the Democrats saying, yeah, we’re not going to bother with that. We’re going to talk about the economy. We’re going to talk about the things Sherrod mentioned in his interview. Maybe that message gets through. But instead, they took the bait. They’ve been just outplayed so badly. Republicans own this state.

Lisa (21:05.385)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (21:10.233)

because the Democrats are clueless about what they’re doing. It’s why Sherrod did not really run as part of the Democratic Party. He ran on his own. He was out there running independently. And like you pointed out, he very much outpaced Trump in Ohio or outpaced all the other Democrats in Ohio. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We did something unusual on New Year’s Day and published in a big way a story we published in a big way six months earlier.

Lisa (21:18.867)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (21:38.905)

Laura, what’s the story and why did we go big on it again?

Laura (21:42.72)

It’s about sharing the burden and the privilege of having a great airport and having professional sports facilities because we decided to run this again after talking about how the stadium talk really had heated up in the last six months and how the county and city’s financial stress became more clear. We had this story ongoing really where the city and the county have to borrow money to pay $20 million each toward the gateway.

corporation that is the nonprofit that manages the arena and the baseball stadium because they don’t have the money and these teams can keep coming back over and over again with whatever improvements they say are necessary, whether they’re elevators or seats or whatever, and the public is on the hook for them. At the same time, we have the Haslams pushing, pushing, pushing this idea of a $2.4 billion dome in Brook Park with no plan on how to pay for it, just saying that the

Taxes created by it would be the public portion, which is asinine and I went to Ran into a couple people that were saying, you know, I I want a dome I think it would be great and it’s like well you live in Avon Lake like you wouldn’t be paying for this at all and then the people in Cleveland would be paying double if they’re asking for public support because they want support from the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County and this struck me as completely

unfair and if Northeast Ohio is going to benefit from having these teams then we all need to as you put it in your intro to this put up or shut up.

Chris Quinn (23:18.265)

Well, and look, let’s let’s start. There’s people that will debate whether there should be any public money in stadiums. So so let’s let’s not do that here. It’s saying that for a lot of people in Northeast Ohio, their whole identity is based on these teams. Not me, by the way. I mean, I’m the one offering up these ideas. But for me, you know, I’d much rather trim a piece of wood with a spokeshave than sit in the stadium and watch a bunch of guys, overpaid guys bang into each other. But but if you are going to maintain that.

Laura (23:24.087)

Yes, I agree.

Chris Quinn (23:46.915)

that three sports team city, then everybody’s gotta pay. And what really resonated with people this time around was when it said, every time you spend $100, you’d put a quarter on the counter. And people grasp that and thought, you know that I’m willing to pay that. I heard from so many people over the past few days that said, I disagree with everything you ever write except this. I’m with you on this. I live in X County and I’d be willing to pay this money.

to maintain this identity for Northeast Ohio? And how do I get past my public official who’s out there saying, I’m not doing anything that’s gonna benefit a facility in Cleveland? I heard from so many people that wanna do this and they’re really pushing us. They said, don’t wait six months to talk about this again. Talk about it now. Let’s also talk about the absurdity of what the Haslams are doing. Before, I don’t think we talked about this, I think it happened after the break.

Laura (24:22.069)

Mm-hmm.

Laura (24:26.307)

Right.

Laura (24:39.406)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (24:45.391)

but that an anonymous push poll came out about the stadium that the Browns aren’t taking credit for. And we’ve heard all sorts of tips about who put it out there that savaged Chris Ronane and did all sorts of sleazy stuff that we ran every question to show what’s going on here. The Hasm’s came out just last week with this preposterous statement that says, have executed a document that solidifies our future purchase of Brook Park for Dome Stadium. Not, we bought it.

Not we’ve put money down. We’ve executed a document and they don’t say what it is. Do you realize how many other media outlets ran with that like it was real? The people that I used to consider legitimate journalists ran stories on that like it was a legitimate story with no question. Nobody’s saying they claim they executed a document. They refuse to say what it is and nobody has any idea what it means. Everybody bought it. the Browns are closer to buying the blah, blah.

Laura (25:23.82)

Yeah, everybody.

Lisa (25:25.196)

yeah.

Lisa (25:41.289)

Hmm.

Chris Quinn (25:42.723)

What is wrong with journalism in Cleveland today? This is not acceptable.

Laura (25:49.074)

I mean, there are so many questions about what they’re trying to push with the dome. And I think this idea of sharing the privilege and the burden hopefully will resonate. But you’re right, because these individual county commissioners or city leaders in the outlying suburbs, they’ve never been on the hook for this. this is nobody wants to be like, I’m responsible for costing you more money. And nobody wants to help out anyone else. I mean, we had it in our.

forum in our editorial over the weekend for resolutions to stop treating regionalism as a dirty word, right? The only way we’re going to move forward and improve this area is if we work together. And this is the perfect way to start because it’s not asking you to give up any mayorships or dismantle any small governments. It’s just recognizing that this is a good thing for everyone. The thing is,

Lisa (26:29.449)

Give up any mayor.

Lisa (26:34.612)

This is a good thing for everyone. thing is…

Laura (26:36.994)

We’re not seeing the sports teams take this up and say, yeah, we want this guaranteed because this requires them to pay half and to pay the maintenance costs. Exactly.

Chris Quinn (26:40.047)

No they-

Lisa (26:40.176)

yeah, because this requires them to pay half and to pay the maintenance.

Chris Quinn (26:43.771)

Yeah, they’ll hate this because right now they have a blank checkbook and this would end the blank checkbook they pay half the price of the New construction half the price of a midterm major renovation Everything else is theirs and they would I guarantee you they had to pay for that escalator themselves They’d have found the parts to keep the old one running

Laura (27:04.8)

Or they would have put it into the original plan when they did the big update saying, you pay half, we pay half instead of, wait, we just waited on this and now you have to pay for all of it.

Lisa (27:04.949)

Or they would have put it into the original plan when they did the big update saying, you pay half, we pay half instead of, oh wait, we just waited on this, now you have to pay for all of it.

Chris Quinn (27:14.779)

Yeah, it was very sleazy. There are several mechanisms people suggested for this. And one I thought of later is what if the legislature created a statewide quarter percent sales tax for capital and then created districts throughout the state for spending it? So then in the rural areas, which have completely different needs, they could do certain things. But in the cities like Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland,

Lisa (27:16.597)

There are several mechanisms people suggest. And one, I thought later, is what if the broads that could create these statewide 40 % sales tax were capital?

Chris Quinn (27:41.625)

you’d build districts that would focus on sports facilities and airports. There are ways to do this that make sense. It’s the public officials have to get out of the way. They’re the ones that are always just thinking about their own jobs and they will not do anything bold to move this region forward. And man, the voters know it. I heard from so many of them. So we’re gonna have to…

Laura (27:56.366)

Mm-hmm.

Laura (28:04.994)

And the state legislature wants to talk about lowering income taxes, right? So I don’t see them taking up a plan to increase sales taxes.

Lisa (28:05.461)

Your legislature wants to talk about lowering income taxes, right? So I don’t see them taking up plans to increase sales taxes.

Chris Quinn (28:13.379)

Yeah, but the legislature also knows that identity all through Ohio and the Cincinnati or in the Columbus area of Cleveland area is built on sports and and they also look the other thing we pointed out Columbus just broke ground on a $2 billion airport terminal. We’re going to be in last place Detroit Indianapolis Pittsburgh and Columbus are all going to have much more superior airports and got people hate that airport they hate it.

Laura (28:31.638)

Mm-hmm. Pittsburgh.

Chris Quinn (28:40.013)

And as I pointed out in the thing I wrote, if Cleveland won’t give up Hopkins, which is landlocked, we’ll put it somewhere else. That’s what they did in Detroit. That’s what they did in Denver. The hell with Cleveland. The sports stadium should be in Cleveland. The airport should be convenient. So lots to talk about. And people were talking. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. A big story in 2024 were the giant leaps in home values for tax purposes in Cuyahoga County, which led to an informal appeals process.

Lisa (28:58.25)

you

Chris Quinn (29:09.647)

for people who thought their assessments were way too high. Leila, how many appealed and how many were successful?

Leila (29:16.218)

If you’re a Cuyahoga County homeowner who thought your property value shot up too high during the latest assessment, you should know by now if the county agreed with you. And it’s just in time for those tax bills to start rolling out. So this year, over 20,000 homeowners filed complaints after home values jumped an average of 32%. Out of those, about 14,000 are seeing their property values adjusted, most with reductions.

The average drop is about $23,900. Neil Winans, who’s the county’s appraisal manager, said that if you sent in photos or any evidence showing that your house needed repairs, chances were pretty good that you got some kind of a break. If you didn’t provide proof, you were likely part of the 6,300 people whose complaints were denied. Now, if you missed the first round or you’re not happy with the results of your attempt here,

there’s still a chance you can file a formal complaint starting January 1st with the county’s Board of Revision. And here’s a tip, showing up for your hearing makes a difference because you can do it in person or by phone or video, but if you skip it, the board has to make a guess based on your paperwork. But, and this is important, filing a formal complaint doesn’t mean you get to skip paying your taxes. The first half is due by February 20th, and even if you win your case later,

you’ll get a credit for next year. If you try to pay less now and lose, fees could really start piling up. So the moral of the story is pay your taxes and if you think your assessment is still too high, you can fight it. Just be ready to wait a bit for that decision.

Chris Quinn (30:53.669)

Can you pay your taxes if they haven’t sent the bills out yet?

Leila (30:56.622)

Well, don’t they have them? They have them digitally. You can.

Chris Quinn (30:59.573)

They’re supposed to send them out. They used to get them out before the end of the year, but they’ve gotten later and later. They should be coming. We should probably figure out when they’re coming and report it. I wonder though, if you talk about all the people that sent in paperwork saying my house sucks, if you were in the market for a house, wouldn’t you want that resource? Wouldn’t you want to know what the owners are saying is bad about their house before you make an offer on it? I would think a real estate agent might make a pretty penny by getting this into some kind of database.

so that people can understand how the owners are complaining about their own home.

Leila (31:34.266)

Well, some of it might be obvious to anyone who’s out buying homes. We contested it in the formal round one year years ago, and we basically were like, look at how crappy our kitchen is.

Chris Quinn (31:50.063)

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. If I’m going to go buy a house, I’d love to see what you would say about your own house. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We’re glad to be back. Thanks for listening. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Today in Ohio. We’ll be back Tuesday.

Leila (31:53.046)

Right.