NEVER ENDING ELECTIONS, FARM BILL FIGHTS AND ‘EMERGENCY RELIEF’

Thursday, November 14, 2024
Alan Guebert

The now two-times-delayed 2024 Farm Bill remains captive to all the election engineering. The bipartisan House version, pushed through by GOP Ag Chair Glenn Thompson last May, sits unmoved in what forecasters predict will soon be the Dem-controlled, lame duck Senate.

Currently, there are no signs that Senate Ag Chair–and probable chief lame duck–Debbie Stabenow is ready to finish the bill before she retires to Michigan in early January.

Meanwhile, the Senate Ag’s ranking Republican, Arkansan John Boozman, Stabenow’s likely successor if the GOP retakes the upper chamber, holds a strong hand to pull the ever-weakening Stabenow into one–maybe two–lame-duck-session ag deals.

First, Stabenow, who reads the same gloomy Dem polls that Boozman happily reads, also knows if she’s to have any of her ideas included in any Farm Bill she needs to act quickly and boldly during the November-December lame duck period.

That will be a tough steak for her to chew because she has steadfastly opposed the House bill’s deep, $30-billion cuts to food assistance programs and its substantial boost to income-supporting reference prices. Still, if there’s a deal to be done with House negotiators–say, a mid-point on each element–Stabenow might take her half and walk away with a lukewarm compromise.

Compounding any simple deal, however, is who wins the House majority. If the GOP keeps (or builds on) its slim, control, any lame duck deal might become a dead duck because Republicans, in control of both the Senate and the House in early 2025, would have zero incentive to bargain with Stabenow in late 2024.

Then again, if today’s Congressional roles reverse–a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led Senate–the current Farm Bill stalemate might continue well into the new year.

That’s where Boozman’s second card may come in handy.

Since early September, Senate Republicans have been pushing for “emergency farm relief” to counter the delayed Farm Bill and this year’s stumbling farm income. In mid-October, Trent Kelly, a Republican House Ag member from Mississippi, presented a formal bill–named FARM: the Farm Assistance and Revenue Mitigation Act–that looks to give farmers about $20 billion in direct income assistance this year.

“The response to the proposed FARM Act has been positive, with large farm organizations such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, and the American Soybean Association in support of it,” Farm Journal reported Oct. 22.

Of course they are “in support of it” because, with the bitter campaign over, all its talk about government overspending will be over, too.

MEETING ARRANGED BY GEAUGA PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE TO DISCUSS TERMINOLOGY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BILLS NOW SURPASSING $20 MILLION

Friday, October 25, 2024

The renovation work undertaken on the Geauga County Courthouse, which Commissioners originally thought was going to be completed in the range of $14.5-$15 Million Dollars when first approved during the fourth quarter of 2023, has clearly surpassed $20 million after revelations on October

Readers may remember the confusion over the Courthouse Expansion Project and the lack of responsibility for never-ending costs, corrections, and improvements that apparently were either not anticipated or not distinctly-delineated as this project’s first costs came in at $91,000 on November 21, 2023, , followed quite quickly with an additional contract on December 5, 2023, of $931,002, putting the total financial commitment at year’s end at $1,022,002.

As early as January 20, 2034, a revised contract with more bells and whistles, brought the expense of the Then Design Courthouse renovation fo a whopping $18,664,744. Some of this extra expense had to do with matching limestone facades aesthetically with limestone from the original courthouse. At nearly $19,000,000 to meet aesthetic expectations, the courthouse project was already about $4 million over original expectations.

As if these changes weren’t far too obnoxious for the average Geauga taxpayer who was dealing with far-reaching inflation just to feed this/her family, let-alone meet the perfectionist expectations of matching building stonework, 3 change orders that were billed to the Courthouse Expansion project on July 23, 2024, added yet another $292,761 to the total investment. Therefore,as of July 23, 2024, only eight months into the accounting, the total financial obligation was already for all practical purposes $20,000,000. For those who want the technical information, the total amount sunk into the Courthouse Expansion Project was $19,979,507 in just eight months.

But that isn’t the end of the story, Geauga County taxpayers. At the October 10.2024, Commissioner meeting, Brad Geller, spokesperson for Then Design, came forward from those in attendance to explain why it became necessary for the contracted Then Design to charge additional fees of $368,570 after the fact. Adding these additional charges to the accumulated $19.979,507 now puts the accumulated costs for Geauga taxpayers at well over $20 million, specifically $20,348,077. The project is not finished yet, with fears of a financial downturn and potentially harder times than we have yet seen.

As noted earlier, Commissioner Spidalieri, in response to Geller’s belated explanation in an effort to get Then Design’s additional $370K, could only sputter away, “There was never any advance warning, How do we justify all this?”

Lennon, who will be leaving at the end of his commissioner term, could only shake his head in absolute disbelief. “How did this [project expense] get so high?”

Adrian Gorton, refreshed after a week away from county finance, resumed his role of itemization of Geauga County financials in Agenda Item #3 during the October 22, 2024, meeting. As an endnote, Gorton announced a 2 p.m. private meeting apparently arranged by Prosecutor Jim Flaiz’s office to discuss with Chardon officials the accumulated bills received thus far in connection with the Courthouse Expansion project that has inflicted obvious misery that is far from over. There seemed to be a common response of relief from all three commissioners in the absence of final answers and/or equitable assignments of responsibility for making the renovated courthouse the new showplace of Chardon Square.

Stay tuned. This latest confusion is still a breaking story, likely laden with lots more revelations and tons more expenses for Geauga County taxpayers. As outgoing Commissioner Lennon recently commiserated on October 8, “I’ll be long gone [as Commissioner] and I’ll be paying the taxes.”

Spot on. So will the rest of us. . .

FACTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE VOTING KENSTON PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT LEVY – ISSUE 3

Friday 25, October, 2024
Linda Calvert Nokes, Auburn Township Ohio

Unfortunately, the Kenston School Board did not accept the majority vote against this levy last Fall. The Geauga County Auditor and Budget Commission notified all property owners in the county of the huge increase in the State’s reappraisal and strongly suggested that taxpayers request of local officials they lower their inside millage to help ease the burden on taxpayers. The County Commissioners lowered their inside millage as did many townships and at least one school. Auburn Township who shares the school system with Bainbridge and the Kenston School Board chose not to alleviate this burden. They are running levies on the November ballot in addition to having received a substantial windfall in January 2024 due to the new property valuations.

Kenston’s windfall amounted to $1.16 million (about the amount of the proposed levy). Our State representative Demetriou’s office in Columbus told me last Fall that he was pursuing legislation that would change the way property valuations are calculated because they were unrealistically high. In checking back recently with his office, I found that nothing has been accomplished yet and if they do not pass legislation before year-end, the current valuations will stand for another year. The same amount of windfall that Kenston and other entities received this past January will again be paid to them in Jan. 2025. Our school will receive another $1.16 million without any vote by the residents and it could even be more for any new construction this year. To me, that translates to at least $2.32 million in new money Kenston can put in their improvement fund without the proposed levy and without a vote by taxpayers. If our state legislators never get around to revising the way they do reappraisals, they will all continue to receive the windfall amounts they received in January 2024 and for many years ahead!

At the County Budget Commission hearing, who is by law required to approve the budgets of all political entities, school Treasurer Cales reported an unencumbered cash balance of over $15 + million in their coffers. The Commission questioned Treasurer Cales why Kenston did not show any funds from the windfall transferred into an improvement fund. They also noted that the school’s expenses “have been flat for the past three years”. Kenston has been able to easily transfer $575,000 during those years from the general fund (which can be used for any expense) to an improvement fund but apparently its being stockpiled as unencumbered cash.

The previous superintendent, who was here just a few years, told us how our school system was starting a program to reduce expenses and closing one of the buildings due to low enrollment. We now have a new super backing this levy. With all due respect, I don’t believe this superintendent, this treasurer, or this School Board has given this the thought it deserves. We are in the midst of an unsettling presidential election, inflation has soared the past few years with a national debt of over $33 trillion and many expert economists are warning of a severe recession coming which leads me to believe the “School” is apparently unaware or chooses to ignore our present economic situation. Their costly levy mailers do not mention the windfall they have already received and/or another to come in January. Are they trying to pull the wool over our eyes? They are certainly not being transparent and I believe that this is hardly the way or the time to play games with those of us who must financially support the school.

DEFEAT KENSTON SCHOOL’S FALL 2024 REPEAT EFFORT TO IMPOSE 5-YEAR PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT LEVY AFTER ITS $1.164 MILLION INSIDE MILLAGE HEIST FROM SENIOR TAXPAYERS

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Kenston Schools could have resolved its own top-heavy financing of educators accustomed to receiving healthy raises and fringe benefits in the fall of 2023 when it chose to “stick it” to elderly taxpayers caught between a rock and a hard place after the sexennial revaluation. Back in October 2023 we learned that Kenston Schools had, done an excellent job of staying quiet, playing dumb, and not saying a word about the windfall of $1.164 million dollars that would benefit the system annually without even a vote from beleaguered taxpayers. Then on top of it they expected taxpayers to buy into paying even more out of the goodness of their hearts. These were elderly taxpayers whose fixed retirement benefits had been determined 20-30 years earlier. Kenston Schools have become noted for Taj Mahal laboratories, library acquisitions, new textbooks ,supplies, electronic upgrades. Whatever has happened to waiting for the best deals instead of buying stuff at top prices Because of inflated home prices and shortages of homes on the market, taxpayers were being squeezed, and those highly-paid school executives in charge of spending taxpayers’ fixed incomes, rather than their own dollars, had no empathy, no concern, no respect for homeowners losing the American Dream of Home Ownership so the Kenston Schools could be the Taj Mahal!

As early as October 2023, the Geauga County Budget Commission offered a plan of action to beleaguered taxpayers supporting the top-heavy pyramid oppressing them:

“Encourage your County( Board of Commissioners), School (Board of Education), and Local Government (Trustees, Council, Mayor) to consider reducing Outside Millage to offset the increased Inside Millage tax. Recommendation letters have been sent to the County, Schools, and Local Governments from the County Budget Commission.”

Did Kenston Schools give anything back during their moment of clairvoyance that they were suddenly filthy wealthy on the backs of peon taxpayers, in many cases, taxpayers who had struggled to support exorbitant wants, not necessities, and educator-heavy payrolls within Kenston Schools.

As a result of this elitist attitude and total disrespect for the backs of taxpayers, these taxpayers voted overwhelmingly on November 7, 2023, to defeat Kenston’s 5-year Permanent Improvement Levy. How dare those educators on the receiving end dare to presume that they would be more entitled to Taj Mahal surroundings while the taxpayers felt squeezed inside out. Shame on those college-educated elitists who feel so uniquely entitled to deal with such small numbers of young people. They certainly have no respect for the taxpayers.

As a result Kenston Schools brought their own doom by not receiving their anticipated additional $1,265,000 to buy the newest , the best of electronic and wireless equipment and inflation- subject luxuries. The Kenston Board of Education had finally overplayed its hand when all it was really necessary to do was demonstrate that those beneficiaries of advanced degrees, tenure, and fringe benefits had totally disregarded the needs of others in the community—those who pay property tax.

Candidates running for re-election have in October 2024 campaign literature verified their efforts to make unionized teachers part art of an entitled class. Steve Demetriou has crowed during election season 2024 that as an active lawmaker in Columbus, he has “secured record funding for Ohio’s public schools (e.g., Kenston Board of Education) ” and “provided pay raises for our teachers so our [Public] schools can acquire and retain the BEST POSSIBLE educators,” Obviously, lawmaker Demetriou assumes that the best possible public school teachers are only a function of the highest dollar offered to them…

The Kenston Board of Education under Superintendent Steve Sayers and his successor Dr. Bruce Willingham, had apparently very little difficulty realizing that if Kenston was able to make some cuts on low-hanging fruit by simply offering a retirement buy-out-incentive, the exorbitant costs and fringe benefits for 10 teaching employees could be painlessly eliminated. The most important question is what took these elitist, very highly-paid executives so long to figure out that Kenston Schools was operating with great waste and inefficiency. If these highly-paid leaders were so skilled, why couldn’t they have figured out the waste and inefficiency long before instead of enjoying so much lavish overpayment for teachers on a nine-month teaching calendar?

Additionally, 3 teachers could be reassigned to the Middle School, based on their current certification and seniority. Again, how long on the backs of taxpayers are we supposed to be tolerant of employees on a nine-month teaching calendar with such lucrative fringe benefits when taxpayers are asked to be patient as they are squeezed on the whims of inefficiency and maybe even sweetheart deals.

What we have read from Treasurer Seth Cales that the annual $1,164,000 inside millage annual unvoted windfall is meaningless to him because the $1,164,000 creates no sense of gratitude in him or those in charge of the Kenston Board of Education. After all, to hear Cales rationalize his disregard for the mere $1,164,000 demonstrates his contempt that the annual windfall “constitutes less than 3% of the Kenston Board of Education’s TOTAL REVENUES.” POOR TREASURER CALES! What a sense of entitlement the taxpayers of Bainbridge and Auburn have created in this new class of royalty. Maybe the Kenston Board of Education has just become too accustomed to lavishly spending “other people’s money.”

Back in January 2024 in In the Know Kenston, outgoing Superintendent Steve Sayers reported that “currently the intermediate , middle, and high schools are only operating at 2/3 capacity.” To this writer and to many other observers, this statement is clear evidence that heating, lighting, utility, and janitorial bills were overpriced because of too much available space and too much opportunity for inefficiency. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that charging taxpayers for unused or misused space is an invitation for being ripped-off. By simply deciding to close the Intermediate School and to take advantage of the available space at the Middle School for 4^th and 5^th grades and to move 8^th graders into already available but unused space at the High School could have provided vast savings, years ago, but as long as taxpayers were nothing more than a source of other people’s money to exploit, why work to solve the obvious problems any sooner than absolutely necessary? This writer feels great shame for the inability to foster the problem-solving skills that Kenston Schools continually boast about but take their sweet old time to demonstrate. Hypocrisy?

Interestingly, Kenston Treasurer Seth Cales showed up in person about February 2024 to present his 2024 budget to the Geauga County Budget Commission [Auditor Charles Walder, Prosecutor James Flaiz, and Treasurer Christopher Hitchcock]. At the time, Prosecutor Flaiz reminded Kenston taxpayers about Kenston Board of Education shortcomings and perhaps half-truths as he personally chided Cales in person:
“You are talking about reining in your expenses, but your expenses have been flat for the last three years. Yet, this budget cycle you are jumping up to $2 million. You just got $1,160.000 on inside millage revenue, so what are you all of a sudden spending $2 million on out of your general fund? . . . Permanent Improvement Projects are what’s driving your increases and your deficits. That’s going to eat away at your [annual] cash carryover.”

The Kenston Board of Education apparently refuses to accept the notion that runaway price inflation on even the most pathetic cuts of stew meat and fresh produce are driving into dire straits those who sacrificed for years to achieve the American Dream of Home Ownership.

Instead the Kenston Board of Education has come up with a new five-year Permanent Improvement Levy that will still run $2.92 per month per $100,000 valuation if voters are foolish enough to blindly trust the omissions of information from a group of educators destined to benefit personally from positive approval of the 2024 Permanent Improvement Levy:
Before you accept hype without demanding positive proof as a devil’s advocate, please be aware of several alarming factors presented in Kenston’s own biased reporting to the Auburn/Bainbridge Township Communities.

First of all, according to pages 5-6 of Kenston 2024-2025 District Calendar, Kenston local receipts soared in a two-year period:
local residential real estate taxes increased from $24,185,829 in 2022-23 to $25,701,656 in 2023-24; commercial real estate taxes increased from $4,290,481 in 2022-23 to $4,301,024 in 2023-24; Kenston Board of Education interest income increased from $547,842 in 22-23 to $826,060 in 2023-24.

As elected Steve Demetriou attested, State of Ohio sources of funding/revenue to Kenston Schools nearly quadrupled from $161,394 in 2022-2023 to a whopping $636,205 in 2023-2024. If a school system can’t wholesomely manage giveaways like $1,164,000 in inside windfall millage, but can refuse to respect and honor its Senior Citizens and long-time real-estate tax payers ravages, and can continue to indulge a Gravy Train in top- heavy Salaries and Fringe Benefits, then frankly they do not deserve to continue spending other people’s money.

If Treasurer Cales can justify spending $23,950,000 for Salaries plus Fringe Benefits of nearly $10,000,000 during 2022-2023 and apparently enjoying that role so much that during 2023-2024, he managed to spend $24,200,000 on Salaries and nearly $11,000,000 on Fringe Benefits. During 2023-2024, he did not learn any kind of responsible behavior or respect for the taxpayers, did he?

Worst of all, the Kenston Board of Education under Treasurer Seth Cales can justify overspending capital outlays of $185,502 in 2022-23 to $253,034 in 2023-2024, Those actions force this writer to conclude that the Treasurer truly enjoys spending other people’s money with no respect whatsoever for the homeowner, particularly the homeowner on fixed income who may be squeezed enough between the rock and the hard place to lose all solvency.

If you want other examples of irresponsible behavior, tune in to the Kenston Treasurer’s spending of so-called Non-Operational expenditures. In 2022-23 Treasurer Cales blithely spent nearly $1,100,000. As if that weren’t a big enough demonstration of the Happy Spender of Other People’s Money, Treasurer Cales managed to spend nearly double that amount, $1,800,000 during 2023-24.

The conclusion here is that Kenston taxpayers need to revisit and remember their own pain during the sexennial revaluation. Treasurer Cales will spend every last penny you permit him to spend without subjecting him to the criticism for irresponsibility that he has earned from taxpayers. Uncensored and allowed to spend freely, the Taj Mahal School System created in Kenston is going to break everyone’s financial backs.

Please share this documentation with every potential sympathetic taxpayer in the Kenston School District and vote to defeat the outlandish waste created in Kenston Schools on the backs of responsible taxpayers.

Make sure you communicate your wishes not to have the Happy Spender, Treasurer Cales, eat up your hard-earned money during these awful inflationary times. This lesson may be the very best real-life lesson that Mr. Cales and his entitled crew can realize during the hard times that still need to be resolved.

SAVING AND SPREADING SALT –AT WHAT PRICE TO GEAUGA TAXPAYERS?

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Outgoing County Engineer Joe Cattell presented Agenda Item #8, “requesting the Board approve and execute Resolution #24-178 to Order the Construction of Salt Storage Building at 12665 Merritt Road, Claridon Township” and setting “Bid Opening on Friday, November 1, 2024 at 10:05 a.m.” to be “advertised on October 17,2024.”

Retiring Engineer Cattell acknowledged the building of the Engineer’s Salt Dome on Merritt Road in 2015 under Commissioners Spidalieri, Lennon, and Claypool. Cattell referenced his intention of constructing a second salt dome perpendicular to the original dome “to save a lot of money” by purchasing salt at the current price of $42-$44 per ton at “this year’s contract.” per ton.

Commissioner Lennon played devil’s advocate, reporting that salt usage during the winter has been reduced in the last couple of years due to milder winters.

Cattell noted that the original salt dome was completed with a 0% 15-year-loan, but all three Commissioners approved Agenda Item #8 at 9:57 a.m. to appropriate $172,000 from the General Fund to complete the second salt dome.

We were both surprised and disappointed to hear Maintenance Department employee, Matt Sieracki, present Agenda Item #19, as follows, in regard to the price of salt being charged to Geauga County taxpayers:

“The Maintenance Department is requesting the Board award the Bid to McCaskey Landscape and Design, LLC for the 2024-2026 Snowplowing Services, Salt and Spring Cleanup for the 2024-2025 season in the amount of $92,153.00, Salt at $196.00 per half ton, and any Spring Cleanup with a total not to exceed amount of $267,528.00, as they represented the lowest and best bid.”

We spotted Mr. Jim McCaskey present to hear his motion read and approved unanimously by current Commissioners Dvorak, Lennon, and Spidalieri. We know Mr. McCaskey from his long-term post on the Geauga County Planning Commission. We would have liked to ask him why this unanimously approved contract charges for salt at the rate of $196.00 per half-ton or $392.00 PER TON in contrast to the $42-$44 current price of salt under this year’s contract cited by the Geauga County Engineer Department.

As soon as Planning Commission member McCaskey heard his contract unanimously approved, he quietly left the meeting, making it impossible to ask him in public why his price per ton of salt that he might use in business dealings with Geauga County appear to be multiple times the cost of salt quoted by the Geauga County Engineer.

Not permitted to ask any questions in public session until the Commissioners completed all 33 items and then belatedly asked if there were any questions from the public, one of these long-term editors asked why the snowplowing contract cited salt prices at nearly $400 per ton when we have been

MORE GEAUGA COUNTY PROSPECTIVE FUND SHORTAGES AND COURTHOUSE CONTINUED OVERRUNS UNDER THEN DESIGN CONSTRUCTION POSE THREATS TO COUNTY’S MONETARY SOLIDARITY

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

This is a breaking story!

IS ANYBODY MINDING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY DURING THESE TERRIBLE TIMES?

Geauga County Finance Director, Adrian Gorton, reports directly to the Geauga County Commissioners at the beginning of every Commissioner meeting during the portion of the meeting known as “The Commissioners’ Office is requesting the Board approve and execute Resolution #24 -175 itemizing the financials for the meeting of October 8, 2024. “(Item #3).

After announcing several transfers , Mr. Gorton announced several cash payments totaling more than $1,060,000. In addition, now that the County is in the last quarter of 2024, Adrian reported his observation about Geauga County Departments have been allowed to take their payrolls out of ARPA accounts. He observed that the Auditor, Engineer, Clerk of Courts, and the Prosecutor have taken the luxury of funding payrolls out of ARPA accounts from which Gorton has assumed that that $10 million in Geauga County guaranteed funds to complete projects like new construction from Then Construction to correct long-standing construction, safety, and security shortcomings in the Courthouse on the Square might be depleted before the end of the fourth quarter.

Adrian shared his concern that payroll practices that might terminate the anticipated $10 million or at least reduce the fund by $3-$4 million might make it quite difficult for Geauga County to meet its cost liability in honoring its financial commitments to maintaining legal agreements with Chardon.

Mr. Gorton noted that his observations had caused him to reach out to Ron Leyde of the Auditor’s Department last Thursday, October 3, 2024. As of this morning’s public Commissioner meeting, Mr. Gorton reported no answer back from Leyde.

Apparent lack of communication on the part of County Administrator Gerry Morgan ultimately caused more problems when Brad Geller, spokesman for Then Design Architecture showed up to report additional fees of $368,570 for completion of “geotechnical cores and associated reporting as well as additional construction testing and architectural fees in the amount of $368,570.00.” The new, unanticipated work shot the total amount of money owed by Geauga taxpayers on Renovation of County Buildings and Phase 2 Construction on New Buildings to a whopping $1,512,470.

Clearly with continuous overruns Geauga Commissioners are faced with the clear conclusion that the Courthouse Renovation will clearly exceed $20,000,000 when at least one of the Commissioners, Tim Lennon, had thought that the cost of Geauga Courthouse Renovation would not exceed $14 million. When Lennon asked Brad Geller to identify “ the true cost of the building project” and “who is making the decision” to pad the Courthouse Project with more costs, Geller noted that he was trying to keep any additional costs in line.

Tim Dvorak asked for a breakdown from Gerry Morgan of all costs, but did not receive any immediate gratification.

Lennon had more to retort. “AI thought we approved $15 million with a fancy wall. This thing is now open ended. I’ll be long-gone, but I ‘ll be paying the [property] taxes,” referring to his decision not to seek another term as Geauga County Commissioner in the 2024 November election.

Spidalieri was still burning about ARPA funds that may be quickly declining due to being used as payroll. “This project was based on ARPA funds we knew we were going to have,” he whined like the farmer who counted his chickens before they were hatched and then tried to blame everybody else for his lack of asking more questions and being more concerned, instead of making excuses. “ There was never any advance warning. . . How do we justify all this? . . .We spent a lot of time with contractors.

Lennon mentioned the emotional “nostalgia” involved with the extra cost of matching quarry stone for the courthouse.

When the excuses were laid bare and the chips were down , Lennon noted that because the $368,570 in services had already been completed, “Commissioners will begrudgingly approve the additional cost.”

Nothing like communicating to Geauga County taxpayers that elected officials and their appointed lackeys not even answerable to the public at election time are not conscientious stewards of taxpayers’ moneys during times of terrible inflation.

This issue is far from over and it continues to be a breaking story.