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Chardon wants villages to help pay court costs
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 09, 2009)
Chardon wants villages to help pay court costs
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon City Council will consider legislation that seeks to have other municipalities pay their shares of Chardon Municipal Court's operating costs.
Councilman Jefferey Campbell Jr. has asked Law Director James Gillette to prepare legislation that would assess the villages of South Russell, Burton and Middlefield when the court's expenses exceed their revenues.
Councilman Philip King said he supports the legislation, and the city has been "graciously" paying the total bill for years. However, he added, the action could lead other municipalities to form mayor's courts to avoid the charge.
Mr. Gillette said the Ohio Supreme Court has placed more restrictions on communities seeking to form mayor's courts, and it also could cost them a significant amount of money.
Chardon Finance Director Jeffrey Smock said another possibility is that other communities could stop writing as many traffic tickets as they do now, which would reduce the court's revenues.
Mr. King said he doubts that. "Are they going to jeopardize the safety of the community by writing less tickets?" he asked.
Mr. Gillette said the bigger issue may be the mayor's courts. He said Middlefield already has proposed one.
But Mr. Campbell said the mayor's court issue was "soundly defeated" when it went to the ballot. He said Middlefield voters feared that police would begin writing more tickets to increase the village's revenues.
Mr. Smock said a provision in the Ohio Revised Code allows the city to apportion excess expenses to municipalities and townships. Townships, however, would have to have home rule to do that, which is why the city is only looking at the other municipalities that use Chardon Municipal Court.
The portion each would pay is based on the caseload each one sends to the court, he said. If the court's expenses exceed revenues in a particular year, the assessments would apply, he said.
Mr. Gillette calculated the communities' shares of total case loads at 1.22 percent for Burton Village, 8.32 percent for Middlefield and 2.06 percent for South Russell.
Mr. Smock said the court actually made money most of the years it's operated, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, he said, the court has operated in the deficit in five of the last seven years.
In 2008, Mr. Smock said, the court showed a deficit of $92,000, which the city was obligated to pay from its general fund.
Mr. Gillette said, by using those calculations based on caseloads, Middlefield would have had to pay $7,692 on the 2008 court budget. He said that may be a bargain for the village, as opposed to creating and financially supporting a mayor's court.
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