Opposition seeks tax cut through charter amendment
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Jan. 19, 2005

Opponents of Westlake's incumbent government launched a petition drive Thursday to place before voters a charter amendment which would reduce the city's property taxes from 8.7 mills to 5.9 mills. If the charter amendment gets on the November ballot and passes, any additional property tax would require voter approval.

Attorney Gerald Phillips, who has represented opposition groups before, announced the proposed charter amendment during the public session of Thursday's council meeting. Joe O'Malley, a candidate for mayor and school board member, Carol Corpus, candidate for council president, and Joe Kilbane, candidate for the Ward 5 seat are behind the petition drive.

A key plank of O'Malley's campaign has been that the city has too much money and should lower its taxes. City officials have countered that most municipal funds are earmarked for specific projects which citizens have either demanded or come to expect.

Since he began his campaign in March to unseat Mayor Dennis Clough, O'Malley has argued the city should cut taxes so the schools could raise theirs.

"We have enough resources in this community to solve any problem that is presented to us," O'Malley said in a statement. "We are facing a projected deficit in school funding in 2007, and this tax reduction will make more property tax dollars available to fund the schools at no additional cost to the residents of Westlake."

Clough noted Standard and Poors and Moody's have given the city triple-A bond ratings due to its strong financial standing.

"That isn't by accident and it isn't because we happen to be the last (fully developed) community here in Cuyahoga County," the mayor said. "A lot of it has to do with the way we manage our monies -- the way we plan to address future capital needs."

The city and school district are two separate entities with separate funds, Clough added.

"I'm responsible, I'm elected, as well as all of these council people, to manage the dollars that the citizens have given to the city," the mayor said. "And I would say the schools are also responsible for managing the dollars given to them. They are two separate pots of money as has been pointed out. And consequently, each entity is responsible for managing those dollars wisely.

"I'm not going to apologize for how this community has been managed, because it has been managed very well. And it's not just me saying it. It's any other entities that audit us, that review our financial situation and have recognized us. And I can tell you that most other mayors in the county envy us, not because of the fact that we were one of the fastest growing communities (but) because of the fact that we've managed it, we've controlled the growth as it has occurred, and we've been good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars."

Council President Michael Killeen said backers of the proposed charter amendment were playing political games by trying to entangle the school district's deficit with the city's budget.

"The city manages its money very, very well," said Killeen, who added the city's property taxes are very reasonable compared to neighboring cities.

"Effectively people have to realize there's no such thing as a free lunch," Killeen said of the proposed charter tax reduction. "The city has justified its expenses on how we spend money."

The proposed charter amendment may bring about a fresh legal battle on an issue which has been simmering in the city for over two years -- just how many petition signatures are required to get a charter amendment issue on the ballot.

Council has gone by charter amendments passed in May 2003 which require the number of signatures to equal or exceed 10 percent of all registered voters. This more stringent requirement, they said, better reflects the original intent of the charter drafters. The opposition claims state law should be followed, which requires the number of signatures be 10 percent of the number who voted in the last general election.

Law Director John Wheeler said he will issue an opinion on the required number of signatures soon.

The issue was sidestepped last fall when council itself placed on the November ballot two proposed charter amendments to make the law director's job an elected post. Voters passed those amendments — over the objections of Clough and most council members — by a 55 to 45 margin.