County officials, concerned citizens meet with Highland County commissioners

Highland County commissioners David Daniels, Brad Roades and Terry Britton met with numerous county department heads and two concerned citizens during their Wednesday, Sept. 18 meeting, as the agenda included continued discussions of the county’s property tax reappraisals, improvements to county software and buildings, the Clay Township park project and other topics.

As announced by Highland County Auditor Alex Butler Aug. 28, a “tentative abstract” of new values based on the county’s 2024 property tax appraisals has been submitted to the Ohio Department of Taxation and approved. Anyone owning property in the county can check their new valuation at highlandcountyauditor.org.

Residential properties in Highland County will see an average 30-percent increase in valuation, as discussed last month.

Steve Fligor, a Greenfield landlord, spoke to commissioners regarding the county’s property tax reappraisal. (He made a similar presentation at Monday’s Greenfield Village Council meeting. For more, see: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/greenfield-village-council-asked-v….)

“I've appealed the appraisal of 21 of our properties,” Fligor said. “We're struggling with this in Greenfield.”

Fligor cited examples of properties that were “boarded up,” “condemned” and/or “burned out” that have been appraised at over $90,000.

“Alex is trying to do a really good job, but I think he's being put in an awkward position whereby these appraisals are data-driven,” Fligor said. “I’ve really got to question, is anybody driving by any of these properties and looking at them? I know this is a state-driven program. It's not on you guys, but everybody's got to fight back.

“The appraisals are really not the issue. It's the impact of the appraisals. Property taxes are going to skyrocket, and not only in Greenfield, but the whole of Highland County, and for what purpose? Follow the money.”

Daniels agreed that the county has “done what we’re required to do” with the state-mandated reevaluation this year, while also acknowledging that not all of the properties in the county may have been assessed the correct value.

“This is a mass appraisal, and in some cases, these appraisals are spot on,” Daniels said. “In other cases, they are way out of line, and the law allows for a procedure to come in and make those arguments.

“We recognize that some of these are wrong. We recognize that burned-out houses may be overvalued, and we need to knock those down, but that's why everybody needs to follow the system that's in place that we're required to follow by law. And again, I think we've all spoken to our state representatives and state senators. We see this as we're in the middle of a bubble here that is driven by the economy that we're in right now. Whether that changes over the course of the next two, three years is another story, but we've made our objections and our concerns known.”

Butler said Sept. 11 that a potential area that could help is if the commissioners “roll back part of the county's millage,” but that is only a temporary fix.

“We're looking at the options that we have to lessen the burden, but I can guarantee you that there is no way that they will go back to the values that were placed before this reevaluation,” Daniels said. “We’re going to do what we can as we move forward from our end.

“I encourage everybody to do the thing that Steve's talking about here. Look at your value. If it's wrong, come in and make your case, because there's room for us to make those changes, and there's legal authority for us to make those changes when the mass appraisals got it wrong. I think everybody needs to take a look.”

Highland County Treasurer Vickie Warnock said that another option people can look into is “a program in the treasurer's office where you can prepay toward your next year's taxes in an escrow program.

“If people would like to start trying to prepay toward next year’s, we can set them up with an escrow to be able to do that, to kind of help offset the large amount that they're going to have to come up with,” she said.

Daniels thanked Fligor for his comments.

“We recognize that this is difficult, and it's going to be difficult for a lot of people,” Daniels said. “Hopefully the legislature can find some way to ease the burden that we're all going to be facing.”

For more background, see the stories at https://highlandcountypress.com/news/pretty-significant-increases-highl… and https://highlandcountypress.com/news/property-taxes-transportation-prog….

In other discussion:

• County human resources director Amy Bradley proposed moving forward on a previously discussed option for the Highland County Sheriff’s Office and Job & Family Services agency to implement “the Right Stuff” payroll/timekeeping software, as she said both offices “are very interested” in this solution to ongoing issues.

Highland County Sheriff Randy Sanders said that they wanted to opt into the automated overtime call feature, which would “save hours of work” in his office.

Commission clerk Ashleigh Willey said that Bradley would need to submit a formal, “itemized” quote for commissioners to approve. However, Bradley said the “rough breakdown” is $900 per month for the HCSO and $1,000 for JFS, plus an implementation fee of $16,000. She added that the company was estimating that HCSO could be set up in the first quarter of 2025 and that JFS may not be ready until June 2025.

Daniels asked if the departments “have the funds available to absorb this.” Sanders said he would have to revise his 2025 budget request.

“I never had any clue that we were going to go look at something this big,” Sanders said. “We don't have that appropriated without getting rid of something else, because of the line items it would come out of.”

“I would just like to publicly state there won't be a penny of levy dollars paying for any of this software,” Highland County JFS Director Jeremy Ratcliff added.

Britton asked Sanders and Ratcliff to verify “this is the right thing to do.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sanders said. “We’ll figure out a way to make it work on our end.”

“We’re in favor,” Ratcliff said. “It will solve our accountability and our time tracking, our accruals, paying out from having 63 separate spreadsheets. It'll solve a lot of our issues for us.”

Daniels also asked Bradley about potential “broader implementation of this at some point” with other county departments. Bradley said that Fayette County “made it mandatory” for their offices and is switching now.

“That is a decision that you guys can make,” she said. “One of the other things, too, is just to see how it goes with the sheriff's office and with JFS, and we can do a second phase. Now, granted, there's a fee associated with that, to do another phase, but that is something we can do and see how it goes.

“At least we know we've got these two, and I think they're the ones that are in the most dire need.”

• On an unrelated topic involving the Sheriff’s Office, Daniels asked Sanders for feedback on flooring quotes obtained for the Justice Center. Former sheriff Donnie Barrera previously made proposals for new flooring back in 2022.  

“We've got bids that deal with what the previous administration out there talked about, some tiles in the jail in the pod area that were causing some problems that were asked to have at least taken out and sanded down the flooring,” Daniels said. “Then we've got a quote here for flooring in and around the office area. So, Sheriff, where do we stand with that?”

Sanders agreed that the office area carpeting needs replaced, as it is the “same carpet” from when the Justice Center opened in 2001.

“From door to dispatch, which is clear around the building, is a worn path from 23, almost 24 years of three shifts walking on it all the time,” Sanders said.

For the jail pods, Sanders said that “on several occasions,” inmates have “chipped up the tile and eaten” it, so he would recommend “doing away with the tile” altogether. However, he said they would have to talk to the contractors the county selects to determine whether inmates will have to be moved to a different part of the Justice Center or out of Highland County altogether while the work is done. If they have to move inmates, Sanders said additional costs will be involved with both transporting them and likely paying for each night they are housed in another jail.

“I think they said it was a four-day project, and we’ve got to talk to them about whether it's possible for us to you separate parts of the building off where we can move all the prisoners in a small portion of the building for two days and then move them to the other side for two days, or whether this is something where we're going to have to house all of our prisoners in another county for those four days,” Sanders said.

Daniels asked if “now is a good time or if there’s a time that better” to start planning on the flooring projects. “We realize that there’s going to be some costs associated with this,” he said.

Sanders and Chief Deputy Jennifer Schinkal said the Justice Center’s “population is growing” from being in the 20s to now in the 50s since this administration took over, as they are working on housing contracts with other counties. The sheriff said they are in “early stages” of another potential agreement that would “totally affect” the flooring project.

“I think the big thing is we're going to have to work out the logistics of how we’re going to handle all this and figure out what it’s going to cost us,” Britton said.

Schinkal said a similar project was recently done in Hamilton County at their jail and she thought they could look into how it was managed there for “more insight” on “how to handle” the project locally.

• Commissioners approved a lease agreement for the county’s Workforce Development Center at the Jefferson Street Business Center in Greenfield for 2025.

Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender said there is a slight rent increase on the new lease agreement.

“It has been, in January, three years since we signed the original lease,” Bolender said. “[Highland County Community Action] Director [Julia] Wise stated that she would not increase our rent or anything for the first three years. We are looking at a small increase come January, of 50 cents a square foot, which works out to $882.50 additional per year to lease the space.”

Bolender said a second phlebotomy class started this week at Greenfield’s Workforce Development Center, with a medical assisting course scheduled to begin in January.

“These [McClain] students will graduate high school with two employable certificates under their belt, so we're very excited about that,” Bolender said. “It's a great partnership with Great Oaks, and the students are enjoying it so far.

“The space is working out wonderfully.”

In other economic development news, Bolender said she is working with Hillsboro, Leesburg and Lynchburg on their Appalachian Community Grant plans. As previously reported, Hillsboro received $5,204,536 for Crossroads Park; Lynchburg received $1,001,390 for Covered Bridge Park; and Leesburg was awarded $1,052,995 to revitalize a currently defunct park.

“Community members are asking, when are we going to start seeing dirt move?” Bolender said. “Just to give you an update on those three communities, we are working with our state-appointed planner, Choice One Engineering, finalizing the plans and then getting things ready to send out to bid. We will start to see bid announcements coming out within the next few months, then subsequent bid openings and awards.

“We should start to see some dirt move in the spring of next year, and just a reminder that all the projects have to be completed by October of 2026, so once the dirt starts to move, the projects will move quickly.”

• In a different park-related topic, Buford resident Linda Shaffer attended the meeting to seek an update on the Clay Township park project.

“I’d like to know if there's any progress being made,” Shaffer said. “The old school's been gone for going on two summers, and everything's still there. We go by, and nothing's happening. I’d like to know how much money is left from the grant, and how much money has been spent on redoing the plan, because nothing has happened.

“We were anxious to have a nice little park there and have a nice shelter. Lord knows we need any positive things we can do for our little town.”

As previously reported, commissioners voted 3-0 to award the Clay Township Park Improvements Project to Kiley Construction in the amount of $199,283 a week earlier, at their Sept. 11 meeting. The county received $250,000 for the demolition of the former Buford school, which has been completed, and subsequent renovations.

“You should be seeing some progress made now,” Britton told Shaffer. “Our holdup was the funding. We started out with $250,000, and it cost us, I think, right at $100,000 to tear the old school down. Of course, there's some admin money that comes out of there that goes back to the state, so we were down to about $120 or $125,000 left, and the bids came in at $199-something.

“We had to reduce some of the asks that we had in the plan, but they're going to be doing a ball diamond. They're going to tear out all the fencing, put all-new fencing in. There's going to be a shelter that's going to be built, and a few other little things. The playground equipment is either going to have to be refurbed, or we're going to have to do something there. They’re going to work with us on that, and this is all going to be done by the end of the year.”

Regarding the cost of new plans, Britton said they would “have to get that from Nicole” Oberrecht, the county’s ARPA funding coordinator.

Shaffer asked if any funds will be left “for any type of security things, camera or something, for vandalism.”

“Probably not,” Britton said. “We’ll have to see. It just depends on how things work out. That's why we've been holding this, because we've had such a time trying to get this to where we can pay for it.”

Shaffer also asked if they are building “a nice shelter, not just a lean-to or something.” Britton said it will be “a 24-square-foot” structure.

“Is there anything the local people, the citizens, can do that would be of any help?” Shaffer asked.

Britton recommended they “work it out with” Clay Township Trustees.

• Commissioners authorized a homeowner written agreement contract with the Home Investment Partnerships Program, after meeting with Jeanette Mottie and Rachel Engstrom of Highland County Community Action. Mottie, the HCCAO housing director, said that Engstrom is the new CHIP (Community Housing Impact and Preservation) administrator, replacing Brenda Whitt.

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within Board of DD Development (2500) fund in the amount of $244,000 for the pass-through of capital housing funds.

“We currently have three projects going on, and this is the money that we appropriate that we received from the state, and then we pass through to Community Action/Highland Housing,” Lori Moore said.

Board of DD superintendent Larry Gray said that an open house is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 10 for their new housing development on West Main Street in Leesburg, adding that he would get more concrete details to commissioners.

• Daniels said that the commissioners office has received notice from Trileaf, which is “conducting a review on a proposed telecommunications project in Highland County.

“They’re building a tower out in the Lynchburg area, and they have asked if we have any comment about the project, about whether or not it bumps up against any historic landmarks, anything that they need to know about before they proceed,” Daniels said.

Daniels added that he wanted to “make sure that the Lynchburg leadership has seen this” before responding.

• Daniels announced that the Highland County Engineer’s Office will host an annual Ohio Public Works meeting Oct. 9.

• A crop land bid opening for Leesburg Industrial Park was listed on the agenda, but no bids were received.

• Commissioners held work sessions with Bradley, Highland County records manager Julie Wallingford and Hillsboro City Auditor Dawson Barreras later in the morning Wednesday.

Commissioners also made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A contract with the Treasurer’s Office and Canon for purchase and maintenance of a Canon copier. According to Warnock, this new machine will replace two printer/copiers in her office.

• A request for payment in the amount of $127,251.01 from Doll Layman Ltd. for work at the Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant. “The work out there is progressing,” Daniels said. “They’re probably getting pretty darn close to the end of that project.”

• An additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within County General (1000) fund in the amount of $78.88.

• An additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within Board of Elections August 2023 Special Election (2305) fund in the amount of $945.54.

• An additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within County General (1000) fund in the amount of $1,500.

• A request from the Engineer for a budget modification within the 2065 Repair MVL fund in the amount of $80,000.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.