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Trumbull auditor seeks $1.2M refund from general fund

WARREN — Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder is seeking to recover $1,192,359 that her office’s real estate assessment fund paid to half of the employees working in the county’s tax map program since 2019. Yoder, during the commissioners’ weekly workshop, sought to get clarification from Commissioners Rick Hernandez and Tony Bernard on whether and/or how the county would reimburse her office. Commissioner Denny Malloy did not attend Tuesday’s workshop. The commissioners would not provide a definitive answer on their position because they are not clear whether they are ...

New tax break considered in Trumbull County

WARREN — Two county commissioners are pushing to place on next week’s agenda a resolution to provide a 2.5% tax credit to owner-occupant homeowners to provide tax relief. “There is a concern from the residents, school superintendents and trustees,” Commissioner Rick Hernandez said. “The schools may not like this and the trustees may not like this, but they are a small chunk of what the homestead would have been,” he said. Commissioner Tony Bernard said the board was waiting to make a decision until they saw if the group that was seeking to get a property tax referendum on ...

Girard man found passed out with handgun

LIBERTY — A Girard man was scheduled to appear in Girard Municipal Court on Tuesday following his weekend arrest after police allegedly found him passed out in a running vehicle with a handgun. Carl Kaplin, 66, faces charges of physical control of a vehicle while under the influence and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Records from the court were not updated, so it is unknown what happened at his preliminary hearing. According to a police report, Liberty officers responded to an East Liberty Street residence just after 8 p.m. Saturday for a report of a ...

State asked to probe nominating petitions for fraud

WARREN — Not only will Michael Philip Walton not be an independent candidate for the 64th Ohio House District seat, but the Trumbull County Board of Elections forwarded his nominating petitions to the state’s Public Integrity Division to investigate for potential election fraud. The board voted 3-0 Tuesday to send Walton’s petitions to the division, which is under the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, because of several questionable signatures. Board Director Stephanie Penrose said: “They looked fraudulent. A lot of the same handwriting, not just husband and wife, but whole ...

Lawyer for Trumbull County, recorder asks judge to dismiss suit

An attorney representing Trumbull County and Recorder Dawn Zinni-Hanni asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Tod Latell, the former county recorder, alleging civil conspiracy, defamation and abuse of political authority or influence. Jillian Eckart of the Cleveland law firm of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., who is representing the county and Zinni-Hanni, responded Tuesday to Latell’s April 23 lawsuit. Among the series of defenses listed by Eckart is qualified immunity, a common defense used by governments in Ohio that gives them immunity from liability as a defense in ...

Legislature approves Rep. Thomas’ utility bill

The General Assembly passed a bill, sponsored by state Rep. David Thomas, to give the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio the ability to oversee submetering — a practice that results in multiunit tenants sometimes paying high rates. The bill awaits the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine to become law. Under the bill, the PUCO would be required to adopt standards governing metering, outages, billing practices, complaint resolution, records retention and service quality, ensuring consistent oversight and consumer protections, said Thomas, R-Jefferson, whose district includes portions of ...