$ And Sense

A couple of years ago the Wilmington city council voted against a resolution that asked the state legislature to forgo action to repeal Ohio's estate/inheritance tax. The resolution had been circulated by other cash strapped cities and counties in Ohio.

In the end the legislature repealed the tax effective for deaths occurring after 2012. It's worth noting that the tax had not been applied to estates under $340,000 or on any amount that was bequeathed to a surviving spouse.

As a result of the repeal, the county and city, that received a total of over $820,000 last year from the tax, will have to either cut public services or ask for tax increases on the living population.

Odds and ends:

In spite of the uptick in job creation touted by the Mayor of Wilmington city income tax revenue reached a five year low for 2013. Receipts were $70,000 lower than for 2012.

Wilmington city school' income tax also dipped $90,000 below the 2013 receipts.

Paul Hunter

Considerations Of Right To Work Law

In my opinion: Right to work decisions should be made by the workers themselves. Employers, politicians and non involved voters should not have a voice in what is basically a matter of worker choice in compensation for their investment of labor capital. An equivalent situation would be for the voters of a state to vote on the methods of compensation and working conditions for the managers of money capital.

Contract negotiation is the time and place for both sides to work out differences and not the public ballot box. If workers choose by majority vote to organize, then that majority can make the rules covering membership, that’s the democratic method. Rules that includes the obligation to pay dues in order to receive the benefits of the negotiated contract seems to be a reasonable concept. If the majority of workers decide not to have union representation then the employer need not worry.

Paul Hunter
Union Shop explained: (extracted from various internet sources)

What is Union Shop? In the United States, a union shop is a negotiated union security clause between unions and private sector employers. Under a union shop clause the private sector employer may hire either labor union members or nonmembers but all employees must become union members within a specified period of time.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the union and employer may negotiate an agency shop agreement, which does not require workers to join a union but to pay equivalent union dues. By law, labor unions are required to negotiate for and defend the rights of all workers in the bargaining unit, whether they are members or not. This obligation is known as the duty of fair representation. In addition, a check-off agreement, in which an employee authorizes the employer to deduct union dues from his or her paycheck, is common practice.

Ohio is one of 28 states that is a union shop state. In 1947 Congress overrode a presidential veto and amended the NLRA to allow states to prohibit employers and unions from negotiating union shop clauses. Some states have adopted this anti-union measure, which is commonly referred to as “right to work.” Right to work law requires the union to represent the worker but does not require the worker to join the union or pay his or her fair share of dues. In 1958, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a business led state ballot initiative to make Ohio a right to work state.

Public Schools and Politics

Local voters may prefer the political atmosphere of states with Republican leadership. However, we might have second thoughts about educating our children in many of the so called red states.

According to the rankings offered by the below link:

States With the Best (and Worst) Schools - 24/7 Wall St.http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/01/14/states-with-the-best-and-worst-schools-2/#ixzz2rFRdXLFH 

Follow us:@247wallst on Twitter| 247wallst on Facebook

The ten worst states for public school systems, number one being the worst. Red indicates states with a GOP governor while blue indicates a Democrat leaderr 10. Oaklahoma; Michigan; South Dakota; South Carolina; Alaska; Alabama; West Virginia; NewMexico; Louisiana; Number 1. Mississippi.

The ten best states, with number one being the best. Number 10 Colorado; Washington; Pennsylvania; Florida; Minnesota; Vermont; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Maryland Number 1 Massachusetts.

Paul Hunter

send comments to paulhunter45177@gmail.com

Port Authority

At the January “Port” board meeting a resolution was passed authorizing an agreement wherein ATSG, the major air park tenant, and the city of Wilmington will pay for a contract with a Dayton consulting and lobbying firm to further the interests of the Air Park. The firm, CBD Advisors LLC http://www.cbdadvisors.com/ specializes in government relations and business development.

Even though the Port ended the year financially sound they are asking the cash strapped City to pony up a $12,500 per year share of the cost of the development/lobbying contract.

It seems to me that the CIC, (not to be confused with DWCIC) is the better candidate for this expense. They are sitting on millions of idle dollars and have, in the past, donated funds to the Air Park’s survival.

 From ordinance #1272 February 5,1970

“Designating the Community Improvement  Corporation of Wilmington as the agency of the city for industrial, commercial, distribution and research development.”

The city has already donated $150,000 cash to the JUMP hangar project.

 If this issue is brought up before the concerned council committee the Mayor as a board member of CIC must be self recused.

Paul Hunter

New Mortgage Rules

In my opinion, A system that should have always been standard practice. If it had been, the housing default bubble and the great recession would have been much less severe.

Paul Hunter

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/5-ways-buying-a-house-just-changed/ncw2T/

New mortgage regulations mandated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau went into effect this month. The rules are meant to hold lenders liable for bad loans and protect borrowers from loans they can’t afford.

Here are five ways the rules affect a home purchase:

1. New servicing standards: Existing homeowners will either get a monthly statement or a coupon book from their lender showing the current loan balance, payment amount and next due date. While some borrowers already receive monthly statements, all mortgage lenders are now required to provide them.

2. Underwriting criteria: Lenders will require more documentation of ability to repay from new homebuyers applying for a loan. At a minimum, creditors generally must consider eight underwriting factors:

• current or reasonably expected income or assets
• current employment status
• the monthly payment on the covered transaction
• the monthly payment on any simultaneous loan
• the monthly payment for mortgage-related obligations
• current debt obligations, alimony, and child support
• the monthly debt-to-income ratio or residual income
• credit history

3. Debt ratio: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set a number for determining if a buyer can afford their mortgage payments. The number — the debt ratio, or what percentage of monthly income is used to pay debt — is 43 percent. Debt includes payments on student and auto loans, credit cards, alimony and child support.

A loan to a borrower with a higher than 43 percent debt ratio is considered high risk and might not get approved.

Before, consideration of debt to income was at the discretion of the lender.

Lenders can still make loans that don’t meet the 43 percent debt ratio standard, but might not be able to sell these loans, which creates more risk for the lender.

4. Struggling borrowers: Lenders now have certain obligations to meet with people having trouble paying their mortgages. For example, a foreclosure cannot be initiated before 120 days of default. During that time, lenders are to work with homeowners on loan modifications or refinances to keep them in their home.

5. Timeliness: Other rules require lenders to fix issues quickly and credit payments quickly. Mortgage servicers will now have to call or contact most borrowers by the time they are 36 days late on their mortgage.

Chart Indicates Steady Increase In City Activity

State of city comparison 2012-2013
Area	2012	2013
Building permits	222	329
construction value	$17,693,135	$25,997,104
Building Violations	227	212
EMS Runs	2793	2743
Fire Response	476	487
Dispatch calls	14,183	16892
Police incidents	12,913	10395
Sanitation res. accts	4,000	4000
Sanitation to OEPA	$66,774	$62,631
Sanitation to County	$91,619	$93,334.00
M&R salt tons	410	962
Taxi total riders	132,000	135,000
Wastewater gallons	716 million	878 million
W/W avg. daily flow	1.96 million	2.47 million
Water treatment gall.	532 million	557 million
Water daily flow avg.	1.5 million	1.52 million
Water max.daily	2.391 million	2.549 million

Guns Don't Kill

The quote, “guns don't kill people, people kill people” comes from NRA members and other gun rights advocates. If that is true then a corollary, “guns don't kill kids, kids kill kids” applies.

Example DETROIT: 1/17/14— A 4-year-old boy was fatally shot Thursday in what police said was a tragic, avoidable accident. The shooter was the boy's 4-year-old female cousin

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/children-killed-guns-newtown-anniversary

A year after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mother Jones has analyzed the subsequent deaths of 194 children ages 12 and under who were reported in news accounts to have died.

72 of the young victims either pulled the trigger themselves or were shot dead by another kid.

At least 52 deaths involved a child handling a gun left unsecured.

Paul Hunter

Minimum Wage

Proposition: Any increase in the minimum wage will simply be passed down to the consumer or increase unemployment.

Corporations may pass wage increases down to their customers, or they may not, depending the particular market in which the corporation is operating.

In a closed market in which a limited number of producers control the product price then increased costs will be passed down to the end user. Big oil is an example of this condition.

If, on the other hand, the market has a multitude of producers the most efficient corporations may absorb increased costs of production in order to gain market share and thus increase earnings. Fast food is an example of this condition.

In competitive or elastic markets the investors and managers may have to absorb increased costs in order to maintain a price point that will attract consumers.

The idea that fast food and other labor intensive enterprises will shed workers if wages are increased fails the logic test. If they are able to get by with less employes why are they paying them now at current wages.

Paul Hunter paulhunter45177@gmail.com

Parks are an Important Asset

Questions for city council members:

Do you consider the local hospitality industry as the Visitors Bureau’s primary client?

If so, do you agree that city parks have a significant revenue impact on
those clients?

If so, would it be a good idea for city council, as many councils do, to
divert a portion of the bed tax to the cash poor and deteriorating city park
system? Such an action would allow the parks to continue providing a venue
for city-wide revenue enhancement.

For example, if the ball diamonds continue to deteriorate it will be
difficult to recruit area and statewide weekend tournaments that produce
significant revenue for the local economy.

In this period of economic distress when all sectors of the city are
sacrificing, a mere 7% of the bureau’s budget would fix the diamonds for
this year and allow upkeep of the parks to continue in follow on years.

The parks are an integral part of the city’s quality of life, especially for
the young folks. We used to be proud of our parks and we should not let them
become an embarrassment.

We have a dedicated, capable and efficient parks staff working as hard as
they can under difficult budget constraints to keep the system operating.
Isn’t it time to give them the respect they deserve? We don’t want to lose
any of these people to an otherwise improving economy.
Please excuse me for bringing Winston Churchill into the presentation but
his quote concerning the RAF in WW II could apply in this situation. “Never
have so many owed so much to so few.”

I encourage members of council to consider this issue..

Paul Hunter

Schools, Money and Results

If you graduated at the top of your class with a master's degree in education which below school district job would you apply for a job at?

If you were a high earning Doctor or other professional working in Wilmington, with school age children where would you choose to live?

For detailed explanation of grades and other data go to: http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/Pages/District-Search.aspx Then click on first initial of district.

Property tax residents pay for schools in dollars per $1,000 of taxable value. ( 35% of appraised value) in order listed above.

Blan, $25; C. Massie, $24; E. Clinton, $25; Wilmington*, $22; Oakwood, $123; Mason, $60; Minster* $52.

*1% income tax

Paul Hunter

District	Achievement	Gap Closing	Progress	Graduation	Poverty %	Transient %	Enrollment
Blanchester	B+	A	C-	B+	65	9	1704
Clinton Massie	B+	C	B	B+	25	7	1856
East Clinton	B	D	D	C+	55	11	1481
Wilmington	C+	F	B	C	57	13	3122
			Compared To
Oakwood	A	A	B	A	5	4	2077
Mason	A	B	A-	A	5	5	10428
Minster	A	B	B-	A	10	3	816

New YMCA and Hospital Sale Funds

Recent news reports indicate a need for a reapt of this November 2013 blog entry 

Hospital money 'perfect' for new YMCA

The Hospital sale money belongs to all of the people.

http://wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=49&SubSectionID=156&ArticleID=207940

A plan has been put together to build a new $8.1 million recreational and health facility near Wilmington High School - if Clinton County Commissioners are willing to pay half the cost with proceeds from the sale of Clinton Memorial Hospital.

The YMCA would serve as a tenant and manager in the facility, said Greg Law, executive director of the Clinton County Community Family YMCA during a meeting with commissioners Wednesday. About 60 various community members attended the meeting, held in the county's juvenile/probate courtroom.

My opinion:

The Hospital sale money belongs to all of the people of Clinton County. This proposition raises some questions.

1. Do to its location would all, or even most county residents, be able to take advantage of the facility?

2. Would the quasi religious nature of the prospective operator be an obstacle to the process?

3. Would county wide emergency services be a better use of the money?

4. Would all county residents have free membership and privileges at the center?

Paul Hunter

Amateur Auditor

Local Property Tax 

Thanks mainly to the County's tax reductions, property tax bills will be a bit lower this year. Resident homeowners and farmers in Wilmington and in the township taxing districts will see an estimated $70 per year savings for each $100,00 valuation unit. Commercial owners should see more than $80 in savings over last year. This is a much needed relief for commercial owners who took a beating last year as a result of the Port Authority $1.25 million tax exemption.

Paul Hunter 

Alternative energy – Baby Steps In Clinton County

The sun will still shine and the wind will still blow long after shale gas is exhausted. and the last smoke stack has crumbled.

The small solar panel array on the old Textron, now city, property on Nelson Ave was installed in the fall of 2011 has saved the sewer department over $20,000 in electric bills. In just a few short years the installation will be paid for.

The small wind generator at the weather station on Rt. 134 S..has saved the Weather Service over $3,000 over its years of operation.

I have heard of but not vissited a farm near Martinsville that runs their operation with the aid of several medium sized wind turbines.

On a typical January (1/6/14) day, in the county's high wind corridor, the average wind speed at the 300 foot tower height of a typical commercial wind turbine averaged 22 miles per hour.

Paul Hunter

Pothole Alert

An unreported pothole could cost you or a neighbor money.

Ohio Revised Code (state law)

2744.05 Damage limitations.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Revised Code or rules of a court to the contrary, in an action against a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission [failure to repair acknowledged pot holes] in connection with a governmental or proprietary function:

State highways.

The court says drivers must first determine if the road where the accident handled is overseen by the state or a city or township. Next drivers must prove ODOT knew about the potholes and that they failed to fix it quickly, led to the damage.

Athens Ohio

"My car was damaged by a pothole on a street maintained by the city. Can I receive compensation for the repair?

In accordance with Policy 220.300.001, vehicles damaged by unmarked potholes within the corporation limit may be eligible for reimbursement for the cost of repair. Contact the Department of Public Works for more information, (740) 593-7636.”

Wilmington:

http://www.egovlink.com/wilmington/action.asp?actionid=11025

Purpose. Use this form to report a pothole.

The Internet Can Bite You

Beware the magic pill and the secret cure that doctors hate.

Extracted from
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-dark-lord-of-the-internet/355726/

Jesse Willms, the Dark Lord of the Internet

…............His company Just Think Media may have been the most successful Internet venture no one had ever heard of: in 2009, with just 20 employees, it earned more than $100 million in revenue. Few entrepreneurs, past or present, have ever built such a lucrative company so young................. Willms knew that he was the subject of an exhaustive investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. And what this investigation would determine, essentially, was whether Willms, the white-hot e-commerce whiz, was actually one of the most egregious scammers in the history of the Internet. …............between 2007 and 2011, the lawsuit claimed, Willms defrauded consumers of some $467 million by enticing them to sign up for “risk free” product trials and then billing their cards recurring fees for a litany of automatically enrolled services they hadn’t noticed in the fine print. In just a few months, Willms’s companies could charge a consumer hundreds of dollars like this, and making the flurry of debits stop was such a convoluted process for those ensnared by one of his schemes that some customers just canceled their credit cards and opened new ones …............

If you’ve used the Internet at all in the past six years, your cursor has probably lingered over ads for Willms’s Web sites more times than you’d suspect. His pitches generally fit in nicely with what have become the classics of the dubious-ad genre: tropes like photos of comely newscasters alongside fake headlines such as “Shocking Diet Secrets Exposed!”; too-good-to-be-true stories of a “local mom” who “earns $629/day working from home”; clusters of text links for miracle teeth whiteners and “loopholes” entitling you to government grants; and most notorious of all, eye-grabbing animations of disappearing “belly fat” coupled with a tagline promising the same results if you follow “1 weird old trick.” (A clue: the “trick” involves typing in 16 digits and an expiration date.)

Submitted by Paul Hunter