Springfield City Schools files lawsuit against county auditor over millions in property taxes

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield City Schools is taking the Clark County Auditor to court over millions of dollars in property taxes.

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News Center 7 obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which outlines an argument over timing and scheduling.

In May 2013, voters who live within the Springfield City Schools District approved a nearly $14 million bond levy. According to the lawsuit, the tax collections to repay the bond were to run over a max of 12 years.

The auditor argues that the 12-year timeframe runs from 2014 through 2025 and wants to stop collection at the end of next year.

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“Our argument is that 12 years is 12 years,” Dan Driscoll, Clark County Prosecutor, said. “And that’s what the voters approved and that’s what the school should be held to.”

Driscoll is representing the county auditor in the lawsuit.

“We have no issue with the amount of money, but there’s an issue over the period of time and the schools want to extend that,” he said. “And we don’t think that they should be able to do that without voter approval.”

As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, school officials issued nearly $6 million in bonds in 2013 and the remaining more than $8 million in 2019. For repayment, Springfield City Schools argues in the lawsuit that means two separate 12-year windows.

They want to be able to collect property taxes on the 2013 bond until 2026 and on 2019′s until the end of 2031.

Springfield City Schools declined to speak on camera, but released the following statement:

Specifically, ORC 133.18(H) requires that the bond levy be levied and collected ‘for the period the securities are outstanding sufficient in amount to pay the debt charges on the securities.’ Further, there are additional provisions in Chapter 133 of the Ohio Revised Code, when read with ORC 133.18(H), supporting the position that the bond levy must be collected through the final maturity of the school district’s bonds of 2031.

As far as precedent, there are several school districts throughout Ohio that have followed the same process, and their respective county auditors have collected, or are intending to collect, through the final maturity of the bonds issued by those school districts.

The prosecutor’s office has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit. The justices will decide whether it stays or goes.

If it stays, both sides would have to make their arguments to the court and the justices would decide the outcome.

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