10/7/13 State rep talks kennel license reimbursement, tuition with commissioners

  • By Nick Sabo
  • October 2, 2013
  • 417
                        
SUMMARY: Reimbursement to dog warden has not been dropped State representative Dave Hall visited the Holmes County Commissioners Monday, Sept. 30, to talk tuition, dog licenses and a severance tax on oil and gas drilling. The commissioners focused their questions on the escalating cost of attending state colleges and how the county auditor and dog warden misinterpreted a provision regarding reimbursements in the so called “puppy mill” bill. Hall further gave a legislative update, including talks revolving around a severance tax on vertical well drilling for oil and gas. Hall said the cost of higher education at state schools has increased due to the “cost of doing business” for state universities. Hall further said the state’s contribution toward higher education has been frozen for some time and is not keeping up with said cost of doing business. Commissioner Joe Miller said Ohio’s state universities were put in place so that young people who couldn’t afford to attend a private school can still get an education. Miller said his daughter attended Ohio State University, and her tuition in 2000 was $8,000. Tuition is triple that 13 years later, Miller said. “I just see where it’s going,” Miller said. “I don’t see where parents are going to be able to send their kids.” The state can’t afford to put more toward assistance for tuition, Hall said, because of the pool of available dollars. “You only have so much money,” Hall said. “You end up taking from another program and someone else suffers.” Hall further reported that the Holmes County Dog Warden will be getting a $75 reimbursement for every kennel licensed by the Ohio Department of agriculture. The ODA will begin licensing high volume dog kennels for 2014, taking that duty away from the dog warden. To cushion the loss of revenues, the ODA promised to reimburse county dog wardens. After seeing the final legislation, Holmes County Dog Warden Katelyn Lehman informed commissioners that the reimbursement had been dropped. Commissioner Rob Ault said “we were misinformed there”. Hall assured commissioners that the reimbursement is still there. The ODA will charge anywhere from $150 up to $750 to license kennels depending on the number of litters and puppies it produces, according to Holmes County Auditor Jackie McKee. A high volume breeder is defined as any kennel that produces nine litters or more in one year, or sells 60 puppies or more in a year. McKee said the county will continue to sell dog licenses for each dog at the high volume kennels. The licenses are $1 each. The commissioners recently approved raising kennel licenses from $70 to $75 to help offset the loss in revenue. On the matter of a severance tax, Hall said “everyone wants a piece” of the revenues that would be created. He cited government agencies who would like to receive the funds for roads and other “issues”. Hall said Governor John Kasich wants to tie an income tax cut if the severance tax goes through. Counties and schools have lost revenue in the last three years as the Kasich administration has aggressively eliminated taxes, such as the tangible personal property tax and the inheritance tax. Discussion on the severance tax has included directing the income tax to Ohio counties that have the most drilling activity.


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