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The Ron Verb Show - 3pm Hour Friday - 08/07/26 · Ron Verb

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Now, Ron Verb on NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Callers online, stand by because I want to talk to
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: somebody who I talked to this afternoon. Here's a guy
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  Speaker 2: that I got to tell you I just admire. I
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: admire because, do you remember a couple weeks ago when
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I played you some of the sound bites out of
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  Speaker 2: Florida from Ron DeSantis and his philosophy when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to property taxes and taxes in general? As I said
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  Speaker 2: to you in Florida, they are spending less this year
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  Speaker 2: than they did the year before. And they're spending less
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  Speaker 2: that year than they did the year before that. Not
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  Speaker 2: adjusted for inflation. The dollar amounts, forget adjusting for inflation.
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  Speaker 2: It's less, they're spending less each year over that period
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  Speaker 2: of time than they did the year before. And so
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  Speaker 2: they do something called zero-based budgeting. In other words, we're
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  Speaker 2: not going to start and say, hey, this is where
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: you were last year, so let's start from there and
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  Speaker 2: see if you need any increases or anything. They're going
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  Speaker 2: to simply say, okay, we start at zero. It's the philosophy.
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  Speaker 2: Like DeSantis says, we in governments, the only way we
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  Speaker 2: can give relief to our citizens is through trying to
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  Speaker 2: let them keep more of their money as far as
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  Speaker 2: taxes are concerned instead of the other way around. his
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  Speaker 2: attitude is just refreshing. It's just refreshing when you listen
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: to him talk. And in November, they got something on
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  Speaker 2: a ballot down there that's going to have some major
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: reforms on property taxes in Florida. And with that in mind,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I just admire his philosophy. But there's a
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  Speaker 2: guy in Lake County that I admire his philosophy. Commissioner
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  Speaker 2: Noh is his nickname there. John Plechnik is his birth name. John,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: welcome back to the program.
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  Speaker 1: Hello, hello. It's John Plechnik. Good to be here.
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  Speaker 2: Plechnik, okay. I keep doing it with a C. I
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: don't know why I do that. It's Plechnik. Okay, Plechnik.
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  Speaker 2: It's almost like an S, you know what I mean,
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  Speaker 2: as opposed to a C. Plechnik, okay.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a C-H, Plechnik. And actually, there's a reason
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  Speaker 1: for that. If you look at my logo on any
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  Speaker 1: yard sign, you'll see a check over the C. I
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  Speaker 1: didn't come up with that. There's a check over the
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  Speaker 1: C in Slovenian. I'm a first-generation American. My father came
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  Speaker 1: from Slovenia. Plečnik is a Slovenian name, and the accent mark,
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  Speaker 1: the check over the C, shows it's pronounced C-H, so
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  Speaker 1: it's Plečnik.
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  Speaker 2: No wonder I don't get it right. See, I need
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  Speaker 2: the check mark there. Before I get into your philosophies,
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  Speaker 2: which I find fascinating, tell me a little bit about yourself,
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  Speaker 2: because I'm intrigued about you. Tell me about where you
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: went to high school. and your academics, or what do
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  Speaker 2: I want to say, were you smart in high school,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: then where you went for your bachelor's degree, and then
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  Speaker 2: you went to Duke Law School. Tell me a little
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: bit about your journey to going to Duke and graduating
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  Speaker 2: as a lawyer. I mean, those are some monumental accomplishments.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. So I was very blessed to be homeschooled. My
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  Speaker 1: mother was a teacher before she married my father. And
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  Speaker 1: so I went all the way through high school as
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  Speaker 1: a homeschooled student, and my mother was just an absolutely
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  Speaker 1: brilliant teacher, and it was a great blessing. Then I
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  Speaker 1: went on to Belmont Abbey College, where I not only studied,
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  Speaker 1: but I worked in the monastery kitchen for the Benedictine monks.
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  Speaker 1: I mopped the floors, set the tables, and when it
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  Speaker 1: occasionally snowed, I even made pizza for the monks. But
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  Speaker 1: I worked almost 40 hours a week while I went
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  Speaker 1: to college. a major in accounting, and from there I
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  Speaker 1: went on to law school at Duke University where I
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  Speaker 1: graduated at the age of 22. And I used that
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  Speaker 1: law degree to go to New York City to practice
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  Speaker 1: tax and employee benefits while I continued to go to
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  Speaker 1: school at night at New York University School of Law,
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  Speaker 1: the number one ranked graduate tax program in the country,
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  Speaker 1: and that's where I earned my Master of Laws in Taxation.
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  Speaker 1: So I have degrees in accounting, law, and tax, and
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  Speaker 1: that's why I have always been a strong fit when
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  Speaker 1: it came to working on budgets, governmental or otherwise, because
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  Speaker 1: those are the fundamentals, accounting, law, and tax.
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  Speaker 2: So you graduate Duke at the age of 22, you said?
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  Speaker 1: That's right.
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  Speaker 2: That was with a law degree or an accounting degree?
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  Speaker 1: With a law degree. I graduated from college when I
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  Speaker 1: was 19.
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  Speaker 2: You know, this is really something, man. I mean, this is...
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  Speaker 2: Like I say on the air when you're not here,
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  Speaker 2: I graduated University of Akron, and I don't think I'm
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  Speaker 2: worthy to even speak with you. I mean, it's just
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  Speaker 2: very impressive. So homeschooling worked out really well for you.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, your mother really gave you a great education.
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  Speaker 2: It gave you a huge head start. Would you agree
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  Speaker 2: with that?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. I said in the footnote to my very first
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  Speaker 1: Law Review article that I dedicate this to my mother.
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  Speaker 1: Her sacrifices are my success.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, because, I mean, what she did and the education
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  Speaker 2: you got from homeschooling from your mother, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: that that would be equal if you went to the
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  Speaker 2: public school system, would it be?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think it would have been equal in any
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  Speaker 1: school system. Homeschooling isn't right for every family. The parents
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  Speaker 1: certainly have to be qualified. But given that my mother
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  Speaker 1: was a teacher by trade, she was the most qualified
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  Speaker 1: and the most motivated to give me the best education
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  Speaker 1: humanly possible. So I'm not here to say homeschooling is
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  Speaker 1: right for every family, but it was very right for
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  Speaker 1: our family, and I'm grateful to my mother for giving
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  Speaker 1: me that education.
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  Speaker 2: When you graduated from Duke Law School, I mean, why
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  Speaker 2: didn't you say, okay, I'm going to get a job
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  Speaker 2: at some firm or I'm going to represent people? I did.
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  Speaker 1: I did. I was at a law firm for two
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  Speaker 1: years in New York City.
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  Speaker 2: Did you like it?
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  Speaker 1: I did. I did. But in the back of my mind,
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  Speaker 1: I always wanted to be a professor. My father was
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  Speaker 1: a professor of philosophy, logic, and theology, and I always
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  Speaker 1: wanted to teach myself. So while I was enjoying the
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  Speaker 1: work at the firm, in the back of my mind,
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  Speaker 1: I thought, what could I do to ultimately teach? And
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  Speaker 1: I called my old tax professor at Duke University, Professor
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  Speaker 1: Richard Schmalbeck, and I said, what can I do? What
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: should I do if teaching is my goal? And he said...
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: You need to do a federal clerkship. You need to
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: work for a federal judge. And obviously, if you want
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  Speaker 1: to be a tax professor, the U.S. tax court is
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  Speaker 1: the clerkship for you. And I said, well, I happen
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  Speaker 1: to know some of your former students are judges on
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  Speaker 1: the tax court. Would you be willing to recommend me?
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  Speaker 1: And he was kind enough to do so. I ended
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  Speaker 1: up accepting a clerkship with a brand new judge, one
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  Speaker 1: of President Bush's, George W. Bush's last appointees. And I
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  Speaker 1: was his very first law clerk. I opened the office
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  Speaker 1: in D.C. And so after two years in New York
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  Speaker 1: City working for my firm, I spent two years in Washington, D.C.
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  Speaker 1: as an attorney advisor to a brand new judge on
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. tax court and helped to write opinions. And
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  Speaker 1: that was a great experience where I got to see
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  Speaker 1: the law from the perspective of the bench from the
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  Speaker 1: judge and continue to build my expertise.
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  Speaker 2: So after you got done with Duke Law School, what
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  Speaker 2: possessed you to say, I'm going to go further, and
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  Speaker 2: you went to New York?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I graduated with a faculty award for tax and
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  Speaker 1: estate planning from Duke, and I really wanted to continue
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  Speaker 1: my education in tax. As I said before, NYU is
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  Speaker 1: the number one ranked graduate tax program in the world,
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  Speaker 1: and it has been as long as the rankings have existed.
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  Speaker 1: So it's not like it competes with other schools. It's
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  Speaker 1: been number one forever. And if you want to be
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  Speaker 1: a tax guy, NYU is where you want to go.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: A side note, you might know Barron Trump as a
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  Speaker 1: student at NYU as well in the undergraduate program. But
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  Speaker 1: if you want to be a tax person, NYU is
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  Speaker 1: the school. And so I love tax law. I felt
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  Speaker 1: like this is the fit for me. Ultimately, tax law
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  Speaker 1: is the nexus of all public policy because it comes
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  Speaker 1: down to how we pay for society. Taxes are... are
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  Speaker 1: the centrifugal focus of all politics. And so given that
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  Speaker 1: I wanted to know how government worked and how to
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  Speaker 1: make it work better, I wanted to study tax law,
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  Speaker 1: and NYU is the number one place in the world
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  Speaker 1: to do it.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's interesting to me that once you got
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  Speaker 2: through Duke and once you got a law degree, that
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  Speaker 2: you wanted to go on further and study tax law.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it would seem that would be like about
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  Speaker 2: the last thing in the world anybody would want to study.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know what they say, find something no one
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  Speaker 1: else wants to do and do it well. You always
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  Speaker 1: have a job.
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  Speaker 2: Right. And so you studied tax law, and then you
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  Speaker 2: also said accounting, correct?
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  Speaker 1: That's right. Accounting was my undergraduate major. Then I got
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  Speaker 1: my law degree from Duke University, and finally my Master
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  Speaker 1: of Laws and Taxation from NYU.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, those are very impressive credentials. How did that
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  Speaker 2: working at a New York law firm and the things
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  Speaker 2: that you described to us earlier, John, how did that
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  Speaker 2: lead you to be in Lake County and becoming a commissioner?
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  Speaker 2: Tell me how you went from where you were working
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  Speaker 2: to where you are now.
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  Speaker 1: Well, as I shared, my goal was to become a
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  Speaker 1: tax professor, and I was very blessed in that I
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  Speaker 1: had multiple offers to teach, but one of them was
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  Speaker 1: from Cleveland State University. And given that my father's family
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  Speaker 1: had largely settled from Slovenia and the Cleveland area, I
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  Speaker 1: felt a strong connection to Northeast Ohio. I've been coming here.
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  Speaker 1: my entire life. And so it was an easy choice
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  Speaker 1: to say yes to Cleveland State University, where I began
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  Speaker 1: my full-time teaching career. But almost as soon as I
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  Speaker 1: started to get involved in the community, people said, would
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  Speaker 1: you step up in this and this and this leadership role?
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  Speaker 1: And I went from chairman of the Willoughby Hills Recreation Commission,
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  Speaker 1: to vice president of the Willoughby Eastlake Library Board of Trustees,
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  Speaker 1: and ultimately vice president of Willoughby Hills City Council. That's
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  Speaker 1: the point where ultimately and unexpectedly a commissioner appointment came open.
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  Speaker 1: One of the county commissioners resigned. And so given that
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  Speaker 1: he was a Republican, that meant the Republican Party had
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  Speaker 1: to appoint his replacement. And when push came to shove,
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  Speaker 1: 79 people voted for me. And here's the interesting part, Ron.
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  Speaker 1: I got exactly 79 votes to be appointed the 79th
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  Speaker 1: commissioner in the history of Lake County, Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, isn't that something? And when I sit back
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  Speaker 2: and think about people in these particular offices, I can
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  Speaker 2: think of no one better qualified from an academic standpoint
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  Speaker 2: than you to go into an office like this. Can
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  Speaker 2: you tell me when you first entered politics, was there
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  Speaker 2: much of a learning curve for you, whether that was
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  Speaker 2: when you first started or when you became a commissioner,
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  Speaker 2: or were you pretty adept to it from the very
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  Speaker 2: beginning because of your educational background?
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  Speaker 1: I think my educational background prepared me for public service
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  Speaker 1: very well. Understanding government fund accounting, incrementalism versus zero-based budgeting,
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  Speaker 1: these are concepts that I've studied, researched, and taught my
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  Speaker 1: whole life. So the public service part was a really
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  Speaker 1: tight fit. I immediately understood. The politics, though, I don't
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  Speaker 1: think anything can prepare you for. I know you've seen
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  Speaker 1: it firsthand as a public figure, Ron. It's never been
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  Speaker 1: nastier out there. People are not trying to have a
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: full and fair debate. There's minions and keyboard warriors and
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: trolls and fake profiles, and it's just a pile of
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  Speaker 1: nastiness designed for political power. We're not really having a
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  Speaker 1: debate between gentlemen and gentlewomen to see who the most
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  Speaker 1: qualified people are. Politics today is a blood sport, and
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  Speaker 1: it's sad, because a lot of the most qualified people
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  Speaker 1: aren't willing to fight it out.
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  Speaker 2: Over the years, John, I interviewed a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: over the years in politics, and I stopped interviewing most
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  Speaker 2: of them. They weren't that impressive. I mean, this sounds bad,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: and I don't want to sound bad or arrogant. They
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  Speaker 2: weren't that bright. They weren't that impressive. And it seemed
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  Speaker 2: like so many of them were in it because it
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: was a good job for them and a good paycheck
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: and good benefits, and they really didn't know how to
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: do anything else. But they didn't come to it with
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: great academic credentials or an understanding of– Just money and business,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I guess you would say, or public service?
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  Speaker 1: Well, unfortunately, when the best people demur because they don't
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  Speaker 1: want to deal with the nasty politics, who's left? And
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  Speaker 1: the reason why I felt such a strong commitment and
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: calling to continue this work, even though it's often difficult,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: almost always thankless, and you usually get yelled at by
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a bunch of people that don't know you, I continue
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: to do it because I consider the alternative. As you
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: pointed out, most people who enter politics do so because
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: they're self-interested. They want to make a career of it.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: They want to be famous. I can honestly say if
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  Speaker 1: I were making this decision just for me, I would
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: not be running for re-election. I would leave it to
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: someone else. but I feel a sincere calling to do
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the job. I don't think there's someone right here right
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: now who's ready to do it better than me, and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: so I feel called to do this work. And I
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: think that more people who truly have expertise in their
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: profession need to make the sacrifice of running for office
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: to take those punches, to let those insults roll off
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  Speaker 1: their back shoulder, because we need the best people in office.
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  Speaker 1: We don't need whoever is left We don't need people
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: who can't find a better job, so they go for politics.
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  Speaker 1: We need people for whom it's a genuine sacrifice to
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  Speaker 1: make that sacrifice. I mean, George Washington gave up a
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: beautiful life on Mount Vernon to fight a war and
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: risk treason against Great Britain. Donald Trump risked going to
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: prison for the rest of his life to run for
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: president three times. We need men like that who are
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: willing to sacrifice everything, who could live a much better
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: life without politics. The people who don't want it are
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: the ones that we want to serve.
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  Speaker 2: When I when I started out, I started out talking
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: about Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who I think
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: is terrific as as a governor. And if you study
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: anything that he first first and foremost, the thing I
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: like about DeSantis is he reads. I mean, he reads
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and and that's how he makes a lot of his decisions.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: He's a lawyer as well. But he reads, and when
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: he goes beyond that, he has the same type philosophy
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: that you do when it comes to taxes. Do you
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: sense that? Let me do my break, and then I'd
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: like you to respond to that. Get your comments about
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Ron DeSantis. We've got a lot to cover here with
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Commissioner No, John Plushnick, back in a minute. and talk
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: station 570 wkbn it's 325 in the afternoon news radio
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: 570 wkbn do you understand the comparison i make because
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: when i take a look at de sanis and what
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: he's doing with property taxes and his philosophy and your
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: philosophy not just as lawyers but i see a lot
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: of similarity do you notice that or do you look
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: at that.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: At all I do. I do. I was recently speaking
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: on a panel hosted by Ideastream at the Cleveland Metro
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Park Zoo. And when I was asked about property taxes,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I quoted Ron DeSantis. I said, how absurd is it
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: that we pay tax every year, every year, every year
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: to stay in our home like a serf paying rent
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: to the government? We would never do that with a
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: television set. As Governor DeSantis said, we pay sales tax
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: once and the TV is ours. We would revolt if
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: we were told you have to keep paying on that
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: TV every month, every year. It's absurd. And we sometimes
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: need to reframe these issues like Governor DeSantis does in
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: a powerful way. Would you be willing to pay property
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: tax on your TV? No. You'd say it was a joke.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: And so why are we so willing to pay such
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: high property taxes on something as sacred as our home?
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: And then it isn't just based on even if you
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: continue to pay and based on what you paid for
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  Speaker 2: your home initially. That's one thing, but to say, okay,
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  Speaker 2: we're not only going to have you pay these taxes
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  Speaker 2: every year, but we're going to tell you we think
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: your house is now worth this, and this is what
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: your taxes are going to be. That even goes to
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: another step.
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  Speaker 1: And that, Ron, is a tax on unrealized gains. They're
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: taxing you on income you haven't even earned yet. And
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: let me say it more powerfully. They're taxing you on
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: income you may never earn because your home might not
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: be worth as much as they say. or even if
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: it is, it might go down in value before you
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: sell it. So they're taxing you on income that you
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: might never earn with a wholly fictional value that serves
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: no purpose other than to raise your taxes.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: How is that legal?
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: It's because the Ohio Constitution is not as well written
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: as our U.S. Constitution. A lot of people say, oh,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: property taxes are unconstitutional, and I would say yes. Under
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: the U.S. Constitution, the federal government, Congress, cannot charge you
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: a direct tax on your property. without going through a
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: whole bunch of shenanigans that go way beyond the scope
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: of our conversation today. For practical purposes, a property tax
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: like we have in Ohio could not be levied by
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the federal government. It would be unconstitutional. That's because our
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: founding fathers and mothers were wise. Unfortunately, the Ohio Constitution
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: gives a lot more room for taxing than the federal Constitution,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: and that authority's been abused.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: So it leads us to where we are today. Incidentally,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: we had the re-evaluations where taxes went up pretty significantly
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: here in Mahoning County. Then we just got through with
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the other re-evaluations that just took place where they'll go
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: up again. But because of Dave Thomas, those increases will
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: be based on the rate of inflation, not on that 25% increase.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Correct?
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: That's true, but we need to bear in mind that
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: inflation can be very substantial. Since 2019, we've had something
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: like 30% inflation. So Representative Thomas' bill limiting increases in
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: the value of your home to inflation is an improvement.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I would argue it's not enough. To your original point, Ron,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: if we're going to keep property taxes, which I don't
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: want to do, but if we're going to keep them,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Value should be set at sales price. It should never
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: go up unless or until you sell your home.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think everybody listening that would say if we're
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: going to keep them, that's how it should be. But
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: I want to do a follow-up question. Stand by. Oh, no,
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: I got some time here. The follow-up question to that
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: would be, what do you do from the aspect of
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: government because there are victims of inflation and a fire
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: truck has doubled in price or a police car has
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: gone from $ 50, 000 to $ 80, 000. Their wages have gone up
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: to keep employees and their health care benefits cost more.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: So they do need additional money for their employees, just
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: as a private sector business would have to raise prices.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: So how do you do that?
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: I'd say that argument is a fallacy. Because you can
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: respond just as easily. You can't raise taxes because taxpayers
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: face inflation and they can't afford it. The reality is
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: we have a bimodal question. Do we put the burden
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: of inflation on the taxpayer or on government? And I
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: believe it's government's job to become constantly more effective and efficient.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: in a way that mitigates inflation. You should be X
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: percent more efficient every year. Frankly, you should outpace inflation
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: with your efficiency increases. That's the standard we should set.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Stand by. Stand by. Back after the break. I told
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: you he's fascinating. Back in a minute. News Radio 570 WKVN.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: John Husted has joined the ranks of those calling for
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: the resignation of Ohio Congressman Max Miller. The House Ethics
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Committee is investigating accusations of abuse by his ex-wife, the
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno. Miller is denying the allegations.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: Three East Cleveland homes have been left in ruins after
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: a Thursday fire. The fire began at a vacant home
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: on Carleon Road and spread to two neighboring properties. Firefighters
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: at the scene reportedly had issues with water from the start.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: No one was hurt and the cause of the fire
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: is not yet known. Picklefest returns to Akron this weekend
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: for its third year. Pickle Fest visitors can expect to
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: experience a celebration of pickles, including pickle-themed games and contests,
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: plus a number of food vendors featuring pickle-centered items. Pickle
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Fest happens Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: Lock 3.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Admission is free.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: I'm Andy Betts.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Listen on the free iHeartRadio app for all your music, news, talk,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: and sports radio. Podcasts, too.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Download the app.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Free never sounded so good.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: A to Z dependable services. Plumbings. Now, Ron Verb. On
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: NewsRadio 570, WKBN. Back to it. News Radio 570. And
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Ron Ferb from Lake County. It's Commissioner Noe. John Plushnick
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: is on the end of our line. So you basically,
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: when I talked about DeSantis, as I say, DeSantis this year,
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: he will spend less money than the year before. And
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: the year before, he spent less money than the year
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: before that. Not based on inflation. I mean, he doesn't
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: adjust for inflation. It's just we're spending less money each
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: year than they did. That's the type of efficiency you're
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: talking about when it comes to government, correct?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: That's right. And yet, and I have to give a
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: little perspective here between Ohio and Florida. And yet Ohio's
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: spending is going up and up and up. I mean,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Ohio spends about twice as much per capita as Florida does.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: So I agree with you. Florida is making itself, if
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: not one of, the model for governance amongst the states.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: But Ohio is way behind. And there's a lot of
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: low-hanging fruit. There's a lot to cut. So when people
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: say you can't just cut spending to make up the difference,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: I say Florida is proving you wrong.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Right, because, I mean, just think about it. Each year
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: he's spending less than he did the year before. Once again,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: not adjusted for inflation. So it's the same dollars. You follow?
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: You dig what I'm saying, right? I mean, and that's
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: the approach. It's just an amazing philosophy that he has.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: It reminds me so much of what you're doing. So
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: you're saying you want to get rid of property taxes altogether,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: but if we have to keep them, you say it
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: should be based on what you initially bought your house at,
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: not what they say it's worth, and you're paying on that.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Exactly, and for those who say that's impossible, California has
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: that rule. Liberal California says, So they passed Prop 13.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: It was a ballot initiative. Obviously, their legislators wouldn't have
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: adopted something like this, but they passed Prop 13 in California,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: which froze property values at sales price. It's being done.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: It can be done. It would work here. And I've
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: long said, Ron, that if we can't agree to abolish
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: property taxes, then two reforms would deal with a lot
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: of the grief. One, we just discussed. property value equals
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: sales price. The other is we should absolutely abolish property
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: taxes for seniors. I want to abolish property taxes for everyone,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: but if you're unwilling to go that far, it would
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: only cost us 3% of Ohio's all-funds budget to exempt
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: seniors 100% from property taxes. That's the minimum we should do.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Define senior. Is it age-based, 65? How do you define this?
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: I would define it the same way as the homestead exemption,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: which is 65 years of age and older.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Would it be income-based or just age-based?
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: If we had no income limits, no value limits, it
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: would cost less than 3% of Ohio's budget. If you
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: imposed income and value limits, it would be even cheaper,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: probably half as expensive.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: But, I mean, I would be opposed to imposing any
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: type of financial requirements because they're always set so low
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: it just eliminates a lot of people. To me, if
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: you're going to give– once again, I go back to Florida.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: In Florida, everyone gets a homestead exemption if that's your
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: primary residence. It isn't age-based at all.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: It's based on– Well, my point to you, Ron, is
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: that even without income or value limits, so that every senior,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: everyone 65 years of age and older gets it– That's
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: a $ 3 billion annual cost. That's less than 3% of
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Ohio's budget. That's an inflation adjustment, Ron. And the fact
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: that our state legislature hasn't made that tiny, modest, doable
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: reform tells me they're not serious yet.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: So to do that, you're saying that they should be
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: able to do that without raising any taxes by simply
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: cutting some of the ridiculous spending in the state of Ohio, correct?
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Cut a little spending. Our surplus this year was almost
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: enough to pass this. I mean, they'd have to cut
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: less than 1% of their budget, throw the surplus at it,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: and boom, you've exempted every senior from property tax.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: How would that affect the local community, then, if the
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: seniors stopped paying property taxes? Would it come from the state,
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: or would it just be void?
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Under my plan, where I'm saying cut the state budget,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: the state would reimburse the localities just like they do
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: for the homestead exemption, and there'd be no effect on localities.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Okay, so in essence, the state just covers those taxes
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: by the surplus that they have and or by cutting
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: some degree of spending. What percentage is the $ 3 billion
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: of the state budget?
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: The state budget's a little over $ 100 billion, so a
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: little less than 3%.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: So you're questioning, why isn't this being championed? Why isn't
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: this getting done?
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: I know that Senator Alcatrona has a bill in the
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: state legislature for a 50% exemption for seniors. I've talked
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: to him. He said he's open to doubling it to 100%.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: But he says that his bill has gotten no movement.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: It's stuck in committee. And that should change. That bill
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: should be updated to 100% exemption. And it should be
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: priority number one. And both Vivek and Amy Acton, if
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: they seriously want to stand in front of us and say,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: we're leaders... Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton should go to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: the state legislature and refuse to leave until they pass
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: that exemption.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Do you think the constitutional amendment will get enough signatures?
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I believe it will, but not until next year. I mean,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: I think folks were hopeful. I was certainly hopeful that
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: a miracle would happen and we could collect over 600,000
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: signatures in one year without But realistically speaking, this is
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: not a paid campaign. We do not have paid circulators
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: going around Ohio collecting signatures. Everyone is volunteering. And to
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: get half the signatures in a year is pretty miraculous. Now,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: that said, I know Brian Massey, the founder of the
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: movement to abolish property taxes. He's from Lake County. And
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: he is 100% confident we're going to have the signatures
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: by next year. I share his confidence.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, I sit back with a great deal of
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: pride of how many signatures we've gotten in this community
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: and the volunteers that we have in this community that
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: I would say are second to none. If we could
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: clone them and send them to other areas, we would
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: be blessed to say the least. I mean, I sit
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: back and question why talk radio isn't doing more in
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: other communities because they're doing nothing and why we don't
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: have more Denise's out in the world and the girls
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: that are helping her. collect these signatures i mean we
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: have a lot in this community to be.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Proud of i completely agree mahoning county has done an
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: extraordinary job of mobilizing and collecting signatures and that effort
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: is not going to waste we have put big government
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: on notice it may take us another year to get
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: there but we're done being talked down to and told
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: there's no appetite to cut taxes we can't afford to
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: cut taxes tell us how you're going to replace the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: money Let me ask you this, Ron. Does anyone go
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: to the homeowner and ask them how can they afford
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: to pay higher and higher property taxes? Does the government
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: ask you before they raise your taxes, Ron, do you
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: have a plan to afford this? Do they say, okay,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: you don't, we're not going to raise your taxes? Do
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: they ever ask you, Ron?
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: No, they never have.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Exactly right. So why should we ask governments? The reality
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: is the burden is going to fall on the taxpayer
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: or the government. It's bimodal. It is one or the other.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Who can better afford to take the hit? And let
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: me tell you, government is fat and happy and the
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: taxpayer is being squeezed to death. If we have to
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: choose who takes the hit, this is an easy choice.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Let's make our government more like Florida. Let's cut back taxes.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: and finally give the taxpayer some relief. But the next
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: time I hear someone say, how are you going to
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: pay for it? I laugh. I've given you the answer.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Two words, cut spending. The fact that you don't like
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the answer isn't my problem.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: Right. And it's obviously clear that's what he continues to
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: do in Florida and continues to provide all the services
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: that people are asking for.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: If anything, Florida provides better services than Ohio, and it's
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: doing it for about half the cost. So to all
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: the naysayers who claim there's no way that we could
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: possibly provide good government services and abolish property taxes, they've
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: been disproven ten times over because Ohio is overspending to
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: such an incredible degree. Ron, according to WalletHub, we are
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: the 16th highest taxed state in the nation. Also, according
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to WalletHub, we have the eighth highest property taxes in
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: the nation. We don't have the eighth or the sixteenth
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: best services. We are way overtaxed. We are way underserved.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: And here's the bad news for government. Taxpayers aren't saying
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: cut my taxes and cut services. Oh, no. The news
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: is far worse for big government. We're saying we want
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: to abolish property taxes and we want more and better services.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: And Florida is proof it can be done.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: If this gets on the ballot, do you believe it'll pass?
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: So far, Ron, every poll says that it will.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: But you know, John, you know there will be millions
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: spent by all the lobbying groups to run commercials to
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: defeat it. scary you to vote for it.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: I know, but I think that that's a little bit
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: of a red herring here, Ron, because all those special
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: interests know that this is not your typical campaign. You
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: want to beat John Plechnik? You run a bunch of
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: ads saying that John's terrible or stupid or wrong, and
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: people scratch their head and go, wow, there's so many
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: commercials saying he's a bad guy. Maybe he is. It's
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: very easy to personally attack a representative, to attack a person.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: It's harder on an issue, particularly an issue that benefits
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: the taxpayer. They pretty much have to run the attack
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: out on you and say, you, taxpayer, are greedy. You
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: are a bad person. You aren't willing to share. How
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: dare you? I don't know that that kind of advertising
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: is going to resonate when you're telling the voter that
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: they're a terrible person and they should be ashamed because
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: they can't afford these property taxes that are asking for relief.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: I think the backlash will be epic. I think if
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: they do spend tens of millions of dollars telling voters
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: that they're selfish and that they won't have roads, police,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: or fire if they vote for this, I think you
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: could see 80%, 90% vote against them because even a
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: majority of Democrats in some polls show they support abolishing
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: property taxes. I think there's a real danger for government
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: here that they are overplaying their hand. The people are
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: already unsatisfied with how government's being run. We see the waste, fraud,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and abuse in our face every day. And if you're
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: going to add insult to injury and tell us we're
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: greedy and stupid because we complain our taxes are too high,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: get ready for all the bums to be thrown out
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: of office.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Let me play you a clip from DeSantis, and then
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: I'll get your reaction to it, okay? I got to
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: keep you on the line here as I play this.
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: We're looking to give people relief from the high cost
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: of living. I mean, we've had a major inflationary period
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: in American history, one of the most inflationary. Groceries, all
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: these things. Who knows what's going to happen with oil?
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: The one thing we control is tax. And so in Florida,
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: local governments get property tax. We don't get it at
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: the state. We've got a plush rainy day fund. We've
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: paid down half our debt since I've been governor. I've
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: got all this great stuff. We're doing great. Local governments,
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: when I became governor, were taking in $ 32 billion. Now
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: they're taking in $ 60 billion. So their revenue has almost
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: doubled in seven years.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: Because they're assessing the values higher, and the values have
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: gone up. And so we're saying, okay, If you're a
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: Florida resident and you're homesteading your property, that's your primary
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: homesteaded residence, we think that should be excluded. Now, that's
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: about 30% of the overall property tax revenue if you
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: just did it on day one. So it's got to
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: go on the ballot in November of 2026, and it
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: would be something that would be.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: Get to a point very quickly in.
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: Florida where 90 some percent are not paying anything. And
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: eventually we'd phase in the elimination. So it can be done.
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: And if we don't do anything, they're going to have
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: 84 billion in revenue in 2031. So that's 12, 13
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: years to go from 32 to 84.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Do it.
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: You're not going to have any services. Just ask them,
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: did we not have schools and police in 2019 when
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: they were taken in 32 billion?
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Of course we did. Now, give them inflation.
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: Give them population growth.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Give them a.
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: Couple percent just for kicks on a Saturday night. That
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: takes you to about 46 or 47 billion. It doesn't
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: take you to 60. So how would you want to
• 35:57
  Speaker 4: do that? Maintain the growth of these governments or give
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: Floridians really historic property tax relief?
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: John? I say exactly. And we see those numbers parallel
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: in Ohio. As Governor DeSantis said, we've had the highest
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: inflation in the last 40 years. That's pumped up home values.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: That's pumped up property taxes. It's a crisis that we
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: all saw coming. And if we look at government spending,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: specifically of the Ohio State budget in 2019, it was
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: about $ 69 billion per year. Now it's over $ 100 billion.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: That's a more than $ 30 billion delta. That's more than
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: all we collect in property taxes. We could abolish property
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: taxes in Ohio and have $ 10 billion to spare if
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: we just went back to 2019 levels of spending. So
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: to the governor's point, the numbers... show very clearly that
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: abolishing property taxes isn't some kind of crazy or apocalyptic
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: idea that would throw government into bankruptcy and mean we
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: have no services it would be an adjustment it would
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: force government to go from constantly spending more even outpacing
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the rate of inflation to forced to being constantly more
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: efficient and that's the government that people rightly expect and
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: that's not a big ask in a state like Ohio
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Ron that is clearly overspending Florida is efficient and they're
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: still becoming more efficient we don't even have to become
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: efficient to save money we just have to stop wasting
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: so much there's so much low hanging fruit there's so
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: much waste fraud abuse I mean, we can pay for
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: these exemptions with just the waste.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: So just to clarify, you think we'll get enough signatures?
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, I thought it was impressive how many signatures
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: were gotten in that short period of time by a
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: volunteer effort. I thought the results were quite impressive. And
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: I think it's a monumental hill to climb. But I
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: think with the time frame being there, And remember, he
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: wants a large cushion, Brian Massey, and justly so. If
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: we get there, and I think there is a real
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: possibility of that, that it can get on the ballot.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: And I get nervous because I can hear those attack ads.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: If you vote for this, you're going to be paying
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: high income tax. If you vote for this, you're not
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: going to have police services or whatever. I can almost
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: hear them put together and funded by the school systems
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: and everybody else that benefits from property.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: I just don't think people believe it. I think they're
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: floating those threats because they know it won't actually work.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: If they were confident that those type of negative ads
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: telling the taxpayer, you're greedy, you're stupid, pay your taxes,
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: shut up, eat your broccoli, pay your taxes. If they
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: really thought that would work, Ron, they wouldn't be showing
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: their hand and threatening this is what we're going to do.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: They would just quietly wait until it got on the
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: ballot and then dump those ads. The reason that they're
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: telling us, quote-unquote, what they're going to do is they
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: know it won't work. They know you're not attacking a
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: person or a candidate here. You're not even attacking an issue.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: To win this fight, you have to attack the taxpayer themselves.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: You have to say, Ron Verb, Mr. Taxpayer, you're a greedy,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: stupid idiot. And if you vote to lower your tax rate,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: the world will end.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: Stand by, John.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Stand by.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: Your one stop for at 70 WKBN. 3.55 in the afternoon.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: It's 84 degrees on this August 7th. John Plushnick, the
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: Lake County Commissioner. Commissioner, no. A title that you take
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: a great honor in having. Because they call you Commissioner
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: No because you say no to these tax increases.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: Correct?
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Correct i'm not sure everyone considers it a compliment but
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: i take it as one they call me commissioner no
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: because i always vote no on taxes and while the
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: taxpayer hears that and says hooray what a lot of
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: folks don't understand why do so many good people go
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: bad in politics The pressure from all the public employees,
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: the pressure from everyone in the building, including elected officials
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: who just want a bigger and bigger budget, they don't
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: like to be told no. And you need to elect
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: strong people who don't have a problem saying no on
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: your behalf. Because the most important person is never in
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the room when these decisions are made. We need to
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: remember that we work for the taxpayer, not the folks
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: who want the bonuses, new offices, new buildings, new everything.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: We work for you. We work for the taxpayer. And
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: that means we need to say no to government.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: Are you optimistic about the future of this problem being
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: remedied any time quickly? I mean, we had to fight
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: like crazy just to get the double homestead exemption here.
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: in Mahoning County, and they only did it after they
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: did it in Trumbull County and Columbiana County, to be
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: able to get that. And it's just a small benefit
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: that you get to keep your money, but we need
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: more reform.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: And, Ron, I will say I know your show had
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: a big impact there. I talked to the commissioners in Trumbull.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: I talked to the commissioners in Mahoning, and I know
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: that this conversation has had a positive influence. the people's
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: voices were heard. That's a good thing. But to your point,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: doubling the homestead exemption, that's another $ 500 in the pocket
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: of a senior. That's important. That's not nothing. But we
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: have a lot more to go. And do I believe
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: we can make it? Yes, I do. Ron, I can't
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: predict the future, but my best insight into where things
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: are going is that property taxes are going to go
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: down in a big way next year. They're either going
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: to go down because the state legislature sees that Brian
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Massey and the movement have enough signatures to abolish property taxes.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: They panic and they cut our taxes in a big
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: way to try to head that off at the pass
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: and say, hey, instead of abolishing property taxes, would you
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: accept this? Or The state legislature continues to ignore us,
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: won't even exempt seniors, won't even freeze home values at
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: sales price, won't make the modest reforms you and I
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: have talked about. And then the people say, you know what?
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: You haven't heard our voice. We're taking all the money back.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: And that's when you see the amendment go on the
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: ballot and pass overwhelmingly. So I think next year is
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: the year when we see Ohio property taxes go down
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: in a big way. Whether they're abolished or not, I
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: think that comes down to the state legislature, because I
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: think a majority of people would probably accept some pretty
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: big cuts and take that. But if the state legislature
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: continues to do nothing or to pass sweet little nothings
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: that cut future increases but leave the taxes on the
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: books as they are, then I think the people of
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Ohio are going to stand up and say not enough
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: and abolish property taxes next year.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: Can you stand by and can you give me a
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: few more minutes, John?
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: All right. I'll come back with him after the break
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: here at 4. Terrific guy. Glad to have him. We'll
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: be back.