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By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 06:42 p.m. EDT, Jun 15, 2009
BARBERTON:Landlords are turning to voters for help in the fight against new apartment and house rental fees.
The City Council approved the fees last week, requiring landlords to register their properties and pay a fee of $40 per unit.
The ordinance would take effect in January.
Landlords will meet Tuesday to circulate referendum petitions aimed at getting voters to overturn the ordinance.
The petition drive needs 1,185 valid signatures to get the issue on the November ballot. The deadline for filing the petitions is Aug. 8, or 60 days after the law passed.
Landlords say they have no with registering their properties but argue that the fees are too high.
Chuck Fowler of Norton, who owns 24 apartments, called the registration fees a ''tenant's tax,'' saying landlords will have to pass on the additional costs to their tenants.
Fowler also questions what the city will do with the money.
''Initially, we heard it was for additional inspectors, but the city said no,'' he said.
Fowler suggested the city intends to use the money to buy property and give it to the Akron Metro Housing Authority, which is looking for sites to replace some of the subsidized housing lost when the agency sold Norton Homes to make room for the new Barberton Middle School. AMHA hopes to replace 70 of Norton Homes' 170 units and has asked the city to help it find new housing.
''The city is buying real estate and tearing down homes and turning them into vacant lots,'' Fowler said. ''Is the city buying for AMHA?''
Mayor Bob Genet denied that the city is buying and razing condemned property that it plans to donate to AMHA.
''This is nothing new. It's an ongoing project to clean up neighborhoods in the city,'' the mayor said of the condemned property program. ''That project is not dependent on the revenue of the rental registration program.''
Genet said the fees would go into a specific fund geared toward neighborhood improvements, including acquisitions, demolitions, skywalks, or to help pay for operation costs.
''The money would be a small bit of revenue to revitalize our neighborhoods, and won't completely fix everything, nor is that the intention of the new law.''
There are no specifics yet on what percentage of money would go to what areas.
The landlords' meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Anna Hall, 542 W. Park Ave., Barberton.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
BARBERTON:Landlords are turning to voters for help in the fight against new apartment and house rental fees.
The City Council approved the fees last week, requiring landlords to register their properties and pay a fee of $40 per unit.
The ordinance would take effect in January.
Landlords will meet Tuesday to circulate referendum petitions aimed at getting voters to overturn the ordinance.
The petition drive needs 1,185 valid signatures to get the issue on the November ballot. The deadline for filing the petitions is Aug. 8, or 60 days after the law passed.
Landlords say they have no with registering their properties but argue that the fees are too high.
Chuck Fowler of Norton, who owns 24 apartments, called the registration fees a ''tenant's tax,'' saying landlords will have to pass on the additional costs to their tenants.
Fowler also questions what the city will do with the money.
''Initially, we heard it was for additional inspectors, but the city said no,'' he said.
Fowler suggested the city intends to use the money to buy property and give it to the Akron Metro Housing Authority, which is looking for sites to replace some of the subsidized housing lost when the agency sold Norton Homes to make room for the new Barberton Middle School. AMHA hopes to replace 70 of Norton Homes' 170 units and has asked the city to help it find new housing.
''The city is buying real estate and tearing down homes and turning them into vacant lots,'' Fowler said. ''Is the city buying for AMHA?''
Mayor Bob Genet denied that the city is buying and razing condemned property that it plans to donate to AMHA.
''This is nothing new. It's an ongoing project to clean up neighborhoods in the city,'' the mayor said of the condemned property program. ''That project is not dependent on the revenue of the rental registration program.''
Genet said the fees would go into a specific fund geared toward neighborhood improvements, including acquisitions, demolitions, skywalks, or to help pay for operation costs.
''The money would be a small bit of revenue to revitalize our neighborhoods, and won't completely fix everything, nor is that the intention of the new law.''
There are no specifics yet on what percentage of money would go to what areas.
The landlords' meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Anna Hall, 542 W. Park Ave., Barberton.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Tallmadge, OH
Posted 07:08 PM, 06/15/2009
How many of the landlords actually live in Barberton and will be able to sign the petition? You might have to put signs out that say "Methadone Clinic" in front of the poll locations to get those renters to get out and vote in November.
Akron, , OH
Posted 07:17 AM, 06/16/2009
Rather than being creative the week of mind must tax,tax,tax and so it goes.
Barberton got "change" with the new mayor!!!!!
Or maybe it's the same ole thing with a different facade.
Canton, OH
Posted 08:21 AM, 06/16/2009
Hey, Mr. Fowler, why don't you move into Barberton ???? C'Mon. . .
Posted 09:19 AM, 06/16/2009
There are a few "land"lords that should have their properties fined and/or razed.. however, not all deserve the penalty/fee.
If the city would simply put on their big people pants and go after those that deserve it - the others wouldn't have to ante up!
Posted 11:39 AM, 06/16/2009
Just another way that local governments use its residents to support themselves. The new Ohio state motto should be "When in doubt, TAX TAX TAX". Norton is doing it by refusing its citizens Income Tax reciprocity. At a time when we are losing jobs or having our hours cut back, our leader help us by taking more of what we are earning less of.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 11:29 PM, 06/16/2009
Barberton Landlords - raise the rent high and watch all the renters sign the petition and vote against this fee. Another revenue raiser for the city to employee friends and family of the politicos in Barberton. Stop this nonsense in it's tracks.
Barberton, Oh
Posted 02:41 PM, 06/17/2009
Reasons to SIGN THE REFERENDUM PETITION
I have attended most of City Council, Council Committee, Neighborhood and Landlord meetings, specifically regarding this new Rental Registry Inspection Ordinance.
I have publicly stated my position on my approval of the Ordinance, in reference to its agenda of cleaning up the slum property owners in our City, but I have been outspoken moreso of not approving of the language w/in it.
Therefore, not being able to approve a part of it, I oppose the Ordinance in whole. And this is due many unsuccessful attempts of requesting the person who wrote this ordinance to remove the sections w/in it that violate the civil rights of property owners & tenants, to remove the sections w/in it that place the City in a position of being civilly liable for enforcing it, including amending it in it’s entirety, in accordance w/the codes.
The Ordinance seriously violates every resident, property owner, business owner & tenants, CIVIL RIGHTS.
The Ordinance blatantly protects a few “chosen” property owners & tenants who may or may not have been cited for Building code violations that are going to be ‘over looked’, thereby, leaving a larger number of Barberton property owners & tenants to incur the costs & criminal penalties for those chosen few who are protected. This is called DISCRIMINATION!
The Ordinance transparently transfers property owner’s oral and/or written contractual obligations (lease) between a tenant and property owner, onto the tenants, which, the City and/or any City ordinance is prohibited from doing in accordance w/the Ohio Landlord Tenant Revised Codes.
Barberton, Oh
Posted 02:42 PM, 06/17/2009
The Ordinance erroneously affords the City of Barberton Building Department Commissioner and/or any of his employee’s unlimited opportunities to apply for a SEARCH WARRANT based on a complaint, whether the complaint is valid or not, or hearsay, to enter your rental unit and/or any of your personal property w/or w/o your permission and/or w/or w/o your landlords permission and/or knowledge, unlimited access to any area of your landlords property w/or w/o his/her permission and/or knowledge, all of which, regardless of whether or not it is included in the ordinance that has passed, is PROHIBITED according to any one of and/or all of the following codes!
The Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Building Code, International Building Code, Ohio Administrative Code, City of Barberton Charter, Municipal Code, Federal Code, many Senate and House Bills and the Ohio Building Standards Commission.
The codes also prohibit the City of Barberton Building Commissioner and/or any of his employee’s from transferring a Civil Administrative penalty (such as outlined in the new Ordinance) to a criminal penalty (such as outlined in the new ordinance), thereby, prohibiting a landlord and/or tenant from being criminally prosecuted in either Barberton Municipal and/or Summit County Common Pleas Court.
I oppose this ordinance as it is written, and encourage every resident registered to vote in the City of Barberton to sign one of the Referendum petitions that is being circulated in order to allow us (a group of landlords & tenants) to obtain the required amount of signatures necessary for us to place the Ordinance on the November ballot, that will allow the City of Barberton registered voters to decide if ‘they’ want their CIVIL RIGHTS violated, by voting against this Rental Registry Inspection Ordinance.
