If I hear one more mayor trying to justify some idiotic policy by saying his or her city needs the revenue, I’m going to scream.
Actually, I already did — in the middle of reading Phil Trexler’s article on Sunday’s front page about the bandits in Macedonia.
In case you were suffering from heatstroke and couldn’t focus, Phil wrote about the city’s policy of billing nonresidents who cause accidents a ridiculous amount of money above and beyond the traffic fines.
One fellow who spun on a patch of wintertime ice and hit a guardrail was ordered to pay $154 for the city’s use of a police cruiser, $142 for “police station prep/administration” and $70 for the officer’s time.
So what are Macedonia’s cops normally paid to do, watch TV?
This is nothing short of highway robbery.
But that’s not the half of it. The city, which contracted with an outside firm to send these bogus bills, actually signed off on the deal without putting a limit on how much the vendor could make. In the example above, $245 went to Macedonia and $121 went to the company that mailed the bill.
Mayor Don Kuchta told Trexler that, in retrospect, the city’s contract with Cost Recovery Corp. should have spelled out the company’s fee structure.
Ya think?
As for Cost Recovery, well, it can’t be bothered to tell the city how much it’s making. Seriously.
Did we mention that Macedonia’s law director, Joseph Diemert, worked for Cost Recovery at the same time? Incredibly, nobody in the Macedonia administration seems to view that as a conflict of interest.
Sounds like something you’d encounter in a small town in Mexico.
If Macedonia had been paying attention, it might have learned a lesson from the nearby city of Stow.
In the summer of 2006, Stow introduced its own version of a “crash tax” but quickly abandoned it after a public outcry. The American Automobile Association was among those crying out. Regional spokesman Brian Newbacher nailed it: “What it amounts to is double taxation.”
This practice should be outlawed throughout Ohio — as it is in 10 states, including Pennsylvania. (Three more states limit charges.) If I were a state legislator, this would be prominent on my 2011 “To Do” list.
Yes, municipal budgets are squeezed. But that doesn’t mean cities should be able to reach out and grab our wallets.
Meanwhile, area residents who don’t live in Macedonia might begin to think twice about patronizing the city’s stores, restaurants and movie theaters.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
