The East Clevelander

Court Approves $75,000 Transfer
From Gas Tax To General Fund

COMMISSIONER PARKS FILES PROTEST AGAINST
TRANSFER; R. R. CHRISTIAN VOICES OBJECTION

At a special meeting of the Commission held Tuesday at 5 o'clock, $18,000 was transferred by emergency ordinance from the gas tax to the general fund. The money is to be used for the city's share of the county poor relief work.

Tuesday morning, Judge McMann, sitting in Common Pleas court, had approved the transfer of $75,000 gas tax money to the general operating fund, as petitioned by the City Manager and the Commission over the dissenting vote of Commissioner Sterling Parks, who appeared at the hearing after filing a protest against the transfer.

Commissioner Parks' objections were that the city has assets in considerable amounts which its officers refuse to collect and reduce to cash among them being accounts against city officials and other persons, findings for recovery having been made against these individuals by the State Auditor's examiners; that the State has also made findings of approximately $125,000 against the general fund in favor of several special funds, said findings extending over a period of years and that the Commission has made no effort to restore the amount to the proper funds said to have been illegally transferred; and that while these findings stand, no more money should be transferred but should be used to restore to the various funds the amounts illegally transferred; and that it is not necessary at the present time to transfer the $75,000 even if the court should conclude that the Commission has the legal right to do so.

Commissioner Parks stated that the law under which the Commission desired to transfer the $75,000 was passed as an emergency measure and was to enable certain subdivisions to use public funds needed "for relief of unemployment and correction of present economic conditions." But that the Commission wanted the money, and so stated in their petition to the court for "carrying on the fundamental necessary activities of the public safety and service departments of the City of East Cleveland."

Commissioner Parks contended that the Commission did not state the true facts under which the law enabled them to make the transfer.

At the special Commission meeting, and also in the court room in the morning, R. R. Christian, representing a large taxpaying organization, stated that the present tax rate in East Cleveland is 2.99, which is within two points of being the maximum rate allowed by law under the 15 mill limitation, that one of the former Commissioners, James G. Colonel, had tried to persuade the Commission to transfer money from the gas tax fund to the general operating fund, and thus to reduce the tax rate. Instead of which, the tax rate went up, and that he, Christian, as a taxpayer, objects to the present transfer unless it is taken merely as a loan to pay the necessary salaries to city employees and will later be returned to the gas tax fund.

In the matter of the recent findings against the city by the state examiners published in the reports by the State Auditor's office, Commissioner Parks raised the question as to what the Commission would do in case the courts were to affirm the findings and the city suddenly had to find the $125,000 which the examiners said they had wrongfully transferred from special funds to the general fund.

Commissioner President Chamberlain suggested that a report be got together by City Manager Carran and Finance Director Green for presentation to the Commission at the earliest possible moment in an effort to clarify the situation.

"There seems to be a lot of confusion in the minds of the public about this matter, and also among the officials here. I should like to have as complete a report on the situation as possible, and if we are in the wrong, as the examiners state, then we will have to make some preparations to correct the situation; and if we are not in error, as Mr. Carran and Mr. Green say, then we will have cleared that up. At any rate, we must do something about it right away."

Commissioner Parks stipulated that the proposed report should show the complete list of names mentioned in the examiners reports, with the sums assessed against them for recovery.