County Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, it's Tuesday, July 28th, 2026, 3.30. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Commissioner Moore. Here. Commissioner Gallagher. Here. Commissioner Riddell. Here. We have a quorum. Under resolutions number one, investments.

Move to approve.

Second. Discussion. Commissioner Moore. Aye. Commissioner Gallagher. Aye. Commissioner Riddell. Aye. Number two, appropriations.

Move to approve. Second.

Discussion. Commissioner Gallagher. Aye. Commissioner Moore. Aye. Commissioner Riddell. Aye. Number three, transfers.

Move to approve.

Second. Second. Discussion? Mr. Moore? Aye. Mr. Gallagher? Aye. Mr. McDowell? Aye. Number four, advances, repayments, or were none. Number five, requisitions.

Hey, Victor.

He's trying, he said. Yeah, okay. Oops.

Everyone's heads in the audience is sideways right now. Yeah, okay.

No, they're all.

okay we'll pull out our hard copy here i don't know if this thing works i wouldn't do that but i don't know if it still works or not hey victor she's gonna put it underneath the uh thing work is that there we go it's a lot easier on everybody this is page one page two please Move to approve pages one and two. Second.

Discussion. Mr. Moore.

Aye.

Commissioner Gallagher. Aye. Mr. Riddell.

Aye.

Number six, travel.

Move to approve. Second.

Discussion. Mr. Gallagher. Aye. Commissioner Moore. Aye. Mr. Riddell.

Aye.

Hopefully he has the bills. Number seven, bills. Victor, do you have these or?

Now I sell on that.

Hey, let's go back with Teresa putting them under the lamp. How many pages we have? Four pages. This is page one of four. Page two of four. Three. And four. Move to approve pages one through four. Second.

Discussion? Mr. Gallagher?

Aye.

Mr. Moore? Aye. Mr. Riddell? Aye. Is there executive session? No executive session today. Public comment on agenda items.

Okay. With regards to public comment, we have some new people. Just to let you know, just keep it at two minutes. And I'll go with David Johnson in regards to item number nine and 10, which involves the sales tax issue. Good afternoon.

afternoon thank you very much uh david johnson 9483 wellesley drive north ridgeville uh for commissioner rydell you now have a face thank you for the emails we've exchanged uh i just have a short statement i'd like to read in regards to the proposed sales tax increase At recent Lake Lorain County public hearings, numerous residents have expressed their concern regarding the additional financial strain to be placed upon them due to the county's proposed sales tax increase of 0.25% to fund a new county jail and detention home. I believe Lorain County's overall sales tax rate needs clarification so residents can make an informed voting decision this fall whether or not to raise our overall sales tax rate from 6.5% up to 6.75%. Our current overall 6.5% sales tax rate is a combination of the state's 5.75% sales tax rate and Lorain County's 0.75% sales tax rate. For every $100 spent in Lorain County, we currently pay $6.50 in sales tax. The state receives $5.75 and Lorain County receives 75 cents. Lorain County's 10% share stays within Lorain County to directly support our county's general and jail operations. Raising our county sales tax by an additional 0.25% will continue to serve a greater local need. On the flip side, I suggest the state sales tax rate is too high and Lorain County residents should shift their taxation frustration towards our elected legislators in Columbus and ask them why they aren't lowering the state's 5.75% sales tax rate instead of indirectly using a portion of our sales tax dollars to support billions of dollars in tax cuts for Ohio's wealthiest income earners and businesses tax credits for data centers, and private school tax vouchers. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And thank you for acknowledging I return your emails because I strive to do that.

Karen Johnson, items number nine and 10, also the sales tax. I got you down for both agenda and public, correct? Okay.

And actually, I didn't know the annexation was on today, so I would rather address that first. Talk whatever you want, Karen. I am concerned at a Carlisle meeting, a couple meetings ago, Jeff Rydell was there and he was talking about the airport and moving forward with economic development. And he brought up the idea of the possible annexation of the airport land and so that Illyria could provide sewers. And I am concerned about this annexation being a stepping stone to getting to that point. And I want to make sure that the commissioners aren't lobbying behind the scenes with Illyria doing anything because Dave Greenspan told me that the commissioners are not to be doing things like that, that anything that is initiated on annexation should not be coming from the commissioners. So I want to make sure that that isn't happening because there is a lot of suspicions that that could be happening. and it's kind of tragic that that would have to be annexed because again it's stuffing a whole lot of houses into a farmland area into an area there's already homes on larger parcels the other thing is quick on the sales tax is that I would I think we could use a little bit more sales tax as far as funding things I think that I would rather not it be a property tax increase if we had to do something. But at the same time, I want to know if that is going to release money from the general fund in any way. It's all going and it has nothing to do with the general fund at all. It's not going to be a relief on the general fund. It's not doing anything. Okay. And I like the wording of the one that's more specific, that's not as loose. And I also feel like if the concern is that at the end of it that there isn't a flexibility to use it for something else, then just have a sunset that expires sooner if you, you know, that would be my choice. Okay. So, thank you.

Thanks, Karen. Thanks. I'll put that in the redo. Gerald Phillips. Same item number 9 and 10 regarding the sales tax. after gerald b andrew after andrew be sharon and after sharon b william zimmerman there you go everybody else there's a place so gerald phillips avon lake

on the sales tax, you got two proposals, nine and 10. Now, nine, if you read it, it will provide additional revenues to operate and maintain said facilities. So that language allows those funds if that's the exact sales tax to be used for operational funds to operate the jail and it will relieve money from the general fund to provide for the jail. Whereas number 10, The language is more specific and it's for the construction and equipping and repair of the jail. So that's more narrow in the sense of the construction. My concern about the number 10 is repair. That's an operational item too. So I think... The sales tax, if it's going to be for the construction of the jail and detention home, it should be just for the construction of those facilities. And tighten up the language so the money is used directly for that purpose. I think the voters in Lorain County need the language to be clear, concise, and not misleading. Thank you.

Thanks, Gerald. Thanks. Andrew Lippian. Item number 12, which is an annexation issue between South Amherst Township and Elyria. Afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon, Mr. President, commissioners. Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Lipian, L-I-P-I-A-N. First, a small introduction. My life is a life of service. Some of the services I've done include an Elyria City Councilman, which is the capacity I'm here today representing Ward 1, because this issue is set to come before council. Also, I am a village administrator for Grafton and a U.S. Air Force second lieutenant, but those capacities are not why I'm here today. I'm here as a councilman, and in particular, I want to talk a little bit about a central issue to the urban sprawl that this may represent, which is that it's about trust. Lorain County has traditionally been a rural-urban county. There's even a newspaper named after that. It's a balance that the county has enjoyed. Rural residents can have the pleasure of visiting urban communities and enjoy them, and urban residents get the opportunity to visit the more open countryside of the rural areas. I fear that with annexations and development disrupting the balance, it disrupts residents, and it may have the unfortunate consequence of eroding trust, which I know is not our goal. Now, what I would like to see happen is I would like to see a conscientiousness about the delicate issue of this balance between rural and urban and the respect for each of the communities that are involved in that. to not be pulled too far to one extreme or the other. When it comes with the annexation, I believe annexation needs to be pursued with purpose. I've never voted for annexing from a township in my entire three terms on Elyria City Council, and in order for me to ever vote for an annexation on a township, I would need to know an end use to be able to inform my vote. I'm happy to discuss that further, and I thank you for your time and your service to the community.

Thank you, Andrew.

You're welcome.

Sharon Mickelson in regards to the same issue.

Good afternoon, Commissioner. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. And everybody else. I'm sorry I didn't finish up filling out that paperwork. I appreciate it. I'm sorry about that. Oh, you're fine.

Please state your name and address, please.

Sharon Mickelson, 9227 Bechtel, Elyria, Ohio. I'm concerned about the 66 acres behind my house going to a large urban I mean I understand housing to a point but if it's annexed to Elyria it almost triples the amount of houses they can put back there and they want to put back sewers which would probably affect every house that goes around that that parcel the other thing is that we're supposed to be stewards of the land and the animals and every time you got the urban they spread out to build more houses you're taken away from the animals i enjoy watching the deer come out of the tree line watch the hawks the eagles and the rabbits and i really would not want it to disappear any further than that but the sewers in 2022 there was a severe storm that went through our area and all the houses that were on foul road at that time Their sewers backed up, every one of them. All the people that lived on Fowle Road at that time ended up throwing everything that they had in their basements away. And now they've added how many more houses under the same sewer line? And they can only hold so much water. So that means they're gonna back up. That means all the new houses that are there will have to do that. what happens if they put another 170 houses on the same line has anybody considered that you know you can't put that much water in the sewer line said nobody when was the last time they updated the sewers in their area or at all in the area so but i thank you very much thank you for coming in sharon william zerman thank you for walking up too

Item number nine, the sales tax.

William Zimmerman, beautiful Avon Lake. I still have a hard time understanding why we're having to put a quarter percent on the ballot so that we can generate revenue for this. Unfortunately, I know that it's maybe in disrepair and stuff as a facility. I just don't understand why we're coming back to the people to try to get money again. It was already beaten up the last time you had it on the ballot. I don't think that there's a reason to continue to do that. So, in short, I don't think this will pass. I believe the citizens of Lorain County have no interest in helping to build this facility. And unfortunately, it's going to continue to go back and forth. And I don't understand why we keep beating a dead horse.

Thank you. Thank you for coming in. And that's it for public comments regarding our agenda items. OK.

Number nine, increasing the sales and use tax pursuant to 57.

Are you old business? Oh, I'm sorry. I totally missed old business.

Old business. Okay. Board business. He was just thirsty for a win. I see that. Board business number nine. Increasing the sales and use tax pursuant to 5739.021 and 5741.021 by one-fourth of one percent, quarter percent for a sunset period of 15 years for the purpose of supporting criminal administrative justice services in Lorain County to construct, equip, or repair Lorain County Jail Facility and Lorain County Detention Home Facility and to provide additional revenue to operate and maintain said facilities and place on the November 3rd, 2026 ballot.

Yep. Before we move on, we received an email from the prosecutor's office. I'd like to see if she'd like to comment on it before we even make a motion in regards to whether or not we could even vote on this.

I don't know if it's possible to vote on it under concerns over the specificity of the language that was provided. in the last couple of hearings. It's my understanding from one of our assistant prosecutors that there needed to be a specific type of language that was introduced as part of the hearing. Unfortunately, that language didn't make it into the hearing. We'll go ahead and take that as our own mistake with regard to that.

Okay. So no motion. So no table. OK. As the president, I guess I'd say it dies for lack of a motion. All right? That's for the record? Correct. OK, thank you. Item number 10, please.

Number 10, increasing the sales and use tax pursuant to 5739.026 and 5741.023 by one fourth and one percent, quarter percent for a sunset period of 15 years for the purpose of the construction, equipping or repair for the Lorain County Jail Facility and Lorain County Detention Home Facility and placed on November 3rd, 2026 ballot.

So moved.

Second. Discussion?

Yep. Who wants to go first?

Lead.

After viewing the public input from the hearings, I believe the community would benefit from more direct information about the condition of the current jail and the operational needs driven this request. I encourage our sheriff to engage residents through a year-long public outreach effort to explain these needs, answer questions, and provide opportunities for the public to learn more. At the end of this outreach program, the sheriff may request that the commissioners consider placing a sales tax increase on the ballot for the general election in 2027. If that occurs, the commissioners will be required to hold new public hearings to determine whether there is sufficient community support to move forward with the sheriff's request for a new and larger jail. That's my official statement. Did anyone else like to add anything else? Yes. Go ahead, sir.

I'd like to address some of the issues this been involved in this process for a little over two years and we Recognized up front that the the need for the jail there was a study that existed prior to my becoming a commissioner That indicated that the amount of work necessary to bring the existing jail not only into useful upgrades and so forth, but to make it work for today's laws and requirements for the jail would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 or $80 million, and we would still be in a facility that was not up to current standards. It would be an accommodation at best. And I think what the commissioners have done in the three years that I've been here is recognize that It doesn't matter how the jail got into the condition it is, and it's not that we need a new jail for the condition of the jail. In fact, the current sheriff has done quite a bit to improve that over the performance of the previous jail sheriff and his staff. So cosmetic is not what we're concerned about. It's the structural and the security for the staff and the prisoners and the realization that the people that we have elected to Washington and Columbus have created a whole set of mandates for which they give us no money but require us to perform in order for the safety and the civil rights of the inmates and the staff. So there were two studies that were completed. They both recommended that the renovation and upgrade of the existing jail was not worth the fight. That not only would it cause problems and we wouldn't get where we want to go, but we have to figure out what do we do with that facility while we're renovating it. For anyone here that's renovated a house while you're living in it, and I've done that twice, I can only imagine what it's like to try and renovate something, the complexity of a jail, while you continue to try to operate that jail. So we became aware of a statute that said that we needed to form a committee before we could proceed. We recognized that. We had had input from the sheriff, the sheriff-elect, the courts, the prosecutor, mental health people, the drug addiction people, To make sure that the facility that we were to embark on was going to meet the total community needs. And that in the facility that we designed, we turned the, the situation over to a committee. That committee represented all elected officials and all you let all the elected officials agreed. Number one, the premise that a new jail would be a much more effective use of the money. That we would pay half as much to renovate the old jail, $80 million, and we would still end up with a jail that did not have the useful life that a new jail would have. So at the end of the day, that decision was made by a group of people, and the commissioners, our job is to lead, and we did that. We held the committee, the committee then also voted on the particular size and scope of this jail and increased the cost of it to about 140 million from 115 to 120 million. So none of that, none of the discussion on the tax really has to do with the value of the project needs to be done. And for those that heard some of the testimony, and unfortunately the people that were on the committee did, were not able to make the hearings that we held to try and answer to the people. But it was a communal decision that we need to renovate the jail by building a new one and meeting the requirements of law that we are expected to meet. All the commissioners are doing is putting the funding mechanism out there for the people to decide. And so let's not confuse the tax issue or funding with the need for the jail. As we proceed, whatever we do with this motion today and whatever we do in the future, nothing will change the environment that requires the need for the jail. And it will either force us to either pay more money due to inflation as we make that case to the people, and we expect to do that, or we will have to shrink the project to stay in line with the dollars available because projects in construction of this nature are running at five to seven percent more per year. So I just want to make it clear that why are we pursuing this because no matter whether we tax with a sales tax or whatever we as a community need to do, the need for the jail by consensus of elected officials that operate the justice system is that we need to do this. So that's all I want to clarify is today's discussion is about the sales tax but the issue of the jail itself and the need has moved past that.

I toured four jails, as I've said in the past, or detention centers, and by far Lorain County's jail was in horrible shape. And I come from a construction background, so I saw Spalding, rusted steel, you know, just the repairs and maintenance. It sounded like Commissioner Riddell said $80 million in renovations. well you got to take into consideration that's the renovations now let's start renovating a building uh and i'm that's what i did i renovated buildings um and i've done plenty of them first of all you got to shut down part of the jail okay now what do you do with those inmates So you have that. Then you start up a project, you gear up for it, and then the jail is, you finish that area. Now you have to move and start up all over again and follow that procedure. Cost to renovate is significantly higher than new build. And at a point right now, I believe that this jail is at a point of no return as far as renovating because the cost will outweigh the effectiveness of it. The safety of the deputies that are the corrections officers are... um at risk too there's obstructions uh in their in their view um and i'm talking a couple of feet wide from the from their desk to the back of the room where something could happen to another inmate there's liability issues there but by far at 80 million dollars in my personal opinion rebuilding the jail is the Now, as far as the sales tax concern, it is up to the voters to tell us to proceed to go forward. I'm not going to impose a sales tax. I won't be part of it for that simple reason alone. Unfortunately, it did not pass the last time to fund the sheriff's office, so it was kind of a message from the taxpayers. They don't want any more taxes. So we'll see what happens, provide we move forward with this, to see what happens with how the taxpayers feel about spending the money to build a jail.

Yeah, just to clarify again what you just said, the sales tax last time had nothing to do with the jail. It had everything to do with direct funding for the sheriff, so he'd have his own revenue stream coming in. Right now there's already a quarter percent revenue stream coming in that covers the jail. To the tune of about 13 and a half, 13 nine, and I think it costs closer to 20 to run it. So they were short. And so this was just a general fund sales tax that was last year, just to clarify that. So we thought this year what we were going to do was do a sales tax that was designed just for the construction. And I've said this a few places, but I'll say it on the record here. When I left office in 2004, the sales tax general revenue that we're getting was about $7.5 to $8 million a year. Now we're getting $14 million. So if this is a sunset tax that we're looking at, which means it goes away in 15 years, item number 10 deals with the construction only, and that's what the money was used for only. So let's just say, hypothetically, in year 12, we pay off the bonds and everything's paid off. You've still got three years. Then talking to the prosecutor's office, we would have to go back on the ballot and ask taxpayers to remove a sales tax. So that was the concern, why we came up with two systems. One was number nine, in which talked about any overages could be used for the criminal justice system. I do agree. I think it was a little bit too vague. We could debate that all day, but the fact of the matter is we were advised by the prosecutor that the wording and everything was not appropriate for a ballot initiative. So the problem we also saw with item number 10 that we'll see here, once we all vote, is that you only have 98 days to go out and inform the public on the needs for what is needed and to let the public know what's going on, and I think 98 days is enough. I think another... 365 days added on to that might be sufficient to hopefully educate not educate but just to let people know what the needs are and hopefully say hey here's what we need to build a jail and we're going to ask for your support because i'm really against any more property taxes I think if you are a property owner, I said this last time, you've invested already in our county and you're paying enough taxes. Again, there's a lot of unknown coming next year. We'll see if they get enough signatures to remove property taxes. That's a whole other debate. This is basically, I feel, a sales tax that everyone pays and everyone can decide on whether or not they want to pay it, whether or not they purchase a product or not to pay that extra quarter percent. So any other? Go ahead.

On that note, I think it's important to note, I appreciate the support of Mr. Johnson earlier in this meeting, that most folks are having a new revelation in that they think that the county gets the entire 6.5% and we don't. and so when i think you look at what what the county government for decades in the past up till today has provided with sales tax ongoing services and so forth they've done a pretty remarkable job with the lowest sales tax rate in the state only other two other counties share that with us there's no one below us But as to the question of taking it out of the general fund, because our sales tax is at the lowest rate that it is, our general fund continues to be strained. And as we did in 26, we had to cut the budget to make it meet revenue. And in 27, that job will be twice as hard. There is no current room in the general fund to fund a massive new capital investment such as a jail. And so just like we do at home, we borrow money to buy a car. We borrow money to buy a house. We don't borrow money for groceries. We don't borrow money, you know, for those day-to-day items. But when it comes to a capital investment, many times we need to do that. And the sales tax, you know, has been bandied around as the fair sales tax for two reasons. And that is... That it's based, it's pretty well income neutral. Those that buy a lot of things pay a lot of tax. Those that buy a few things pay a little tax. And about a third of our sales tax is paid for by people who live outside Lorain County. So it represents the greatest value to the people of Lorain County, which is who this board represents. And if we can get some of those tourism dollars, sales tax, and other types of outsiders who invest, and we can use that for our benefit, then the sales tax is much preferred over property tax. And we don't have the ability to institute an income tax. And probably most people are happy with that. So, you know, that is the reason, but we're going to pursue this issue until we figure out how to get it resolved. The jail has been kicked down the road since 2009. And I think, I think 15 years is, is enough time to kick the can down the road.

Oh, sheriff, would you like to say anything or.

Sorry to put you on the spot. Sorry. Okay. Afternoon.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. I appreciate this motion that you guys are making in regards to this item that has been placed on the agenda. It is the opinion of my office that to do this in 98 days without a pathway forward in regards to what the total overall budget would be for the jail, that includes the operation of the jail, that includes transfer of inmates, that includes, as Commissioner Gallagher had stated, What do we do in the meantime while the new jail would be built? There were too many unanswered questions, and a lot of those unanswered questions actually were derived from the public who came before you over the course of the last couple weeks. Even though we were absent, we were watching what was going on in regards to what the public comments were. We support what those public comments were. We also support what I believe is going to be your vote today to turn this down, to not do it. I would ask the clerk to provide me with your statement, Commissioner Moore, in regards to the request that you've made of my office. which we will fulfill that to make sure that the public is fully aware of what is going on. And in addition to that, too, we are more than happy to show the public of the steps that we have taken so far for as well as Commissioner Gallagher has said in regards to rehabilitation of the jail and what steps we have taken to make sure that we can live within the means as it is right now. I think this is a more intelligent approach in regards to what we can do. What the public is willing to stomach as far as this goes is a sales tax, whatever it would be later on. I'm not going to stand up here and say we don't need a jail. We do need a jail. But we have to do this intelligently. We have to do this with the input from the public and also to make sure that we can afford everything on this journey that we're embarking on to make sure that everything is covered. So I appreciate you allowing me to speak today.

Okay. I appreciate you coming in.

Thank you, Sheriff.

Any more comments from the board?

No. Mr. Moore?

No.

Mr. Riddell?

No.

Mr. Gallagher?

No. This is just the beginning for 2027. It's not over. Right?

Okay. Number 11. Request State Emergency Response Commission to remove the following members from LEPC due to resignations. Greg Fondren, Roger Lee, Dave Freeman, Jeff Lencheck, and Greg Kulow.

Move to approve. Second.

Discussion. Mr. Moore.

Aye.

Mr. Gallagher.

Aye. Mr. Murdaugh. Aye.

Number 12, receive and generalize the proposed expedited to annexation of approximately 65.2559 acres. For Ma'am Hurston-Jibbs' City of Elyria, Attorney John Clark is agent for Petitioner Builders and Developers Company, Inc., beverage bearing. Decision on the proposed annexation, if all conditions are met, to be placed on the agenda for Tuesday, August 25, 2026, the 34th day.

Move to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Yep. I got a phone call from a township trustee here in Amherst. He advised me that the township trustees are willing to work with the city of Elyria. Unfortunately, City of Elyria has not reached out or worked with, or willing to work with them. This caused me great stress because we're not big on annexations, we're big on JEDs, we're big on working together, we're big on forming partnerships. But unfortunately, the phone call I received before this meeting seems to be different because Elyria will allow to build over 200 homes. And right now I think the townships allows about 130. So I think from the phone call I just had and hearing Mr. Lippian's comments, maybe he should take the initiative and reach out to the township trustees since it seems like nobody from the mayor's office seems to be calling back the trustees so they can work out some form of an agreement because in 34 days, what's gonna happen is we're voting to put it on for a vote and in 34 days they'll make their case and i'm telling you right now if that's the type of information i'm getting from trustees that the city of valeria is not talking to them and refuses to work out a partnership it's going to make it very difficult for me to vote in regards to this issue on the 25th of august that's all i have to say

One thing is, with annexation, as long as they follow procedurally the paperwork, the filings, everything that is done, their T's are crossed and their I's are dotted, us as commissioners have an obligation to vote for an annexation. And it's because we'd be in contempt if we did not. If we voted it down so there it would almost imminently go into litigation So I hope that that the city of Elyria can work something out with the township Yeah, and to opine a little further on what Commissioner Gallagher said and this is probably the seventh or eighth annexation issue in my time here on the board and

The role of the commissioners is not to evaluate on whether this is a good deal for one party or a bad deal for one party. Our job is to audit the process and make sure that under the several types of annexation that are available, that the parties do the right paperwork and they take the right steps. What annexation is about is about a property owner who borders a city or a village and wants to be governed or get services from that city or village. And if the city or village agrees to provide those services or agrees to govern according to their rules, then the annexation proceeds if both parties agree. And then the job of the commissioners is merely to audit that the process has been correctly fulfilled.

Okay, my understanding is that the owner is willing to work out some form of a partnership with the townships and with the city. So that was just the phone call that I have, and I said, well, I'll mention it. I asked for his permission if I could bring it up in the meeting. He said, yes, please do. And maybe the city of Elyria, with maybe a little pressure from a city councilman, might help get Elyria to the table. Because I can tell you right now, if they're not returning phone calls and they're not working with them, it's going to make it very difficult for me to move forward with this project. So just letting you, it's that you're here. So... Okay, is that it?

Is that it?

Okay.

Commissioner Moore? Aye. Commissioner Riddell? Aye. Commissioner Gallagher? Aye. Number 13, accept the Chalko Consulting Group Actuary Report and to establish Lorain County Health Care Plan premium rates effective January 1st of 27. Lorain County Health Benefits will consist of three plan sections, each offering four tiers, and the adoption of a spousal surcharge.

Move to approve.

Second. Discussion?

Yes, we've brought in the experts here, I guess, to discuss what we are about to do. We are about to talk about the county health care plan. If you didn't come for this and you only came for items 1 through 12, you know, now would be a good time to go unless you want to participate because this is going to be, this is a very big deal for the county and it's going to let you guys kind of take over from here and explain everything. Okay. Okay. Thanks, Steve.

Hi. Well, you know me. I'm Steve Parsons. I'm a healthcare actuary. And I've been fortunate enough to be working with the commissioners over the last several years on setting a funding and reserve policy. And that's what we'll be walking through. So my role as a health care actuary is to help set the budget for the upcoming year. In this case, we're planning for calendar year 2027. And also as my role of the actuaries is to make sure the plan is not only properly funded, but also properly reserved. So I'll be talking to both those points. Making sure. So up on the exhibit, we have table A. So I have five tables that I'll walk through fairly quickly. The tables are consistent with how we prepared the forecast for the last several years. So anybody can pick up the tables and put them side by side for an apples to apples comparison. so table one what this tells us is that on the top portion there on the reserves it gives us our reserves over the last three years reserves had been over 20 million in at the end of 23 and it dropped down to 12 million in 2025 at the end of 25 and we're forecasting that to be about $9 million at the end of 2026. So we continue to struggle with keeping our reserve our premiums up with the claims that are hitting the plan. And my third exhibit will highlight what's occurring on high cost claimants also on this exhibit to the bottom right is our recommendation for the premiums for one one of 27 without Just to break even, we're recommending 10.7% increase. And based on the reserve policy, we're recommending a 14% overall increase prior to making any plan design changes, which Kelsey will walk us through. So this is our baseline. Table B. This is the villain in the story. What has occurred over the last several years for the health plan for county employees is consistent with what's happening not only in Ohio but throughout the country. The high cost claims continue to have a significant impact on both funding and reserves as the county is experiencing. So this exhibit provides several years of history reading it across the very first two sets of columns are the most recent 12 month period and the prior 12 month period. And you can see the total high cost claimants over $100,000. had been 35 claimants at 10.5 million, and now 53 claimants at 13.7 million. So that's what's causing us to recommend 10.7% increase just to break even. And now based on our reserve policy, we need to get that 9 million to, we need to add to it to make sure that we're properly reserved. So the next slide. Next slide simply provides a history of the plan going back to 2009-10 all the way up to the current year and it also provides a per employee per month analysis to that. The next slide. So how do we come up with the 10.7%? That's what's on this page, and on the next page is how do we get to 14%. The 10.7%, there's a lot of numbers on this page, but we basically have two years' worth of claims data for medical claims, two years' claims data for prescription drug claims. so we're using actual data for the county health plan so we're not using a book of business or any other data this is you know this is based on the actual experience for the county itself and we're using a health care trend of seven percent and uh nine percent well seven percent for medical and nine percent for drug and when we put those calculations together we're coming up with a recommendation of 10.7 percent uh for just to break even The next slide is the policy the commissioners adopted a few years ago. The policy simply says we're going to make sure that we keep our premiums at 100% of what we believe the cost will be. And two, we're going to target having reserves of 30%. so we can withstand you know situations like this um given that the the county has a stop-loss policy of a specific stop-loss policy of 500 000 so any claim that goes over 500 000 medical mutual pays up that amount of above 500 000 but the county is responsible up to 500 000. so you're taking on some sizable risk and that's the reason we want we're recommending 30 now key to this is we don't fund that increase over one year, but we do it over five years. So we try to keep an opportunity to remeasure it each following year to make sure we don't over-reserve it and nor under-reserve it.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thanks, Steve. Good afternoon, everyone. Kelsey Finucane with Oswald Companies. I work at Oswald and we are the consultant for the health plan for the county. So to kind of piggyback on Steve's presentation of the recommendation of a 14% status quo increase, what we have today are some recommendations about how to bring that increase down to really balance offering a competitive plan design to all of your employees and membership and also manage the overall premium costs coming out of their paychecks. So we do have some recommendations to put forth today. And so there is a table here on an upcoming page, page three. If we get that pulled up, I can talk through those recommendations. Oh, there it is. All right, great. So first off, we are recommending implementing three medical plan designs, which would be two PPO plans with a bit higher deductibles than you have today and one HSA, health savings account compliant, high deductible health plan. So I'll show you the designs of these here in a few minutes. but it would replace the existing medical plan you have with three new plan designs, and then there would be a pharmacy component with each of these designs as well. Since there would be some changes to the pharmacy co-pays, we're also recommending a program called Brand Care, which is available through TruScripts. It helps to buy down the brand-related co-pays on the plan and help to minimize member cost share. We are also recommending moving to four tier premium rates. So currently, your rates and budget is set up as single and family coverage. We are recommending to move in the direction of where the industry is going with single, employee plus spouse, employee plus child and children, and family coverage. And then our final recommendation is to implement, implement a working spouse surcharge of $200 a month. And so, um, we did initially consider and look at a full spousal carve out, but felt that this was a better path forward to still have the county allow spouses to be on the plan. But if that spouse has access to employer sponsored coverage, if they're working and they have access to coverage through their job, If they choose to stay on the county's health plan, they would pay a $200 a month surcharge. So those are our recommendations to put forth today. And then at the bottom part of the table, we did look at a few other things that we're not recommending at this time. some more aggressive programs through true scripts, your, your pharmacy benefit manager, as well as some additional medical plans and some narrow network offerings that do exclude certain providers. Ultimately at the bottom part of this table, we are not recommending those programs at this time and are only recommending the four things that I mentioned above. If we move on to the next page page five this is a summary of the medical plans that we are recommending for one one of 2027 so on the left hand side you have your current medical plan design that has currently a 200 single deductible a 400 family deductible it has an 80 employer cost share 20 employee cost share And then the out-of-pocket maximum of $700 for single, $1,400 for family. And it does cover preventive care at 100%. And then your office visits, specialists, urgent care, everything is subject to deductible and coinsurance. To the right of these are the new plan offerings that we are recommending. So there would be, again, these two PPO plans, one with $1,000, one with a $1,500 deductible, and then the health savings account. compliant high deductible health plan. So these three new offerings would essentially replace the existing PPO plan that is in place today. On the following page, we do have the recommended pharmacy co-pays. You currently, with the one medical plan, there are two pharmacy offerings. And so we are pairing each of the new medical plans with some new pharmacy co-pays. They are going up a little bit, but we did want to call out that we are recommending that you keep the generic mail order of $0. That way folks that maybe have a chronic condition or managing ongoing medications do have that option to fill that at no cost share. So the top part of the page would correspond with Plan 1, so the $1,000 deductible plan, and then the bottom part of the page would correspond on the right-hand side with Plan 2 and Plan 3. And did want to call out on the following page that preventive care will still be covered at 100%, so that will not be subject to deductible or coinsurance on any of the plans. These are some examples here of what would be covered at 100%, and that is subject to how the provider bills the visit. and then to wrap it up wanted to show the recommended premium rates for 2027 so as steve mentioned if we did not make any changes whatsoever we would be collectively recommending a 14 increase but by implementing these new programs we are able to offset a great portion of that increase so We're able to, you can see with Plan 1, Plan 2, and Plan 3, the savings gets more significant with Plan 3, a little less significant with Plan 1. So there's a lot going on on this page, but to really summarize it, we're showing 2026 current premiums in the two-tier structure, what those would look like in a four-tier structure. So the gray at the top is total expense, the orange are employee contributions, and then the pinkish-purple would be the change from current. So within this exhibit, we are converting your rates over from the two tier to the four tier rates and then converting them into the 15% employee contributions. And then focusing down at the bottom, this would show the change that members would experience out of their pay. Again, this is a monthly basis though. So you can see single coverage, depending on what plan someone elects would have a slight increase or a slight decrease. If you move into single plus spouse or single plus child or children coverage, it's a decrease across the board, regardless of what plan. And then if you elect family coverage, there is a bit of an increase across the board. So our to summarize our goal with these recommendations is to balance what folks are paying out of their paycheck along with offering, you know, the choice depending on what members want to elect. Thank you.

Thank you. So we really don't know, right? Because you can stay up there if you want, Steve. You're the actuary. Because there's a lot of assumptions in here that people are going to pick one, two, or three, correct? And you've had to base it on that? Yes. Did you find that from other counties? Or how did you come up with these assumptions?

yeah based on you know experience with uh other groups that have made similar plan design changes i'm assuming i don't have my assumptions in front of me but i am assuming um most uh participants will select the first plan and on a high deductible plan i would anticipate um five to ten percent enrollment in that plan

Any questions?

Just I believe to characterize this for people because it's a lot of numbers to throw at people in a 20 minute period. But the two problems that we gave to you folks to help us work our way through was number one that the premiums kept going up because the expenses kept going up. and so obviously with insurance it's that's that's the way it works if you you got a bad driving record you pay more than somebody with a good driving record the second part that we heard was that many people were paying for a family plan but they might have only had a spouse or they might have been a single parent with with one or two kids but they were paying family insurance so that's that's why we broke this into four four groups so that number one people can pick of the three plans how much insurance they want and how much they want to be taken out of their check and then number two is they get a choice between they they get some savings based on that if they're not really paying for a full family because they don't have one they're going to see some savings as i see the numbers here

How does this plan compare to the state? I mean, on an average, are we average? Are we high? Are we low? Where are we at?

with the new plans yeah with the new plans i would say we're still um average or better than you know the plans throughout the state based on the state employees relationship relations board survey that they do annually so there's a really well done survey by the state serb survey that we benchmarked the old plans and the new plans too we also benchmark the plans for other entities in the county such as the schools and a couple trade unions and lccc so we feel like these are reflective of their good plans compared to the benchmark from serb and where does the plan sit right now that we have would you say that's probably one of the

Best ones in the state of Ohio? Yes. You've said that before, that nobody has the type of plan that we have.

It's not common to see it anymore.

And we heard overwhelming that people wanted to pay less for health coverage as commissioners. They've come up here numerous times telling us. And this gives them the solution from a good, better, best, whichever way they prefer.

Yeah. And we're up to how much a year or 38 was it projected out of cost? 36,000 a year per? Because I don't you guys send the screen anymore.

When I benchmark your, your, for 27, your, your cost, you're, you're definitely above the benchmarks from a cost standpoint.

Mm hmm. Okay. Good, good. Nice work. Thank you.

Is that it? Commissioner Moore? Aye.

Commissioner Berdell? Aye. Commissioner Gallagher?

Aye.

Under Sanitary Engineer 14, Amendment Resolution 26113, adopted February 13th of 26, entering in a consulting agreement with K.E. McCartney and Associates in the amount of $3,178,200 for the Quarry Road Sanitary Trunk Sewer Extension AKA Northwest Lorain County Sanitary Sewer. Amendment is to reflect the correct account number should be water resource recovery facility sub fund.

That's an admin. So moved. Second.

Discussion. Mr. Moore. Aye. Mr. Gallagher. Aye. Mr. Murdell.

Aye. The next one's admin too, huh? Yep. Okay.

Airport 15, Amendment Resolution 26340, adopted June 5th of 26, entering in contract with the Erie Blacktop Inc., Sandusky, in the amount of $499,090.55 for Lorain County Regional Airport. mean apron phase three project. Said amendment is to reflect clarification for the auditor to authorize certificate of funds as 95% of the project is funded by ODOT Office of Aviation and the remaining 5% will be funded by the airport construction account.

So moved. Second.

Discussion.

Mr. Moore. Hi.

Mr. Gallagher. Hi. Mr. Riddell.

Hi.

Children's Services 16 authorized to rescind various personnel in the Lorain County Children's Services Department to utilize the agency's master curve for the year 26 not to exceed $2,500 in accordance with the ORC and the permissible policy.

So moved.

Second discussion. Mr. Moore.

All right.

Mr. Gallagher. Hi.

Mr. Ronell. Hi.

Engineer proven enter in a subdivider agreement with FLG in crossing LLC for eating crossing subdivision number 16 township. Subdivider has submitted proof of ownership, evidence of payment of current property tax certificate of insurance, professional engineers, estimate and construction costs with approved engineering plans and specifications and agrees to bear all costs and expenses of the improvements contemplated by the sub divider agreement.

So moved. Second discussion.

Commissioner Gallagher. Aye. Commissioner Riddell.

Aye. Commissioner Moore. Aye.

18, approve an under and subdivided agreement with Garland New Homes Inc. for Jana Reserve Subdivision No. 2, Columbia Township. Subdivider has submitted proof of ownership, evidence of payment of current property taxes, certificate of insurance, and has professional engineering estimate of construction costs with the approved engineering plans and specifications, and agrees to bear all costs and expenses of the improvement contemplated by the subdivided agreement.

So moved. Second.

Discussion? Mr. Gallagher? Aye.

Mr. Moore?

Aye.

Mr. Riddell? Aye. Ms. Perkins? Date this afternoon. Thank you.

And I have nothing.

Board correspondence?

Move to waive the reading of the board correspondence.

Second. Discussion? Mr. Riddell?

Aye.

Mr. Gallagher? Aye. Mr. Moore?

Aye.

New business?

I don't have any.

No?

Okay.

Public comment.

Oh, yeah. Karen Johnson, do you wish to come up?

Karen Johnson, Carlisle Township. Words matter. Words can convey the truth or words can deceive. To give the thing a name is to define the thing itself. Pete Hegseth said words matter when he changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Enterprise zone is an economic incentive tool, nothing more. But Lorain County redefined that word to say that New Russia desired industrial development as a result of an enterprise zone, even though the reason the zone was there was because Commissioner Betty Blair came to New Russia and wanted to have a foreign trade subzone at the airport and needed an enterprise zone first. More words, farmland preservation. On a land use plan, it means that area is intended to be preserved for farmland. Mr. Greenspan told me that it means that it's an agricultural district that expired five years from creation. No, that would be an agricultural district. So now the word urban. meaning a higher population with developed land. Given past experience with redefinition of words, why would the residents of Lorain County believe that you would not twist the word urban to suit whatever you have in store for us next? Truth is another word. You gave Carlisle Township a document to clarify the truth, and it says that the county development will be scheduling individual meetings with each political subdivision to discuss the urban county designation. You stated that this is a correct statement. While the statement of sending the email saying they would schedule meetings is correct, the actual scheduling and holding the meetings didn't happen, at least not for Carlisle, Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville, and those are the only entities I checked into. That's deception. That's another word. And I received an email from Jeff Rydell stating that you are approaching $1 million in HUD funds. So three times that is $3 to $4 million. That's also deception, because Andy Coleman, our county's HUD representative that actually created the estimate, told me it's $780,000, which is nowhere near what your advertising is to be. How can local governments make decisions that aren't based on accurate information? And to make it worse, you're blaming the public on providing inaccurate information. Then there is the word trust. In listening to the urban county meeting in North Ridgeville last night, they did research because they didn't trust the information coming to them even from the county. In fact, the very point they seem to agree on was the lack of trust there is with the commissioners. I ask that you consider stop doing everybody else's job and focus on your own, which is not a full-time job. It's a part-time job. Let HUD do their job. Let the Department of Development do their job. Let the auditor do their job. And it's obvious to the residents that 911 belongs under the jurisdiction of the sheriff. And as the users of the radios, their say and that of the fire departments is more important than your own. Good leadership empowers others to do their job. Please don't interfere with it. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. ORDERS? ORDERS? ORDERS? LOVEJOY? LOVEJOY? LOVEJOY? OH, HE LAUGHED. OH, HE LAUGHED. OH, HE LAUGHED. GERALD PHILLIPS? GERALD PHILLIPS? GERALD PHILLIPS?

AFTER GERALD BE TAMMY.

AFTER GERALD BE TAMMY. AFTER GERALD BE TAMMY. THEN WILLIAM AFTER TAMMY. THEN WILLIAM AFTER TAMMY. THEN WILLIAM AFTER TAMMY. I'LL THANK YOU GUYS FOR I'LL THANK YOU GUYS FOR I'LL THANK YOU GUYS FOR MENTIONING THAT. MENTIONING THAT. MENTIONING THAT. AFTERNOON AGAIN. AFTERNOON AGAIN.

AFTERNOON AGAIN. GERALD PHILLIPS, AVON GERALD PHILLIPS, AVON A very inspirational statement had recently been made, and I quote, that it is the Christian thing to do to help those less fortunate. That came from Commissioner Riddell's own mouth. He made it at a township meeting. But it's the Christian thing to do, Mr. Riddell, to give JFS an hour increase in their wages. That's the Christian thing to do. Also, Commissioner Riddell, it was the Christian thing to do when the piggyback of the homestead exemption came up again after the state passed it, you voted to repeal it. You should have voted to pass it. That would have been the Christian thing to do, to help seniors, disabled, veterans, people whose income is less than $41,000. They don't make $100,000 on a part-time job as a commissioner, and they don't have a business called consumer builder supply. These are the people who are less fortunate. So Mr. Riddell, why don't you do the Christian thing to do for the less fortunate? Thank you.

Tammy McGinnis. And then William Zerman after that. Afternoon.

Good afternoon. Tammy McGinnis, Elyria, Ohio. Earlier on in the meeting, Jeff, you said that the state, the county doesn't get all of the sales tax, which we know that. The one thing that the public doesn't know is that the county doesn't pay 100% of JFS's wages. You guys pay approximately 3%. And I've said it before, you know, it makes no sense. And at this point, over five months in, I read something the other day, and you'll still see my face, but you're no longer going to hear my voice. because never argue with people committed to misunderstanding or misleading you their goal is to not understand but to exhaust you in their efforts thank you tammy william zimmerman after william sander jensen william zimmerman beautiful avon lake

I've been away for a little bit, had to do some other things. But while I was gone, I watched the three of you act like spoiled children, whining, complaining about the misinformation and the statements made by the citizens that you didn't approve of. I believe you were in violation of Robert's rules in one of the last meetings because you proceeded to speak after public comment when the meeting should have been adjourned. So now you're not even abiding by your own rules. You're just making it up as you go. So I'm aware of a mother who's trying to get her health care continued. She's on the phone for hours at a time, waiting for a person to come on to help. After several hours, the phone finally goes through for the call. Someone on the other line hangs up. They can't get help. The frustrating part is that as the strike continues on, it's causing greater and greater hardships for the citizens. Not only the workers, but the citizens. And this is a perfect example. And so as Mr. Phillips just said, Mr. Riddell, you said the Christian thing to do at the meeting recently in Carlisle. Here's your chance to do the Christian thing and get these people back to work. If you don't, you're a hypocrite. Second now, last thing. So I've got all of my records here in regards to the money that's being donated to y'all, 5,000. Oh, look at that, it's Dan Resar. I think we've talked about him before and the things that you've done for him and trying to keep moving on. All the project down Baumhart Road. What a surprise. This guy's getting a ton of money to you, 5,000 a crack. His wife donates 5,000 a crack.

i can't believe that they're willing to do that for the corrupt politicians that you are thank you sandra lee oh there she is sorry i'm used to seeing your white shirt sorry

have a headache so i apologize sandra jensen 617 lafayette boulevard adult protective services intake since i don't know 10 years or so 1777 an hour um i wrote out a speech and i kind of like i really just don't feel like reading it but um one of my co-workers did a records review of the current salaries And I kind of picked through it today and yesterday. And I have what all the administrators and supervisors make, what they made in January, what their current rate is, what their raise was. I figured out what they would be in a normal year without overtime. And we also have it all listed what everyone's year-to-date gross pay is. So anyway, I'll just pick away at what I wrote down. So today I wore my Ruth Bader Ginsburg socks because I think it's really cool that she was so special. Someone put her face on my socks and what a legacy she has. We keep hearing from you that you want smaller government and that we need to tighten the belt. Last meeting, it was said that $17.5 million could be cut from the budget next year. And if something's not mandated by the state, it will go. So looking at these records, has anyone ever done a serious staffing audit at the JFS, like specifically for supervisors? It looks like we have 32 supervisors, and they make a decent wage. And I know that because my daughter went from making $16.89 as a child support investigator to making a little more than some of the supervisors, most of the supervisors. And I can tell you, she's living a good life in Columbus. Yay for her for almost being 26, and she's coming off my insurance in January. um so anyway um so i was looking at this 32 supervisors and i asked a few people and it looks like one supervisor has zero employees to supervisor to supervise one has one one has two five have three one has ten and the rest are in the middle um but everyone got a raise you know not not a big raise but they all got a little something uh the highest being about 250 an hour And while that really does not seem like a lot, I added it up and it comes up to $433 a month, which is a car payment. And I know for a while there was a car, broken down car at the JFS, and it just sat there for about a month. I think for a while the tires were flat. I hope that person was able to get a new car finally.

close to three minutes i know i know and so as i say at every meeting let's get back to the table i can tell you that i don't make a living wage so 1777 an hour so thank you thank you brian sorry brian i didn't tell you i warned you ahead of time then after brian amanda after brian i should have called you up first since you were closer sorry

Brian Baker, Brownhelm Township. Just a couple points here. You know, today we had a presentation on from the health care people that came in and did a presentation because it's a very important issue. So I know there's a gentleman, I think his name is Andy Coleman. He's the urban coordinator for our area. As much controversy as this has created in Lorain County with Everybody, the story's not the same. Marty, I went down there with you guys down that Thursday night. I think we walked away there even somewhat more confused. Is there any way we could reach out to this gentleman, ask him to come here, and put a presentation on about urban county designation, what we're going to receive, what the amount of money is? It seems like to me it would make a lot of sense. My last question is, and I don't know this, but I think it is, is this a subject of mandatory bargaining for the health care? So every union really has to sign off on what you're doing here in the county. Is that a correct statement? And I'd reflect that to the prosecutor. I'm almost positive you do, though. So with that, thank you. No problem.

Thanks, Brian. Just to let you know, I think you met with all the union leadership, right, Karen? I think you did last week. Okay. Amanda Quimper? Good afternoon.

2299 West River Road, Elyria. My name is Amanda Joan Quimper. I'm also known as Amanda Joan of Heart. I'm an independent journalist, filmmaker, and the creator of Awaken and Unite.com TV with purpose. Ohio has long recognized the public's right to know how taxpayer money is spent. Yet recent changes to State law, HB 96, Ohio Revised Code 9.66D has significantly limited public access to many economic development records. When citizens cannot review incentive agreements, contracts, or negotiations involving public resources, meaningful oversight does not exist. Meanwhile, JobsOhio continues promoting hyperscale development across Ohio. Investigative journalist Whitney Webb has argued that the New Albany Company became a model for this public-private partnership approach to economic development involving Lex Wessner, who is in the Epstein files, and other influential figures. Now a similar model is being proposed for Brownhelm Township through a hyperscale data center project. I'm also submitting documents regarding emerging wireless technologies, including information and patents related to 5G and proposed 6G terahertz technologies, as well as materials expressing concerns about potential public health, privacy, and security implications. Whether one agrees with these concerns or not, the public deserves the opportunity to review this information, ask questions, and make informed decisions before these technologies are further expanded and bum-rushed into our communities. I'm also submitting documents regarding flock safety, Axion, Motorola Solutions, virgilent and other mass surveillance systems in chattery versus united states 2026 the supreme court reaffirmed that digital location tracking is protected by the fourth amendment and generally requires a lawful warrant i urge this board to reject warrantless mass surveillance and protect the constitutional rights and privacy of the people additionally Additional information can be found at awakenandunite.com, Pax International, which is P-A-C-T-S-N-T-L.org, and targetedjustice.com. The term targeted individuals refers to people who believe they have been subjected to unlawful surveillance, tracking, harassment, or other forms of technologically... enabled targeting. I am submitting materials that these individuals and organizations cite in support of their concerns.

OK, you're up three minutes. Can you give me one more second? I'm almost done. Yep, hurry up.

OK. Economic development should never come at the expense of transparency, constitutional rights, and the public trust. I respectfully ask that this board slow down this process and insist upon full transparency, protect our constitutional liberties, and place the health, safety, and the rights of the people of Lurien County above any corporate interests. Finally, I respectfully request that all the documents and supporting materials I'm submitting today be accepted into the public record for the people's review. Thank you. Amanda Joan Quipper.

Thank you. We're not going to exact, so we're adjourned.

Thank you.