Summit County has sounded the alarm about a bill in the Ohio Statehouse that they contend could sock residents with higher sewer and water bills.
Summit County officials want residents to tell state lawmakers to vote no on legislation that they say protects absentee landlords.
The bill would change the current process where municipalities can place a lien on rental properties delinquent on water and sewer bills, holding landlords accountable. Instead, House Bill 93 would require renters to pay.
"It's just personal responsibility to me," the bill's cosponsor State Rep. Mark Johnson of Chillicothe said. "If I go down and take out a loan at a bank, it's not my landlord's responsibility. It's my responsibility."
But Summit County officials said they are worried the bill could add costs to municipalities, which would trickle down to customers, said Greta Johnson, director of communications and assistant chief of staff at the Summit County Executive’s Office.
“If a renter has not paid their bill because they’ve simply moved, we have no way to track that person down," she said.
State Rep. Johnson said the current process is not fair to landlords.
“I mean I can come back and say it raises the cost to rent an apartment or rent a house, also," he said.
Summit County's Director of Sanitary Sewer Services Michael Vinay said it's not fair to the majority of residents who pay their utility bills on time to burden them with extra costs.
"Ninety-five percent of our customers are compliant," he said. "They pay their bill every month, and it shouldn't be their responsibility to pay these charges while they're being kept current on their account."
The money lost when landlords aren't forced to pay, and the money spent to track down renters, would take away from other services, he said.
"With legislation like this, every dollar we have to direct towards either collecting or recouping these costs is less dollars that we can direct toward our infrastructure," Vinay said.
The county also has concerns that the new law would benefit out-of-state landlords, who are a problem in Summit County, Greta Johnson said.
"I absolutely would disagree with that argument," State Rep. Johnson said, "because they're either going to take care of their properties or they're not."
Many municipalities across the state share the county’s concerns, Vinay said.
“I would say that some of the larger cities and municipalities are also concerned that this is an attack on home rule, as well," he said. "They may approach it — if it does pass — they may approach that situation as well with litigation.”
In a statement, an Akron city spokesperson said officials there also are concerned about HB 93.
"This bill would result in extensive operational cost increases and lost revenue for municipalities like Akron causing a significant financial burden to our residents," the statement read. "This would come at a time when families, most especially in Akron, are hurting with already high utility rates, rising costs of groceries and many other household day-to-day necessities."
The bill passed the House last year, and State Rep. Johnson said he hopes it will pass the Senate during the lame duck session.
