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Our opinion: Will billing change have benefits?

It made plenty of sense from a cash flow perspective for Warren County officials to split tax billing rather than send one bill later in the year for county, school and municipal taxes. There’s a reason why every other county in the state had made this change before Warren County - it helps with county budgeting. But discussion during a recent Warren County Commissioners meeting shined a light on another potential benefit - fewer tax delinquencies. In 2013 Warren County had about 11% of tax bills end up being delinquent. Now, that number is 8.78%, a number that ends up equalling ...

Editor’s corner: Etiquette can go south fast during town halls

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Reed of New York knew he would be walking into a buzzsaw in 2017 during town hall meetings with constituents. In a New York Times video taken in North Harmony in February of that year, Reed stood calmly — and composed — while listening to concerns of those in ...

Our opinion: Rethinking reassessment

We hope that the current and future Warren County commissioners have been taking notes as the county’s property reassessment process drags on. Making the decision to finally undertake a property reassessment was necessary and correct. But postponing the decision for decades has created so much uncertainty among Warren County property owners that the process is far more difficult for taxpayers than it should be. No one is familiar with a process that should be at the very root of governance - making sure properties are assessed fairly so that taxpayers are paying a fair amount of ...

Our opinion: Set common-sense boundaries

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it could. And that’s why the Warren City Council is tightening up the City Code as it applies to chicken coops located inside the city. Changes make clear there are no free-range chickens allowed in the city, no roosters, and a permit will be required to build a chicken coop because they are now considered auxiliary buildings. The new code language also gives the city the ability to check on permits to make sure chicken owners followed the city’s guidelines as to where the coop is located. Roosters in the city limits are also ...

Our opinion: Hutchinson isn’t asking much of PGC

It’s encouraging that state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-Oil City, hasn’t forgotten about the expansion of state Game Commission lands that had many in Warren County pretty upset last year. The local state senator is drafting legislation that would require state agencies attempting to buy land to seek local government approval before the purchase takes place. It’s an attempt to enshrine into state law an idea Hutchinson suggested when Spring Creek Township officials asked for a meeting with state Game Commission officials before the commission took control of 2,195 acres of property ...

Our opinion: Gratitude for those who gave all

Here we are, in the midst of a three-day weekend that serves for many as the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. For some, it will be their first getaway of the season. For others, it will be the weekend on which they open their pool. For some, it will be the day on which they remember and honor loved ones lost in service to their country. That is, after all, the real reason for Monday’s observance of Memorial Day. For 156 years our nation has paused for just this one day to honor and grieve the men and women who have died while serving in the armed ...