Plain Press

  • Call for a complete overhaul of County Government, starting with the Land Bank

    To the editor:      (Plain Press November 2024) Thank you, Chuck Hoven, for your August article: Cleveland and Cuyahoga County need new policies to help residents address property delinquency.      For years, authors at REALNEO.us have asked that Cuyahoga County stop third party tax lien sales and for Cuyahoga County to stop funding the corrupt Cuyahoga…

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  • Legal Aid’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic can help resolve tax issues

    by Tonya Sams      (Plain Press November 2024) Receiving a notification from the IRS can cause anxiety and fear. These feelings can be magnified when someone cannot afford an attorney to resolve their tax issues.  The Legal Aid Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) can help taxpayers with their tax problems for free.      The LITC…

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  • Time to tote the score in city of corporate welfare

    By Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press October 2024) In sports we keep records to see who is ahead and who is behind. It’s simple. Get the scores. It tells the story. I thought it was time to put up a scoreboard that gives us some feel for what the tally is on downtown public subsidies. Where the…

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  • Cuyahoga County determination of property values called arbitrary and capricious

    To the editor:    (Plain Press September 2024) As someone who worked for 25 years in the mortgage industry {the last 10 years in underwriting} I find it appalling that Cuyahoga County determines property values in such an arbitrary and capricious manner. LETTER    Part of my responsibility was reviewing appraisals whether it be for…

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  • Cleveland and Cuyahoga County need new policies to help residents address property tax delinquency

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press August 2024) Cleveland homeowners face foreclosure at a higher rate than the national average. A good percentage of those foreclosures are due to residents getting behind on their property tax payments. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County policy makers could do a much better job in assuring residents are able stay…

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  • Local politicians fund wants of the wealthy over needs of the poor

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press June 2024) Cleveland bears the distinction of having the highest child poverty rate among big cities in the United States. Yet rather than addressing this critical issue, Cleveland politicians continue to prioritize the wants of the wealthy and powerful over the needs of its poorest citizens – Cleveland’s children…

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  • Schools seek property tax increase, while the privileged few receive tax abatements and exemptions

    To the editor:    (Plain Press June 2024) So now the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) wants to reach deeper into homeowners’ pockets in the form of two tax increases, euphemistically called school “levies,” that hit average Cleveland residents especially hard because it’s clear that wealthy and privileged people are simply not paying their fair…

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  • Clevelanders are right to doubt promises of grandiose development plans

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press May 2024) Cleveland residents have a right to be skeptical when offering their thoughts about tax subsidies in support of big downtown lakefront and riverfront projects. Specifically coming to mind are the Shore to Core to Shore Tax Increment Financing plans put forth by the Justin Bibb Administration and…

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  • Policy Matters urge tax policies for the people

    by Bruce Checefsky      (Plain Press May 2024) Ben Stein, communications director at Policy Matters Ohio, held a webinar to celebrate Tax Day and discuss the tax code in Ohio. As recently as April 2023, over 2.9 million Ohioans struggled to pay basic household expenses while burdened with taxes.      According to Policy Matter Ohio,…

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  • City of Cleveland breaks promises to Cleveland students

    by Chuck Hoven    (Plain Press April 2024) In a March 11, 2024 article in Signal Cleveland titled “Cash-strapped Cleveland schools miss out on millions from tax abatements”, reporter Nick Castele notes that over the past five years “Cleveland schools lost out on a total of $201.8 million in abated taxes, or an average of…

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