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Brecksville City Council approves proposal to recoup sewer taxes after county blunder

The city of Brecksville is planning to cover the nearly $700,000 bill out of the city's general funds.

Brecksville — During an often emotional meeting on Tuesday, Brecksville City Council voted to cover a nearly $700,000 bill in unpaid water and sewer assessments out of the city's general funds.

We first reported last month about a huge billing blunder by Cuyahoga County that left the city of Brecksville on the hook for nearly three quarters of a million dollars.

It all centers around a high-end development called Four Seasons, where, for 15 years, Cuyahoga County underbilled homeowners on water and sewer assessments. To make up for the shortfall, city leaders decided that instead of collecting the owed money from the people who live in the development, the city of Brecksville is covering the bill out of the city's general funds.

Residents from other neighborhoods in the city are not too happy to have to help foot the cost of the mistake. On Tuesday, they had their chance to make their voices heard.

One longtime resident addressed council members saying, “I don’t see why there is any obligation on the part of the city or anybody else to relieve the homeowners for the assessment."

But another whose Four Seasons home was built in 2005 sees it differently: “Please tell me why you think I owe an additional $600 dollars per year when my purchase agreement and all the assessments and studies were done and that’s when I bought my lot."

Either way, it was an expensive “oversight” for 15 years that everyone in the standing room only, overflow, out-the-door crowd at Brecksville City Hall refused to overlook anymore.

Frustrated comments included:

“There is nothing in Ohio revised code that says if someone makes a mistake sending out your tax bill that relieves you of the underlying obligation.”

“In their infinite wisdom, the county forgot to invoice them. That does not excuse them from paying for the goods and services which they have benefited from.”

In the end, it was a 4-1 vote by Brecksville City Council to absorb the $681,000 in unpaid sewer assessment not collected from 80 homeowners and to use general funds to pay for the Four Seasons water and sewer shortfall.

One resident asked, "Is the county supposedly immune to any wrongdoing? And does that include a crime and I would like to know why that is.”

A physician who said he's raised his kids in Brecksville addressed the council saying,“Older Brecksville residents really don’t like the smell of this transfer of city funds from one small group to a much larger group. They don't like that at all."

Another frustrated woman spoke of what she saw as private decision making by the council.

"Transparency is important and when you are in executive session where everyone doesn’t know what’s going on... I don’t know what you discussed in executive session. I’m a citizen. I think that it’s right that I should know."

Another seconded that to applause, telling the council and Mayor Jerry Hruby, “To you mayor, I appreciate the email you sent to all of us. I think it would’ve been better if it was sent out at the beginning the process rather than at the end of the process."

WATCH | Mayor Jerry Hruby spoke with Dawn Kendrick after the vote.

Dawn Kendrick also previewed the night's meeting on WKYC's Facebook Live:

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