WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2001
Quarter-percent sales tax might be sought for courthouse work
By Ryan Good
Staff Writer
rgood@advertiser-tribune.com
The Seneca County Commissioners gave the county courthouse a present on Christmas Eve, although the gift didn't have wrapping paper or a bow on it.
The commissioners accepted and approved the recommendations of the Courthouse Planning Committee and a temporary quarter-percent sales tax will be presented to voters to pay for the renovations. Commissioner Ken Estep said they hope to have the proposal put on the ballot in May.
The recommendation of the committee was:
- To restore the exterior of the building and interior rotunda to the original 1880s appearance.
- To have courtrooms on the second and third floors and the clerk of courts office on the first floor
- To build an annex east of the courthouse using the insurance money from the burned Hanson Building. The annex would be used to temporarily house the two courts and the clerks' office. After completion of the renovations, the annex would be used to house Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant facilities for the probate and juvenile courts and offices for the county engineer and the county commissioners. If the annex cannot be built next to the courthouse, it is to be built in the empty lot where the Hanson Building was.
All three commissioners expressed gratitude for the work the committee put in to put the recommendations together.
"I am very pleased," Estep said.
Commissioner Jeff Wagner said the committee's ideas for fixing the building went beyond expectations.
"They came up with a unified vision. Their vision was better than what we had planned," Wagner said.
"I look forward to trying to sell this to the public," Commissioner Tom Distel said about asking the voters for the sales tax increase.
Estep also said Monday that committee members would be asked to help get the proposal on the ballot and in campaigning the sales tax increase to voters, but "we don't want to overwork them."