The township first tried getting the Ohio Supreme Court involved, but that court said the information provided was inadequate and a case could be made in the lower court. In a motion to dismiss filed in the case Monday, the city asks Judge Greg Stephens to dismiss the lawsuit.
“The township’s complaint is half-baked,” the motions reads. “The Supreme Court has acknowledged that the effort to obtain the evidence necessary to meet the clear-and-convincing burden of proof would have to be ‘the largest forensic title exam ever.’ The township evidently has failed to engage in that effort prior to filing because there is no indication that its precision in quantifying the relief it seeks has improved since the failed mandamus action.”
The issue involves land Hamilton has annexed over the years from St. Clair, Fairfield, Hanover and Ross townships. In those annexations, the city did not get county commissioner approval for boundary adjustments, meaning residents in those townships should have voted for city council and township trustees, and the townships should have retained some of their property taxes, according to the lawsuit.
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The cash-strapped township has been wrangling with Hamilton over an annexation law the trustees’ lawyer asserts entitles it to 12 years’ worth of compensation for money lost due to the annexations. The law was triggered in 2016 when the city asked the county commissioners to form a “paper township” to fix the fact that boundary adjustment approval wasn’t formalized by the county previously.
The township’s legal counsel, Gary Sheets, filed a writ of mandamus against the city in the Ohio Supreme Court three years ago. The high court handed down its decision last March, denying the writ of mandamus. The court said while Hamilton owes the township, that form of legal action is not available because the township hasn’t proven how much the city owes.
The six justices — Justice Sharon Kennedy, who hails from Butler County, did not participate — said the township would have a tough task trying to decipher the amount owed.
“According to the deputy county auditor, it would take the ‘largest forensic title exam ever’ to precisely locate the excluded territory,” which is necessary to make the calculation, they wrote.
Hartman said the township hired an expert to gather the data necessary to calculate amount it claims is owed. The creation of the “paper township” in 2016 meant that the township needed to do its calculations back to that date, not back much further. He also said that because the townships in Butler County are virtually big “squares,” identifying parcels that had been inside the township wasn’t too difficult.
Hartman could not be reached for comment on the dismissal motion.
The case has been delayed in Stephens’ court with several proceedings continued. Stephens also ordered mandatory mediation in the case last week.
Hamilton’s Director of Law, Letitia Block, said she can’t comment about pending litigation when asked about the mediation order, which was filed before the motion to dismiss.
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