|
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
11/30/05
Eminent
Domain
I
have received a number of inquiries into just what exactly
are we doing in Columbus to make our individual homes more
“secure” in their ownership. Especially considering
what has happened in recent months both locally and
nationally.
Imagine
living in a place where the government can force the sale
of your home because someone else has promised to create
more tax revenue on your property than you can. This scary
scenario played out in real life earlier this year when a
small Connecticut town won U.S. Supreme Court approval to
do just that.
The
Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 decision in Kelo
v. New London paved the way for some commercial
developers to pick and choose property to their liking,
regardless of whether the land was up for sale or not.
This case set a landmark precedent that eminent domain
could be used to benefit private entities under the guise
that increased tax revenue would serve a public purpose.
Traditionally,
eminent domain proceedings could only occur when the
property obtained by the state was used for a public
purpose. The Kelo v. New London decision changed that by
allowing property to be transferred to private entities.
Ohio
legislators disagreed with the high court’s assessment
and have taken steps to prevent “Kelo-type” eminent
domain proceedings within the state. The Ohio House of
Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 167, a
companion bill to House Bill 331, to restrict eminent
domain proceedings that result in the transfer of land
from one private property owner to another.
The
fix is temporary, however, until a legislative task force
created by the bill can examine the issue more thoroughly.
The restriction is set to expire at the end of 2006.
In
the interim, members of the Ohio General Assembly,
representatives of the executive branch of Ohio
government, representatives of the agriculture community,
commercial and residential developers and various other
stakeholders from around the state will meet to consider
needed changes to the state’s eminent domain law. The
task force will have until August 1, 2006 to make
recommendations to the Ohio Legislature.
The
bill does not change Ohio law with regard to traditional
eminent domain actions. Under current law, a government
entity can continue to initiate the compulsory sale of
private property if the end result will be a public
infrastructure improvement. Of
course, the landowner will have the right to fair market
value, determined by a jury, for the forced sale of their
property.
The
House is committed to ensuring that economic development
opportunities continue to exist in Ohio, but not at the
expense of private property owners. The
passage of Senate Bill 167 was the first step toward
preventing abuse of the Supreme Court ruling.
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
Ohio’s
66 District
Representing
Batavia, Goshen, Miami and Union Townships as well as the
Cities of Loveland and Milford and the Villages of Batavia
and Amelia.(614)
466-8134
District
Office (513)-248-2565
Website:
www.JoeUecker.com
Email:
Joe@JoeUecker.com |
