Butler County: Auditor Gives Money Back

I've been somewhat negligent in my Butler County reporting lately and there is one really good story that I have been meaning to highlight, so let me get to that while I can...

Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds has been doing a fine job since taking over the office and one of the things that he promised to do was to reduce the cost of operations. He has done just that.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's brave reporterette, Amber Ellis gives us the details:

More than $256,000 in unused levy fees will be returned to local governments and schools, Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds said Monday.

The money will be split among schools, public safety departments, social service agencies and local governments.

"What we're doing is putting money back in the hands of local agencies, the place where it's really needed," Reynolds said.

The auditor's office charges local governments a fee to manage and distribute tax-levy dollars.

The surplus is a portion of the money the office has collected since early March, a month before Reynolds took over as auditor.

Overall, the office took in about $3.3 million between March and August.

Reimbursement amounts will be based on how much each group paid.

Intrepid reporter Josh Sweigart has a story in which he lays out the same details that the brave reporterette gave us, but also adds this bit from Roger's opponent, Jack (NOT a Farmer) Zettler:

Zettler said the move reminds him of political gestures Rogers would unveil during re-election campaigns.

"I guess it's not surprising. He's using the same people who ran her campaign, who are county employees," he said. "It would be fun to get in there and see how much could really be saved."

Come on, Jack...this is good for the community. That Roger Reynolds promised to do this and actually followed through is something that even the most hardened partisan has to acknowledge as being a good thing.

And of course, there he goes again trying to tie Roger Reynolds to Kay Rogers. Hey, Jack, seriously...this broken record still doesn't have a beat that you can dance to, so knock it off already. This isn't 2006, dude...and Roger is the real deal. Butler County knows that and will re-elect him.

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