Could new regulations force Wilde, Strickler to join Weight Watchers?

NORWALK — The Huron County Board of Commissioners discussed Thursday ongoing boiler troubles at the county's downtown office building and proposed reformulations regarding collections of the Ohio gasoline tax. Huron County Director of Operations Pete Welch told commissioners he had received a previous quote from Energy Controls, of Independence, which was involved with the installation of the building's three boilers in 2007. The company informed him in April the boilers required replacement at a cost of $207,968. The county's insurance carrier, County Risk Sharing Association (CORSA), had contacted BoilerTech, of Columbus in May, and received an opinion that the boilers could be repaired at a cost of $36,478. Welch said he was informed by BoilerTech the project would be considered outside its territory, so the company would not accept the project. Commissioner Terry Boose asked that Welch contact Energy Controls and inform them of the estimate made by BoilerTech and request a quote from Energy Controls for repairs. Boose noted that if such a quote were offered, he wanted to see it added to the commissioners' June 7 agenda. "Tell them this is (BoilerTech's) quote," said Boose, "so we want to compare apples to apples." Boose also reported to his fellow commissioners on recent discussions by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio regarding potential changes in the collection of gasoline taxes by the state of Ohio. The commissioner explained that under current Ohio law, taxes are paid to the state by wholesale gasoline distributors, who then pass the cost to retail outlets. The outlets then have 30 days to reimburse the distributors. At the state level, he said, 27 options are up for consideration to deal with new options for possible changes in the way the state levies the gasoline taxes and how the state, then, distributes the tax money to each of Ohio's 88 counties. Boose said new taxation formulations may be based on a number of parameters, some tried by other states, and some set forth only in theory. Among them, he said, are proposals to tax vehicle licensing based on cars' values, or cars' estimated mile-per-gallon consumption rates. Others seek to tax carbon emissions, or electricity consumption. Other suggestions were to impose surcharges on new vehicle purchases, or to tax vehicles based on their weight. Commission President Bruce "Skip" Wilde inquired, "Is that with me in it?" "Skip, we better sign up for Weight Watchers," quipped Huron County Assistant Prosecutor Randy Strickler. Boose added the gasoline tax issue is complicated by the fluid nature of emerging hybrid and electric vehicle technologies. "Any one of these, by itself, will not be fair," Boose concluded.