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EAST LIVERPOOL -- Two top officials in the city's prior administration have court appearances this week on city income tax charges.
Ryan Stovall, who preceded Greg Bricker as East Liverpool's mayor and is a resident of Orchard Grove Avenue, is set to appear at 9 a.m. Wednesday, after being served a summons last week for failure to file city income tax. The summons was originally issued a month ago but wasn't served until Feb. 25 by Police Chief John Lane.
There are no details in regards to the number of years that Stovall and his wife Melissa, his co-defendant, allegedly did not file the tax returns, as city ordinance requires city residents to do.
Stovall served as East Liverpool mayor through December 31, 2019.
Also in court this week was Stovall's city safety-service director Brian Allen and his wife appeared Monday for a motion hearing on a similar case filed after the first of the year.
Allen and his wife, Kim, of Shady Lane Drive, were two of the first defendants as the city appeared to try a new strategy to recoup income tax moneys from offenders.
During Monday's brief motion hearing, East Liverpool Municipal Court Judge Dominic Frank acknowledged Allen's request to dismiss the case, which had been set for trial later this month. Allen alleges that the cases against him and his wife had been filed after the statute of limitations expired.
In the original paperwork, city officials allege the Allens had failed to file city income tax returns in question were from years 2014 through 2019. However, he disputes that city officials did not satisfy the legal obligation to grant him and his wife speedy trials.
He served as Stovall's safety-service director until January 2020, when Bricker took office and hired David Dawson.
According to Ohio law, statute of limitations varies with the degree of the offense. For example, there is no jail time for unclassified offenses, as they carry no threat of jail time. However, minor misdemeanor cases must be filed within six months of the offense, while all other misdemeanor crimes have a two-year statute of limitations.
There also appears confusion in regards to whether the charge is an unclassified, third-degree misdemeanor or combination of both per the city's legislation on the books.
The charges against Allen and his wife were filed as an unclassified third-degree misdemeanor. Stovall and his wife are facing a third-degree misdemeanor but the code section numbers are identical.
Stovall could face a $500 fine and 60 days if convicted. Allen would face none as his case is "unclassified."
Currently, it does appear that the income tax code section is in need of some tweaking. There are two versions, one approved most recently in November 2015 that appear to contain conflicting messages.
Judge Frank is waiting for Assistant City Law Director John Gamble to respond to Allen's motion for dismissal within the next seven days.