Wednesday, May 17, 2000
City says judgment threatens payroll
Ex-lottery outlet trying to garnish $4.5M from city accounts
By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The city of Cincinnati claims it won't be able to pay all of its 8,000 employees if it loses a court battle with the former owners of a lottery outlet.
The problem, city attorneys say, is the lottery outlet's attempt to collect $4.5 million it won in court last year from the city.
Attorneys for the outlet want to collect the money by garnishing city accounts at several Cincinnati banks, including the city's payroll ac count.
If the payroll money is taken, city lawyers say, there may not be enough left to cover checks to city employees.
“It would put into peril the payroll checks,” said Geri Hernandez Geiler, an assistant city solicitor.
The lottery outlet's lawyer, Robert Manley, said the city is simply stalling because it doesn't want to pay.
“All they have to do is write a check,” he said Tuesday. “Because the (city) behaved like a deadbeat, we were forced to get into garnishment proceedings.”
Garnishment is an attempt to collect a debt by taking money from known accounts or wages. It is most often used to collect child-support money from delinquent, or “deadbeat,” parents.
The dispute in this case began in 1999 when the city seized the lottery outlet at 514 W. Third St., so it could tear it down to make way for the new Fort Washington Way.
The outlet, owned by Christopher and Cheryl Banks, was among the busiest lottery sites in Ohio.
The city had valued the property at about $700,000, but the owners asked for more. Unable to settle the case, they took it to a jury in Common Pleas Court.
The jury awarded the owners about $4.5 million.
Mr. Manley said he has been trying to collect the money ever since. The city is appealing the verdict, but it could take months for a decision.
The city has avoided paying so far because Judge Melba Marsh agreed to postpone the garnishment proceedings until the appeals court rules.
City attorneys asked the judge for the postponement because they were worried about having enough money in the payroll account.
Mr. Manley asked Judge Marsh last week to give the case to another judge, arguing that she granted the city's request without properly notifying him.
He said the city could avoid the garnishment process altogether if it would just pay the money.
“They shouldn't be taking property if they don't intend to pay for it,” Mr. Manley said.
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