By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON - Growth has been the main issue in a Democrat's challenge of longtime Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn.
Mr. Kilburn advocates a $5,000 to $10,000 impact fee on all new homes built in Warren as a way to slow the wagon trains heading to the state's second-fastest-growing county.
Opponent Carolyn Tepe, however, says growth is inevitable and the county needs to do more to keep up with roads, sewers and other infrastructure.
Mr. Kilburn, 48, of Salem Township, and Ms. Tepe, 33, of Deerfield Township, are vying for a four-year term as county commissioner. The job pays $56,000 a year.
Despite Republicans' dominance in Warren County, Ms. Tepe has waged a high-profile and aggressive campaign, challenging Mr. Kilburn not only about growth but also about the commissioners' Sunshine Law violations and their refusal to accept several state grants.
Mr. Kilburn has run chiefly on his record. The commissioners are not collecting the county's share of the property tax for the third straight year, he notes, and they have set aside money annually for road improvements and park land.
He also has continued to press his impact-fee proposal, which is not currently allowed under state law. In addition to limiting new construction, the fees would raise money for the county's school districts, he says.
"You knew this growth was coming," Ms. Tepe told Mr. Kilburn in a joint interview with Enquirer reporters in October. "We should have looked for ways to save for schools."
The county also should have encouraged tax-generating business development and done more to improve roads, as Mason has done, she says.
Mr. Kilburn, a funeral home operator, has been commissioner for 20 years. He has a master's in hospital administration from Howard University.
Ms. Tepe is director of Help Me Grow of Warren County, a state-funded program that helps parents of at-risk infants and toddlers. She has a master's of public administration from the University of Dayton.
E-mail candrews@enquirer.com
