Happy Father’s Day! I’m looking forward to taking my owns kids to my father’s place today, maybe playing some pickleball and grilling out. Hope you have a great day as well.

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup, where we bring you the top stories from today’s Dayton Daily News and major stories from the past week you may have missed.

This week, that includes a look at how a court judgement may lead a local township to financial ruin of historic proportions; and the latest on Ohio’s proposed state budget and how it impacts your pocketbook, local schools and more.

Do you have a news tip or an issue you think our reporters should look into? Contact me at Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com, or you can use our anonymous tipline.

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Local township could be ‘financially ruined for generations’

We have written for years about the injustice suffered by Dean Gillispie, who spent decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit because of an improperly handled Miami Twp. investigation. Gillispie sued the township and won the largest civil rights judgement in Ohio history. This week, Eric Schwartzberg looks at what that means for the township.

• Gillispie: There is no question Gillispie suffered harm, spending more than 20 years in prison for sexual assaults he didn’t commit. This story from Tom Archdeacon tells of Gillispie’s time in prison and how he channeled his energy into a unique art form that has since earned him international acclaim.

• The verdict: A federal court in 2022 awarded Gillispie a $45 million wrongful conviction verdict, the largest in state history.

• The problem: Miami Twp. doesn’t have $45 million. The township has a large budget, but most of its revenue is tied to levies that legally must be spent on designated purposes. The township only has about $1.2 million in discretionary revenue, which it uses for staff salaries and parks.

• Option 1: These things would normally be covered by insurance. But the insurer that would have covered it went insolvent years ago. So that’s a no-go.

• Option 2: Parties that lose civil suits can take out a “judgement bond” to pay it off. But they must be paid back within 25 years, and Miami Twp. can’t do that.

• Option 3: They could try a payment plan, but even if they completely stopped funding staff salaries and parks, it would take 45 years to pay it off. And that doesn’t include interest, which could be more than $1 million a year.

• Option 4: The township could go to voters asking for a new tax just to pay the judgement. But how likely are voters to approve a tax that gives them zero benefit just to resolve a misdeed committed by someone else decades ago?

• Option 5: That leaves bankruptcy, something that is actually possible for a township under the law, but that has never happed in Ohio history.

• The quote: “The Township will be financially ruined for generations by the (court’s) opinion that upholds and places squarely on its 31,000 residents the largest civil rights verdict in Ohio, which was rendered not against the township but against a single detective for his actions thirty years ago,” attorneys for Miami Twp. said in a mid-May court filing.

Ohio budget’s and you

How much you pay in taxes; how your local schools and libraries are funded and operated; how social safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps operate; how your money is spent. These are all things whose fates are linked to Ohio’s two-year operating budget being debated by state lawmakers as we speak. Our reporter Avery Kreemer has the latest.

• Inside Ohio Politics: Our Inside Ohio Politics series seeks to demystify how laws and policies are created in Columbus. In a previous installment Avery provided a top-level view of how the state budget is a massive tax and policy proposal.

• The gov: The budget process started in February when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine submitted his proposed budget, which included new tax credits and social programs along with tax increases on things like tobacco, marijuana and sports gambling.

• The House: The Ohio House made substantial changes to DeWine’s proposals before voting on their version of the budget in April. Controversial aspects included library funding, school funding and borrowing money for a new Cleveland Browns stadium.

• The Senate: The Ohio Senate last week then passed their version. They added in a proposal for a flat income tax and their own approach to school funding.

• Next steps: The measure now goes to conference committee, where select representatives from both chambers hammer out differences to pass a bill that goes to DeWine for his signature. He has line-item veto power to cut out things he doesn’t like, though the General Assembly can override his veto. All of this would have to be done by the end of June.