News Summary

NEW MIAMI — New Miami may never know if the Butler County auditor's threat was a bluff because the village's fiscal officer appears to have obtained an insurance bond — just as she demanded.

New Miami Fiscal Officer Joseph Ebbing presented village council a $20,000 bond on Thursday to protect village funds if lost or misappropriated, Village Solicitor Gary Sheets said

Monday. A bond against embezzlement was already in place, he said.

Sheets plans to review the new bond before Mayor Kenneth Cheek approves it and the village pays the premium fee.

Last month, county Auditor Kay Rogers demanded Ebbing be bonded or she would withhold an estimated $68,000 in real estate tax funds from New Miami as an incentive for council members to act. As of Monday, those funds have been released, auditor's spokesman Joe Statzer said.

"We were acting at the behest of a New Miami councilperson, and the concerns were valid," Rogers said in a statement. "At the end of the day, it is good to hear that the Council may have taken corrective measures on this issue. Short of securing a proper bond, I believe the council puts the Village of New Miami in possible financial peril."

Ebbing perceived Rogers' threat as a personal attack and a scheme to get him fired because Rogers pointed to his personal financial troubles as reasons that he could not be bonded. Ebbing has a tax lien against him for $181,000 in disputed payroll taxes, had a bankruptcy in 1991, and open court cases show creditors continue to seek thousands in debt from him.

"If he can't find an insurance company to take that risk, why should New Miami?" Rogers asked last month.

If Ebbing had failed to obtain an acceptable bond for the $20,000 amount the council set, he could have been removed from office.

When asked Monday if he had been bonded, Ebbing responded, "The real question should be: 'has Kay Rogers checked to see if I've been bonded?'. She never checked in the beginning and hasn't checked yet."

Ebbing operated as the permanent fiscal officer since June 2006 without a bond — though it is required under law — because the village council failed to set a bond amount until March. At least two council members wanted a low bond amount that Ebbing could afford out of his own pocket, without an insurance company involved. However, the majority of council settled on a $20,000 bond amount March 14.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or chiggins@coxohio.com.