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The City of Xenia filed a criminal complaint against its law director on Monday for failure to pay taxes for six years.
The city filed a criminal case against Ron Lewis, 47, after mailing him two letters, dated July 3 and 15, indicating he did not pay taxes on “self-employment” income earned from 2008 to 2013.
The more recent letter directs Lewis to contact the city accounts receivable manager or the finance director with information about previously filed tax returns or file the returns and pay any taxes, penalties or interest owed to the city within 10 days.
Almost two weeks later, Xenia Finance Director Mark Bazelak filed a complaint against Lewis in Xenia Municipal Court.
“All taxes have been field with the city as of 10:30 a.m. this morning,” Lewis said on Tuesday.
Under city law, the criminal charge is a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of $1,000 fine and six months in jail.
A Xenia Municipal court hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 26.
“There’s no question I made an error,” Lewis said. “It has all been taken care of. It’s been resolved. I thought I had longer to take care of it and resolve it.”
Lewis said he and the city finance director talked about the tax issue within the last two weeks, and he was surprised a complaint was filed against him in court.
He is waiting for the tax department to advise him of whether he owes back taxes, fines or penalties.
Lewis reports directly to the city council, and it is unclear what, if any, impact the issue will have on Lewis’ job.
Xenia City Council President Michael Engle did not return phone calls from the Dayton Daily News seeking comment.
Lewis was appointed to acting law director in 2001. Five months later, he was appointed law director. He has an indefinite contract with Xenia; there is no expiration date. He annually earns $107,000.
In addition to his current local tax woes, city officials contacted the Ohio Ethics Commission concerning Lewis having a city paralegal assistant work on cases related to other jurisdictions.
“In some discussions that occurred with the finance director, myself and the law director relative to service provisions, there was some acknowledgement of how employees are used in the law department with respect to core functions,” said Xenia City Manager Brent Merriman. “And based on that, there was contact made to the ethics commission to get clarification, on our part, to determine what, if any action, should take place.”
Lewis has a two-year contract with Greene County Board of Commissioners to prosecute misdemeanor cases in Xenia Municipal Court and is annually paid $53,155.71. The county also reimburses Lewis up to $2,000 a year for transcripts and court costs. He also has a one-year contract with the City of Bellbrook to prosecute the city’s misdemeanor cases in Xenia Municipal Court. Under this contract, he is paid $2,500 per month.
“I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong,” he said. “City council has been fully aware, from the very beginning, of the work arrangements in my office.”
The council is aware that the city paralegal assistant, Kim Luttrell, has been working on cases related to the county contract which Lewis is required to prosecute by statute, Lewis said.
Lewis pointed to section 1901.34 of the Ohio Revised Code that states “… the village solicitor, city director of law, or similar chief legal officer for each municipal corporation within the territory of a municipal court shall prosecute all cases brought before the municipal court for criminal offenses occurring within the municipal corporation for which that person is the solicitor, director of law, or similar chief legal officer.”
“There wasn’t anything to admit,” Lewis said. “I would’ve never denied it. I was very open … Council was made fully aware.”
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