📰 Cleveland Property Tax Crisis

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Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop.

What’s a donut’s favorite type of joke?
A hole lot of fun! 🍩😂

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You’ve come a long way, baby. Pride celebrations have evolved from coming-out parties in bars and on streets to a massive celebration that attracts all walks.

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, the 10^th annual Pride in the Cle will step off from Public Square with parade and proceed to Malls B and C, with performers, food trucks, vendors and bands.

It also marks the 50^th anniversary of LGBT Community Center – founded as the Gay Education and Awareness Resources Foundation. GEAR also published Ohio’s gay newspaper and sponsored a Gay Pride Picnic at Edgewater Park that drew 100 people.

There are several Pride-related events around town this weekend:

There’s a taxpayer revolt in Cuyahoga County.

Property owners have been happy to see the increase in the value of their homes in the area – one of strongest in the country. But seeing them rise by 32% comes with a price – and cash-strapped residents aren’t paying it.

Higher property taxes that accompany valuations have led to an unprecedented increase in unpaid property taxes. It has ballooned to $60.6 million.

“I’ve never seen a number that was that large,” Budget Director Walter Parfejewiec told County’s Budget and Finance Committee this week. “I’ve never seen delinquency to this level.”

The county argues that the unpaid taxes have resulted in a $19.2 million deficit in Health and Human Services Levy reserves.

As we reported, things could get much worse if a group of Ohio homeowners – Citizens from Property Tax Reform -- succeeds in its drive to abolish property taxes.

Ohio ranks 16th in affordability, with a median list price of $269,130, according to Realtor.com. But it ranks eighth in the nation for property taxes paid as a percentage of home value, according to the Tax Foundation.

National this day, that day. Most of them are made-up holidays to sell you something.

Not National Donut Day – which falls on the first Friday of June. Woohoo, today!

The holiday goes back to World War I, when Salvation Army ‘Donut Lassies’ volunteered to serve cakes to troops on the French front.

The soldiers, nicknamed “doughboys,” popularized the treat upon their return and, by 1938, the Salvation Army proclaimed it a holiday that “reminds us to do what we can to bring hope and comfort to those living and working in our communities.”

Thoughtful, yes, but also a cheap date with your sweet tooth at these spots:

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Call Steve Presser the Willy Wonka of pop-cultural oddities and all things fun. He’s been collecting novelties, toys, candy… anything that caught his eye. Presser owned and operated Big Fun until 2018 – a big circus tent of a store that brought together retro hounds, toy nerds and kitsch cultists. He’s also done Big Fun pop-ups around Christmas. Now, he’s rolling out what promises to be one wild, colorful garage sale – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at his home, at 2604 East Overlook Road, in Cleveland. Cash and Venmo only. More info here.

Animal shelters are overwhelmed. They’re taking in more dogs and cats, and fewer people are adopting them. It has resulted in a crisis, as many are operating at full capacity. As a result, many shelters have lowered adoption fees to entice people to give them a home. Enter Kitty Palooza – the Cleveland APL will offer 50% off the adoption fee for adult cats and a reduced adoption fee for kittens starting on Friday, June 6, and going through Sunday, June 15. More info here.

May Pang kept boxes of photos under her bed for decades. Now, she’s taking them on tour. Pang was John Lennon’s companion for 18 months during what he would call his “lost weekend.” He had separated from Yoko Ono in 1973 and struck up an affair with Pang, who had been working as his assistant. At 4 today, Pang will hit the Treelawn in Collinwood to exhibit and talk about her time with and photos of Lennon and their circle of friends taken during that time. The George Martins will also perform. The photo exhibit is up through Sunday. More info here.

It’s a break-up more dramatic than Kanye vs. Kim. In this corner, Elon Musk – the tech wunderkind and the world’s richest man who calls the “Big, Beautiful Spending Bill” an abomination. In the other, the 47^th President – who says Musk “just went CRAZY!”

The spat between Musk and Trump broke out Thursday and resulted in jabs and right hooks:

Musk: “Not even those in Congress who had to vote on the Big Ugly Spending Bill had time to read it!”

Trump: “Elon was “wearing thin,” I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”

Musk followed it up with a slew of posts, and a poll asking followers if he should launch a third political party. Wild stuff, go here to what Musk and Trump said.

Covers of High Gear, Cleveland premier gay magazine, published 1974 to 1982.

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