SHEFFIELD TWP. — Lorain County prosecutors have determined that a complaint challenging Lorain school board member Paul Biber’s residency was properly formatted and a hearing will be scheduled to review the issue.

Biber

Elections board Director Paul Adams said that the hearing has to take place before Monday, which is 10 days after Lorain resident Denise Caruloff filed the complaint.

Caruloff has questioned whether Biber actually resides at the East 29th Street home he has registered to vote from. She points to documents filed with the Lorain County Auditor’s Office when Biber bought the house in 2008 that stated it wasn’t his primary residence as proof that he doesn’t actually live there.

Instead, Caruloff has pointed out that Biber receives a 2.5 percent tax break for owner-occupied homes on two houses he owns in Sheffield Lake. One of the houses is a rental, and Biber has said his wife and adult children live in the other.

According to the rules, the tax break can be applied only to one house, and the Auditor’s Office has sent Biber and his wife a letter asking them to declare which one they would like to receive the tax break on.

Biber has called Caruloff’s complaint unfounded and pointed out that a similar issue was raised in 2007 when he first ran for school board. He said a review of his residency determined that he had rented a Lorain apartment where he lived until purchasing the East 29th Street house in 2008.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.