by J.D. Davidson
After a proposed constitutional amendment was denied a chance to go before voters and several bills in the state legislature have stalled, Ohio Democrats are pushing for property tax changes.
Some residents across the state show 40 percent-50 percent property tax increases this year and taxes jumped more than 20 percent between 2019 and 2023.
Recently, Democrats blamed the Republican-led Legislature for failing to take action.
“At the end of the day, high property taxes are a choice,” Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, said. “This property tax crisis Cuyahoga County residents are now facing is a direct result of the state legislature’s failure to act and an intentional policy platform that has systematically shifted the burden of property taxes onto the backs of working people, middle-class families, and senior citizens. It’s time for the state legislature to take action— Ohioans need help now.”
Rep. Phillip Robinson, D-Solon, pushed House Bill 573, which would restore state support for local governments to 2008 levels and ease taxes that pay for police, fire, and other services.
“One way we can alleviate the burden of local property taxes on people is to fully implement the Fair School Funding Plan and increase support to the Local Government Fund. Otherwise, we are either forcing our schools and local governments to cut essential services and resources or making constituents take on more of the burden in local taxes,” Robinson said.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Dave Yost rejected a proposed amendment that would stop governments in the state from raising property taxes without the owner’s consent.
Yost turned away the proposed “Homestead and Private Property” amendment because it failed to gather the 1,000 verified voter signatures required to proceed.
The proposed amendment would eliminate state and local governments from increasing property values without the owner’s consent, including any improvements to the property up to $50,000.
It would also stop property reappraisals except when it changes ownership through a sale or inheritance and include a homestead exemption reduction of $50,000 off the tax value.
In May, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the state Senate that would create a property tax circuit breaker that supporters say could help hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.
Senate Bill 271 would create a $1,000 tax credit if a property tax bill amounts to more than 5 percent of a person’s income. If passed, Ohio would join 29 other states and Washington, D.C., with some type of tax circuit breaker.
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Ohio Suburb” by Columbusite. CC BY 3.0
