Ohio House overrides one budget veto, hoping to provide property tax relief

Yahoo

6 days ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The House reconvened Monday and successfully agreed to override one of Gov. Mike DeWine's 67 line item budget vetoes.
DeWine signed the state's 2026-2027 budget into effect on June 30, issuing 67 line-item vetoes. The House met Monday in hopes of overriding three property tax vetoes, and successfully voted to override one: item 66, school district property tax levy restrictions, which passed 61-28. The House did not vote on the other two vetoes they were expected to try to override because some Republican lawmakers were absent, and they did not think they would pass.
If the veto override is concurred by the Senate, political subdivisions will no longer be allowed to levy replacement property tax levies, and school districts will no longer be able to levy fixed-sum emergency, substitute emergency and combined income tax and fixed-sum property tax levies. These levies are typically used to provide funding for day-to-day operational needs, like salaries, supplies or key services.
'They deserve the right to determine how much they want to fund their schools at the local level and when they go to the ballot to pass a levy, we should be respecting their ability to have local control over how much they want to fund their schools,' House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) said.
Proponents of the change say words like 'emergency' and 'replacement' mislead taxpayers into voting for property tax increases they may not want. Opponents, including DeWine and many public school districts, say those levies are important revenue sources, and eliminating them will not provide meaningful tax relief.
'No one is getting less money as a result of what we did today,' House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. 'In the future, maybe voters will say, I didn't know I was voting for that. I'm going to be against it.'
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To successfully override a gubernatorial veto, the House must have 60 of 99 members agree, and the Senate must have 20 of 33 members concur. On Monday, 89 House members were present.
Prior to Monday's vote, there were questions as to how many lawmakers would make the out-of-season session vote, as many have left Columbus on break. Although the House has passed the overrides, the Senate would need to concur, and they have not announced any plans to reconvene for a veto override vote.
State lawmakers generally agree Ohioans need property tax relief, but the debate stems from how and when to offer it. DeWine said he vetoed item 66, the tax levy restrictions, because they could harm public school funding, among other concerns. DeWine said he understands the need for property tax relief, but wants to provide it outside of the budget.
'These levies serve as important tools for school districts as they seek to maintain their long-term financial stability,' DeWine wrote in his veto message.
DeWine and many Democrats say property tax relief cannot come at the expense of local schools and municipalities, who often rely on property taxes to stay afloat. Many Republicans disagree, saying property tax relief cannot wait.
'We're in a crisis, and when we're in a crisis, you act immediately,' Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) said.
'He vetoed them for a reason because they don't provide the property relief that people actually need,' Isaacsohn said. 'We should not be voting on these veto overrides at all.'
Along with his vetoes, DeWine created a property tax reform working group to address meaningful property tax relief. DeWine selected former legislators Bill Seitz and Pat Tiberi to chair the group. The group is asked to issue a report and tax relief proposals that still ensure adequate funding for schools, emergency services, libraries and disability support services by Sept. 30. DeWine announced nine other members of the work group just hours after the veto override vote, and new members include county auditors, commissioners, mayors and superintendents.
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In Ohio, there are multiple types of property tax levies that must be used for specific costs, including the four types included in the veto override. Replacement levies replace existing property tax levies, either by maintaining or increasing the levy amount, typically when one expires. Emergency levies address an immediate need for funding to maintain current services.
The veto override also limits the use of fixed-sum levies. In Ohio, property tax levies are calculated using mills, with millage referring to the rate property is taxed. For instance, a school district or fire department might pass a 10-mill levy that generates $2 million annually. As property tax values increase, it takes fewer mills to generate the same amount of money, so either the cash amount or millage fluctuates. A fixed-sum levy ensures a district gets the same amount of money every year, regardless of how many mills it takes to generate that sum.
The House had initially hoped to reinstate three changes to how these levies are regulated, but did not vote on two others:
Property tax: County budget commission authority and procedure
20 Mill Floor calculation
'I think if we have more discussion, we'll come back in October,' Huffman said. 'It's my expectation that we will take veto overrides on those two and likely some others also.'
If reinstated, the first provision would have allowed county budget commissions to reduce how many mills a voter-approved property tax levy was charging. The second change would have adjusted what types of property tax levies are included in the 20 Mill Floor, altering complex tax laws about how school districts can benefit from levy millage.
Although opponent and proponent speakers at the House session were largely split along party lines, the House voted on the vetoes using iPads, so it is not yet known how every member voted. Democrats have already been outspoken against the override.
'The elephant in the room is that if the Republican majority had fully funded our state share to the schools, we would not have a property tax crisis,' Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said after the override vote. 'This vote will strip communities of the ability to make decisions about their schools, fire departments, libraries and more, and it directly contradicts the values of representative government.'
The Ohio House last successfully overrode budget vetoes in 2017, the first time it had happened in 40 years. In that instance, the Senate approved six of the 11 overrides.
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