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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Petition to abolish property taxes in Ohio OK'd by the state
May 19—Backers of a constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes in Ohio will soon start circulating petitions in local communities to get the matter on the ballot after clearing hurdles at the state level. Their proposed amendment would add three lines of text to the Ohio Constitution to state that "no real property shall be taxed," either by law or by constitutional amendment. The petitioners behind the amendment will need to gather over 413,000 valid signatures in order to get their proposed amendment on the ballot. A simple majority of voter support would pass it. The petitioners got approval from the state after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost determined that the petitioners' summary fairly and truthfully reflected the content of the proposal, and the Ohio Ballot Board determined that the proposal could be contained in just one constitutional amendment. One petitioner, Timberlake Mayor John Marra, told the Ohio Ballot Board that he views property taxes to be unfair, especially to seniors. "Property taxes undermines true ownership," Marra said. "When people can lose their homes over unpaid taxes, even after their mortgage is paid off, that is not freedom; it is a form of government control." On X, Ohio's Republican Attorney General Dave Yost blamed the attempted amendment squarely on the Republican legislature, which has not yet passed substantial property tax reform even as much of the state has seen skyrocketing rates. "Ohio's broken, dysfunctional property tax is forcing people out of their homes with unvoted tax hikes," Yost wrote. "The people are going to blow it up at the ballot box — and the resulting chaos will be a failure of the legislature, which knew better but would not act." ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohioans get green light to collect signatures to get property tax issue on ballot
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A group of Ohioans got the green light to start collecting signatures to try and abolish property taxes in a meeting that lasted about ten minutes. 'Our legislators have let us down. Okay? We needed property tax reform for decades. They've done nothing,' Mayor of the Village of Timberlake and petitioner John Marra said. Marra, along with four others from northeast Ohio, put together a proposed constitutional amendment to try and rid of the tax completely. 'We need property tax relief immediately in the state, Marra said. 'There's no question about it.' On Wednesday afternoon, the Ohio Ballot Board met to decide whether the three-line-long amendment was only one topic. The board certified that it was giving the group, that is nameless, the green light to try and collect more than 413,000 valid signatures in order to make a ballot. Ex-Congressman Ryan mulls run for Ohio governor Marra said the grassroots group is aiming for this November's ballot, which means they would need to collect those signatures by July 2. 'It's going to be a very steep climb,' Marra said. 'But it's something that we want to push through immediately.' If the group is not successful collecting signatures by the July 2 deadline for the November ballot, they will continue gathering signatures to try and make it on the May 2026 ballot instead. Lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse have introduced dozens of bills to bring Ohioans property tax relief in the past several years. Few have actually gone through and the ones that have, only help a fraction of Ohio homeowners. 'It has not been prioritized by the Republican majority,' Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. 'And so, I see that reflected when the legislature doesn't respond, and the people step up.' Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman said he shares the frustration of Ohioans about the lack of relief and said property tax relief has not been stalled by the majority, but by outside groups that are largely funded through public property taxes, like schools, police and fire departments. 'Each time we try to step up and do something about this, the groups that are receiving this money say, 'this is going to be terrible; we're going to shut down, we're not going to be able to provide services' and all of that,' Huffman said. 'And it's very difficult for the legislature to move something forward in doing any of this.' While Republican and Democratic leaders are at odds about why nothing has gotten done, they do agree that something does need to happen soon. But they said abolishing the tax all together is not the way to do, claiming it would leave a funding gap of up to $19 billion for local governments across the state. The Spectrum: School issues fail; changes in state parties 'It doesn't say how we're going to replace those funds that fund police and fire in our communities, public education, many other critical services,' Russo said. 'So, as it's written, I have huge concerns.' 'How are you going to pay for those services? Well, one answer is the cost will have to go down dramatically,' Huffman said. 'There's going to be a dramatic change in how much school districts and other local entities can spend, how we replace that. It's going to be a giant a giant lift. And I guess we start working on that if it indeed happens.' But Marra said he already has ideas to make up for that lost revenue. He said his government receives 40% to 50% of revenue from property taxes. Instead, he said a system that charges for services based on number of people in a house, similar to insurance. 'There's plenty of ways to fund it,' Marra said. 'The problem is we need a more fair and equitable way. We can't put a tie to our homes where we could possibly lose our homes. That's where the problem lies.' In the Ohio Senate, leaders on both sides of the aisle also agreed that this proposal is not the proper way to go. Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said while the legislature is to blame for the state of the current property tax system, this proposal would go too far. He said he is hopeful something gets done to address it in the state budget. Though he does not agree with the current proposal of a 30% carryover rate. Ohio House Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said while yes, there are several bipartisan bills to get something done, the majority has stifled any progress. Antonio said if the majority said they are ready to talk about relief, the Democrats would be ready and at the table. 'Abolishing property taxes would be devastating for local communities and public schools,' Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) said in a statement. 'For years, the state legislature has failed to properly fund public schools, which has put undue burden on local taxpayers to make up the difference through skyrocketing property taxes. Without real action from the legislature to address school funding, getting rid of property taxes will only force our schools into even worse financial situations, and in the end, Ohio's children will suffer.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
