Homeowners in many parts of the state are bracing themselves for high property tax bills after new valuations increased more than 30% in some cases.
There are more than a dozen property tax relief bills being considered by lawmakers. But it's unlikely they'll pass soon enough to help many homeowners with impending tax hikes.
Valuations are up
The value of homes in many parts of Ohio is increasing. And in some parts of the state, home values have increased by more than a third. That鈥檚 good for those selling homes.
But Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) said the other side of that - property taxes - are the number one issue he鈥檚 hearing about from his constituents. He said many property owners in his area are worried about massive increases and how they are going to pay their upcoming property tax bill.
鈥淚鈥檝e had people tell me they are going to have to think about whether they are going to have to sell their home and try to find something less expensive or rent in order to make ends meet. This should never happen,鈥� Wiggam said.
Yet Wiggam said that's exactly what is happening in some cases.
Why the current system is not working
Former Ohio Tax Commissioner Tom Zaino testified before the Ohio Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform, a legislative committee studying property taxes in Ohio, in February. He told the panel that House Bill 920, the system established more than four decades ago to keep those taxes from spiking, is broken.
鈥淭he school districts have done their own type of what I call tax planning by utilizing levies that have been enacted over the past 48 years but are exempt from House Bill 920," Zaino said.
Wiggam said the current valuations and the inability to control tax spikes caused by them will be a problem for property taxpayers in his area.
鈥淲ayne County has ten school districts. Zero of the school districts had an actual levy on in 2023," Wiggam said. "Yet ten of those school districts will see an $11 million increase in actual tax receipts, even though they had no levy that was on the ballot."
Possible legislative solutions
Greg Lawson, research fellow for the conservative think tank the Buckeye Institute, agreed with Wiggam that the current tax system is broken. And despite more than a dozen bills at the 爆料吃瓜 to help with that problem, Lawson said he doesn鈥檛 think meaningful change will happen soon.
鈥淭hese are not easy issues. And the reasons that we have gotten to this point is because it is hard, it is complicated and not a lot of people understand the ins and outs of it and, in a sense, this is kind of a structure of government challenge," Lawson said. "This is about how we deliver services at the local level and how many layers of levies you have."
Hannah Halbert, executive director for liberal-leaning research group Policy Matters Ohio, agreed the current tax structure is complicated. But she said it's important to remember local taxes pay for more than schools; they also pay for police, fire, EMS, public parks, libraries and more. And she said any changes that are made need to make sure those are whole.
Halbert likes , a bipartisan bill that would essentially create a circuit breaker to protect some homeowners and even renters, who would see increases in what they pay due to increased taxes.
鈥淪o if you are a homeowner or renter and your tax cost is going over 5% of your income, you will get a rebate or a refund from the state to offset that increase," Halbert said. "And so you are both protecting homeowners and the homeowners who need this kind of support the most 鈥� the 60% of Ohioans who are just above middle class or below. And you are also making sure that schools, public safety, the folks on the ground who make your community livable get what they need.鈥�
There are income limits and property tax value ceilings on that bill so it wouldn鈥檛 help everyone. And that legislation, which Halbert says is the only method she sees as working, has a long way to go - it has just been introduced in the Senate.
There鈥檚 also sponsored by Wiggam and fellow Republican Beth Lear (R-Galena) that would put before voters an amendment to limit spikes in property taxes by capping increases at 4%. But that would have to pass with supermajorities in the House and Senate by Aug. 7 to be on this November鈥檚 ballot.
The committee Zaino testified in front of earlier this year won鈥檛 likely come out with recommendations to get something in place by the end of this year either.
There was a provision in , introduced last year, to provide homestead tax provisions to more seniors living on fixed incomes. There are also bills to expand that, which Halbert said might help some.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of these kind of carve-out ideas floating around but nothing gets to the systemic issue of homeowners need to be able to have consistency and manage what their property taxes are going to look at. They shouldn鈥檛 have to have huge surprises," Halbert said.
Lawson agreed on that point. He said it鈥檚 going to come down to Ohioans putting pressure on their elected statewide leaders to take control to make meaningful changes.
鈥淥hioans are going to have to ask policy makers, 'what do we do to get what we want out of our local government and how do we get it done more efficiently so we can start to pare this back so we don鈥檛 have to keep adding levy after levy after levy?' Because that is ultimately the main driver of all of this," Lawson said.
But most political observers say property tax reform is not the main issue that鈥檚 likely to be the main driver of this fall鈥檚 elections. Ohio lawmakers go on a summer break at the end of this month and aren鈥檛 scheduled to be back in session until after the November election.
Among the bills under consideration now:
Homestead tax exemption bills One of the bills that would expand the Homestead tax exemption is , a Republican-sponsored bill that has gained Democratic support. Another piece of legislation, , has made more progress through the legislative process but has been stalled since last year.
Credits to certain property tax payers is the bipartisan bill supported by Policy Matters Ohio that would give credits to low and lower middle income property taxpayers and renters.
Property tax freeze for seniors , another bipartisan bill, would freeze taxes for seniors who are 70 or older as long as their income does not exceed $70,000 and they have owned their home for ten or more years.
Eliminating replacement levies is Republican-sponsored. No Democrats have signed onto it at this point. And only three Republicans, including the two co-sponsors, are pushing it. It would eliminate the authority to levy replacement property tax levies and modify the law governing certain property tax complaints.
Changing the taxing process was originally backed by only Republicans when it passed the Ohio House. But it did get some bipartisan support in the Senate after members changed the House bill. It's now in limbo until the House goes along with the changes that were made. And there are questions about whether the changes made by the Senate would be possible under the current tax structure. The upshot of this bill is it would allow for the temporary use of three-year average in the Ohio Department of Taxation鈥檚 uses to review property values, rather than the typical one-year lookback.
Proposed constitutional amendment would ask voters whether to "throttle" property tax increases to 4% per year. The provision only has Republican support at this point. And it's unlikely to be on the ballot this fall.
