Property tax relief in the hands of Ohio Senate

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(The Center Square) – Over objections from local government groups, school associations and social groups, two pieces of Ohio’s ongoing property tax reform puzzle are moving ahead.

The state Senate now gets a plan to allow a county budget commission to change a tax levy and reduce its millage if the commission thinks a taxing authority is collecting too much.

It also gets a bill that would require five different kinds of levies to be added to a school district's minimum property tax take.

It all comes as lawmakers ramp up efforts to provide property tax relief ahead of a potential 2026 general election vote to end property taxes altogether in the state.

“Across our communities, homeowners have voiced real concern about the sharp increases in property tax bills they’ve experienced in recent years,” Rep. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea, said in a statement. "These two bills represent a thoughtful and responsible step toward providing relief while maintaining stability for our schools and local governments."

House Bill 129 attacks around 200 school districts that Dovilla says have used emergency and substitute levies to increase revenues from property tax value hikes when those districts are on the 20-mill floor. Those levies are not included in the floor calculations.

If the Senate passes the bill and Gov. Mike DeWine signs it, emergency, substitute, incremental growth levies, conversion levies and the property tax portion of combined income tax and property levies would count toward the 20-mill floor.

House Bill 309 gives county budget commissions the authority to change levies and reduce millage rates if the commission thinks a taxing authority would get unnecessary or excessive tax revenues.

The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based policy group, has been pushing for several years to give commissions the authority to adjust rates.

“House Bill 309 puts another tool in the tax reformers’ toolbox to help fix Ohio’s property tax problem, and Representative Thomas should be commended for his efforts,” said Greg Lawson, research fellow at The Buckeye Institute. "House Bill 309 is only one piece of a much larger puzzle of local government and property tax reforms that need to be adopted to help Ohioans clamoring for relief, and The Buckeye Institute urges the Ohio Senate to take up this urgent reform to help homeowners struggling with skyrocketing property tax bills."

The Ohio School Board Association raised concerns about the practical application of HB309, with many school districts covering more than one county.

“Many school districts are not confined to a single county,” Nicole Piscitani, with the OSBA, testified in the House. "In fact, 255 districts span multiple counties, with one district covering parts of five counties. All residents of a school district, no matter which county they reside in, vote on school district levies. Our concern is that under the provisions of HB309, a single county budget commission could lower the millage for the residents in its county, thereby creating uniformity issues for residents in the other counties."