What is Ohio doing to reduce property taxes?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohioans across the state are looking for relief as their property values and property taxes skyrocket, so they are turning to elected leaders.  

“Y’all gotta fix it in the statehouse,” Ohio homeowner Pastor Frederick V. LaMarr said in an interview last month.  

“We've got to be smart about it, but we also have to be aware that people can't continue to see 40% raises in their property taxes,” Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said.  

There are at least 18 related bills that have been introduced at the statehouse to address the issue. Of those 18 bills, two have made it across the finish line: Senate Bill 43, which modifies the homestead exemption for surviving spouses of disabled veterans, and House Bill 57, which passed in the state budget to help seniors and disabled Ohioans with their property taxes.  

Watch: How Ohio lawmakers are working to reduce property taxes

Stephens said the portion that passed in the budget helps over 800,000 Ohio homeowners.  

“That has been helpful to some, but there are still more things that can be done with it, and it's making sure that what we do actually impacts people,” he said.  

Stephens said bringing this relief is not so straightforward.  

“If you lower the taxes for the taxpayer, then the local entity also has their revenues go down,” he said. “So, whether the fire department or the schools, they would see less revenue unless the state comes in and then affects the state income taxes to pay and subsidize property taxes. So, it's a real challenge because it's almost 200 years of law in place.”  

Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said the problem is what the statehouse has chosen to prioritize.  

“As you noted, there are multiple pieces of legislation that provide direct relief to our citizens, particularly to our older citizens, who are often on incomes that cannot afford the stretch that they've been forced to pay,” she said. “But instead, we're not acting. We have billions of dollars in state revenue that has been given away to tax cuts to the very wealthy Ohioans or to private school vouchers.”  

She said it is “not a matter of ‘we don’t have the ability to do this,’” and pointed out that several of the property tax bills do have bipartisan support.  

“Not providing property tax relief to our residents and taxpayers here in Ohio is a policy choice that the Republican majority has made,” Russo said.  

While Stephens said he thinks it is fair for Ohioans to feel frustrated by the lack of relief, he also said the blame cannot all be placed on the state legislature.  

“Property taxes are voted in the district that people live in, so it's in the township or the village,” he said. “So every time there's a levy on the ballot, it's important for people who are voting to know what they're voting on.Property taxes are as local as it gets.”  

“Meet with your senior citizens in your community and tell them that they just shouldn't support their schools in the future, or they shouldn't support mental health services or aging services from our counties in the future. That is not a solution,” Russo said. “The reality is we have created a tax code here in the state of Ohio that has shifted the burden of taxes on to middle-income, middle-class families. We've shifted the burden of taxes onto property tax owners.”
  

There is one bill close to the finish line, called House Bill 187.  The bill would, in part, temporarily expand eligibility for the homestead exemption for the disabled and elderly. 

Homestead exemption reduces the amount of the value of your property that is taxed by $26,200 and is annually adjusted for inflation.  

The Ohio Senate passed HB 187 after making several changes to it; the bill could head to the governor’s desk with one more vote from the Ohio House, but on both sides of the aisle, leadership is not keen on it.  

“The changes that were made to it in the Senate cut $150 or $190 million out of schools. There was no discussion of what changes they had made to what we had,” Stephens said. And I just felt like that was a shortsighted change and really would have done more damage than good.”  

“That bill had a lot of problems,” Russo said. “We had mixed votes, certainly from our Democratic caucus members, because of its impact, the unintended consequences. It had a lot of policy issues that I think have more unintended consequences than what we're trying to achieve. But number two, it doesn't provide a lot of direct relief to property tax owners, particularly some of those that have been hardest hit. So, there are other things that we can be doing that actually gives property tax owners like real relief that they need now.”  

So, what’s the solution? Stephens said he is waiting for feedback.  

“The Property Tax Study Committee is putting together a lot of these types of concepts,” he said. “I think it's important looking at the calculation of property taxes. If you remember, we were ahead of this because House Bill 1 was a property tax relief bill, and we've taken some of those elements and put them into the budget. Other elements are a little more complex because of the constitutional constraints that were passed back in the 70s and that’s what the study committee is trying to navigate through.”  

“Often here in the General Assembly, we are very good at studying issues to death and never actually taking action, and this is just one more example,” Russo said. “I think that the Tax Study Commission is good and it's valuable. The reality is months ago, they could have produced results from their hearings.”  

While both Russo and Stephens said passing property tax relief is a priority, the legislature is not scheduled to be back to session until November. So, even if lawmakers do pass relief before the end of the year, it’s likely Ohioans won’t feel the impact until next year.