CINCINNATI — A grassroots group and Ohio House lawmakers are pushing to overhaul the state's property tax system, which many homeowners say has become increasingly burdensome. However, county auditors are warning that eliminating property taxes without a clear alternative could jeopardize essential local services.
For homeowners like Beth Blackmarr, who works with Citizens for Property Tax Reform based in Cuyahoga County, the current system has become unsustainable.
"It just got to be too much," Blackmarr told WCPO. "We can't have senior citizens pushed out of their homes that are paid for that they've been in for thirty and forty years, and they can't afford the property tax on them."
This citizens' group is working to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would eliminate property taxes in Ohio. They need to collect more than 413,000 valid signatures across at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties.
While state lawmakers have introduced House Bill 335, which aims to limit how much money local governments and school districts can receive from rising property values, Blackmarr said the group took action after seeing legislative efforts stall repeatedly.
"They had 40 bills last year, none of which made it across the finish line for one reason or another," Blackmarr said. "And so, at the beginning of this year, we said if they're not going to do anything, I guess we're going to have to do something for ourselves."
County auditors, who are on the front lines of the property tax system, believe there are better solutions than outright doing away with property taxes. Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix expressed concerns about the potential consequences.
WATCH: County auditors' alternative solutions to eliminating property tax or House Bill 335 below
"I just wouldn't want to live in a community that didn't have local government funding, and that's what we're risking if we do eliminate local property taxes," Nix said. "But at the same time, we are totally empathetic; we are the ones receiving the calls from our taxpayers who can't afford their tax bills."
The County Auditors' Association of Ohio has proposed alternative solutions, including creating what they call a "menu of targeted tax relief," increasing property tax exemptions for seniors and eliminating the state-imposed cap on tax rate reductions.
Blackmarr said that while public education is constitutionally guaranteed, the funding mechanism needs to change if it continues to burden homeowners.
"Public school is guaranteed to us by the Constitution; we just have to get another way to pay for it that's not so heavily dependent upon homeowners," she said.
Nix urged lawmakers to carefully consider the auditors' proposals.
"These are very complicated issues — the funding, all the agencies, the calculations, the 20-mill floor. I just hope that they will strongly consider our proposals," Nix said.
If the ballot measure succeeds and voters choose to eliminate property taxes without an alternative solution from state lawmakers, sales and income taxes would likely increase to make up for the lost revenue.
