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.

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.

“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.