Ohio
is currently playing a game with big consequences, and State Rep.
Mark Hiner is eager to find a way for everyone to emerge a winner.
A grassroots push called Citizens for
Property Tax Reform began this past year in Cleveland and has continued to
garner discussion as a group of homeowners launched a campaign to place a
constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would abolish property
taxes in Ohio.
The group hoped to get on the November
ballot, needing around 413,000 valid signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties
to do so. Having originally targeted the 2025 ballot, organizers later shifted
plans, opting for 2026 instead — citing legislative inaction and a desire for
gubernatorial candidates to weigh in as the reasons.
The reason so many homeowners are currently
fired up over property tax issues is because many have recently experienced
property value increases of between 30-50% in recent reassessments.
Those backing the movement have argued funding should not be tied solely to property ownership.
For Hiner, the
issue right now isn’t about who is right or who is wrong. It is about informing the public about the
consequences of such an action.
"The way all of these tax mechanisms work is incredibly complicated, frustratingly so,” Hiner said.
Hiner talked about the housing
shortage issue that began a few years ago and said increased demand has
driven up valuations, and the property taxes have risen right along with it.
“We’ve hit a point where voters are
getting frustrated, and they’re not wrong,” Hiner said. “My own home has gone
up tremendously.”
With the next valuation set to hit
Holmes County, Hiner said there will be another big increase in property taxes.
“We’re trying to get it under
control,” Hiner said. “We’ve got to find the balance where the
entities get the money they need, but we’re not choking the taxpayers. That’s
the challenge, and everything we try to change is facing a hurdle. Whether it
is a lobby or law, something causes a problem at every turn.”
Hiner said he has poured himself into
finding solutions to the issue, trying to uncover a solution to create the
necessary taxation to make it more efficient, but every attempt has only
created issues he said are worse than what the situation is currently.
He said House Bill 920, which was put
into place in the mid-1970s, was intended to offset high increases and worked well
for a period, but when valuations skyrocketed recently, the formula failed to
work, creating spikes in property taxes that began to sour homeowners.
“It’s going to take time,” Hiner said.
“The challenge is trying to get a grasp on all of this, but in the meantime,
there is this sense of urgency because we’ve got this group collecting
signatures to get an issue on the ballot to abolish property taxes.”
Hiner said there are many people out
there who relish the thought of not having to pay property taxes. He said he
himself would prefer not to, but he said there are serious
implications should that happen.
“There are unintended consequences
people don’t see,” Hiner said. “Your property tax all stays local. It funds
your county, your townships, your villages, schools, fire and EMS, libraries,
parks and more. None of it goes to the state, and a lot of people think that by
eliminating (property taxes), they are going to limit state spending. It won’t
affect that at all, but it will affect local communities.”
Hiner said his main goal right now is
to create educational opportunities for people to learn more about all the
ramifications should property taxes disappear altogether.
Holmes County Commissioners said losing property tax would eliminate approximately 25% of their budget, which
would be a catastrophe.
The commissioners said that scenario
would probably result in a steep rise in sales tax and plenty of cuts in a
variety of areas mentioned above.
Hiner said aside from the county
adding additional sales tax, school districts can create an income tax, but
townships have no mechanism to create more funding, so they would be stranded
with no income.
“I’m not pushing this issue one way or
the other. I simply want to make sure that the voters understand what can
happen if this passes,” Hiner said. “We may well lose local services that are
valuable and that we want.”
The state government has a little over
one year to figure out the game plan on property taxes because Hiner believes
the group will obtain the necessary signatures to get it placed on the ballot
in 2026.
“I want our voters to make an informed
decision,” he said. “I don’t want them to make an emotional one, which is easy
to do when you’re a frustrated homeowner and you experience these rising
property taxes. There are people out there with limited income facing these
rising taxes, so I sympathize with them.
“But there are consequences to this. We just need to find a way to stop these rising taxes that
works.”
He said should property tax disappear,
counties could shut down schools or county government to solve the funding
issues, but then who would educate children and fix bridges and streets?
He said all these issues need to be
explored closely and understood, and big cuts will have to be made should it
happen.
He said he hopes there can be an
interactive website created where people can get information. He said the Ohio House of Representatives continues to make this issue a priority as
it continues to work on finding a solution that works.
