By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is spinning a tangled web of deception when he discusses our proposed amendment to abolish Ohio’s property taxes.
In the video Governor Mike DeWine states:
“Schools are funded primarily two ways. One is money from the state budget, which is primarily from income tax. The other is from the real estate, local real estate taxes…”
Ohio Constitution: Article VI, Section 2 | Schools funds
“The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.”
DeWine complains in the video that he does not support our amendment to abolish property taxes because we do not give him the alternative funding sources that will replace the property taxes.
Note to Governor DeWine:
The Ohio Constitution clearly states that the State General Assembly shall pay for the school funding. There is no mention of local property taxes in the Constitution as a source of funding. In fact, The DeRolph case determined that using property taxes was unconstitutional, but the legislature and you have merely brushed that aside.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeRolph_v._State
“DeRolph v. State is a landmark case in Ohio constitutional law in which the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that the state’s method for funding public education was unconstitutional.”
In your statement to the media, you said that schools are funded primarily by income taxes. Now you and the Governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy want to ELIMINATE the income tax. Logically, if schools are funded by income taxes and property taxes, and you eliminate the income tax, the burden of school funding will fall completely on the property owners.
The new energy sources proposed for Ohio will be exempt from property taxes; and there is also talk of perhaps also exempting existing power plants from property taxes. It is clear that the homeowners are going to taxed out of their homes. The younger generation will have to forgo owning a home, and be serfs to the government. The whole property tax system is overly complex, far too costly to administer and is unsustainable!
What you also fail to acknowledge is that there are no checks and balances on spending by the thousands of taxing authorities throughout the State of Ohio. The public sector has outgrown the private sector’s ability to pay for the services.
ANY TAX CAUSING A CITIZEN TO BECOME HOMELESS IS IMMORAL.
Governor DeWine – what you are proposing is immoral, and will negatively impact your legacy as the Governor of Ohio. It has been said that Ohio is first in aviation, and 47th in everything else. That is a rather disastrous condemnation of Ohio’s leadership over the years, and you cannot blame the Democrats.
This average citizen will not give up, and we will eventually get our amendment to the Constitution on the ballot. Homeownership is the foundation of our freedom and liberty. It is a way for families to get out of poverty. We will not accept being merely renters from the government.
The citizens of the State of Ohio will no longer accept being ignored by our elected representatives. Our representative form of government is merely an illusion. Just watch former Lake County Commissioner and former State Representative Ron Young tell you what are the top priorities of government and politicians.
Categories: Community Activism, Real Estate Taxes, State of Ohio, Uncategorized