Lawmakers better start drafting their own property-tax ballot issue if they want to avoid becoming the prey: Gene Krebs
- Published: Oct. 31, 2025, 5:35 a.m.
By Guest Columnist Gene Krebs
Fifty years ago, I published in a scientific journal on animal behavior; for the past 33 years, that knowledge has served me well in politics and policy, including eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Those insights come to mind again as we think about the dire consequences and ramifications of the effort to place on the ballot in November 2026 a constitutional amendment to eliminate all property taxes in Ohio. While the legislature has recently accomplished some modest reforms that will moderate future growth, the citizens want a reduction in costs — now.
Our best strategy in response to this crisis is convincing the General Assembly to place a competing ballot issue to satisfy the concerns of the citizens, yet to do so in a responsible manner. The following must be included in the competing amendment, using simple language:
The first part should specify that the state will subsidize half of all property taxes in Ohio, phased in over six years to avoid destroying the state budget.
In this era of both right-wing and left-wing populism, we should consider establishing a sliding scale or a means test.
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Because local governments in Ohio all use individualized unique methods of keeping their books, you can’t compare the efficiency and effectiveness of one local government to another. We need to impose in this amendment a uniform chart of accounts on them — then we’ll know who gives good value so the citizens can judge who are frugal stewards of their money.
We need to establish in the amendment something similar to the U.S. military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program – but for local governments and local taxing entities. At the federal level, BRAC was a rare success story that closed unneeded military bases in the face of fierce local political pressure. The design of the BRAC-like program can be discussed later, but we need a fresh look at how the multitude of local governments are organized and spend taxpayers’ money, and to harmonize the impacts.
This will be very hard for everyone in the chattering class to do, as they are not used to “predation,” as when something higher than they are on the food chain exercises their will.
When they introduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park some years back, impact was dramatic: The elk stopped grazing in the open and spent a fair amount of time looking out for predators. The elk were more attentive.
Former State Rep. Gene Krebs of Preble County served in the Ohio House from 1993 through 2000 and later as a Preble County Commissioner. Courtesy of Gene Krebs
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Categories: Community Activism, Real Estate Taxes, State of Ohio