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Should Homeowners Continue To Receive Property Tax Relief…Or Should School Districts Continue Their Plunder?

By Contributing Writer on May 15, 2026

May 15, 2026

By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall

Here is a recent email sent out by the Lake County Republican Party.

Last year, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 96, giving County Commissioners the authority to expand important property tax relief programs for local residents. In response, the Lake County Commissioners voted to double both the Homestead Exemption for qualifying low-income seniors and the Owner Occupancy Credit for homeowners across the county.

These measures provided meaningful relief to many seniors, veterans, and hardworking homeowners facing rising property taxes and increasing financial pressure.

However, under state law, the Commissioners must vote each year to renew these tax relief measures. This June, they will once again decide whether to continue these important protections for Lake County residents.

If you support continued property tax relief for seniors, veterans, and homeowners, please contact the Lake County Commissioners and respectfully ask them to vote in favor of renewing the expanded Homestead Exemption and Owner Occupancy Credit.

Lake County Board of Commissioners

Commissioner and President Morris W. Beverage III
morris.beverage@lakecountyohio.gov

Commissioner John T. Plecnik
john.plecnik@lakecountyohio.gov

Commissioner Morgan R. McIntosh
morgan.mcintosh@lakecountyohio.gov

It is important that the Commissioners hear from residents who support efforts to provide tax relief and help families remain in their homes.

As former Ohio Governor George Voinovich often said, “Government must learn to do more with less.”

Recently, Willoughby-Eastlake Schools Superintendent Patrick Ward distributed a letter regarding the property tax relief measures that many residents found misleading and lacking important financial context.

Here are the facts:

Due to recent property revaluations, the Willoughby-Eastlake School District was projected to receive approximately $8 million annually in additional property tax revenue.

The temporary tax relief approved by the County Commissioners reduced that increase by approximately $2.3 million — meaning the district would still receive nearly $6 million in additional annual property tax revenue without any additional vote of the people.

The district did not lose existing funding. Instead, the Commissioners acted to provide taxpayers with modest temporary relief from rapidly increasing property tax burdens caused by property revaluations.

Residents deserve full transparency regarding how these financial decisions affect both taxpayers and public institutions.

If you have questions regarding the district’s position on these tax relief measures, you may contact:

Patrick Ward
Superintendent, Willoughby-Eastlake Schools
patrick.ward@weschools.org

Editorial Comments by Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall

We appreciate Lake County Chairman Dale Fellows sending out this message from the Lake County Republican headquarters.

There appears to be a split in the Commissioners’ office over the wisdom of approving tax relief and helping families remain in their homes.

Commissioner John Plecnik is solidly in the camp for the citizens to retain the modest property tax savings, while Commissioner McIntosh still wants to hear from the Lake County school Superintendents and Treasurers, and Commissioner Beverage is definitely in the camp of those ambivalent about the plight of citizens being taxed out of their homes.

Here is how I see the current thinking of the Lake County Commissioners:

I am with the people. The property taxes are too darn high. Any tax causing a citizen to become homeless is immoral….

Commissioner John Plecnik

I need to hear from the schools’ Superintendents and Treasurers before I make up my mind.

Commissioner Morgan McIntosh

Pfft…tax breaks for seniors??? Let the peasants eat cake…if they cannot afford their property taxes, they should sell their home and move into an apartment…seems to be the sentiment from Commissioner Morris Beverage, the third.

There will be a meeting at the Educational Service Center in Concord today at 10:30 am between the Lake County School Districts’ Superintendents and Treasurers and Commissioners McIntosh and Beverage. We will have a separate article on the gory details of what transpired after I first found out about the meeting while attending the Riverside school district’s finance meeting on Thursday, May 15th at 7:00 am.

Stay tuned…we will “pull back the curtain” on the political shenanigans going on in Lake County for our readers.