CONCORD TOWNSHIP – A group of citizens pushing for a state constitutional amendment that would abolish property taxes has taken the decision to extend its signature collection efforts into 2026.
The Committee to Abolish Ohio’s Property Taxes issued a press release on Wednesday, June 25, expressing the group’s happiness with the reception and enthusiasm they’ve encountered in the effort to collect the 500,000 signatures needed for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to put the question on the November ballot in 2025.
“Since obtaining the Ohio Attorney General’s approval and the Ohio Ballot Board’s approval of the proposed constitutional amendment last month, our grassroots effort has registered over 1,000 volunteer circulators to collect signatures and the list keeps growing every day,” Keith Davey, a committee member, said. “We sincerely appreciate the efforts to date of all citizens who have worked tirelessly to get signatures of the registered voters and thank the citizens that have signed the petition.”
In an email, Brian Massie, another committee member, wrote the group is working with several grassroots organizations throughout the state that have joined to collect signatures.
“The committee has decided, regardless of the number of signatures collected by July 2, to continue collecting signatures to place the constitutional amendment on the ballot in the calendar year 2026,” he said. “Our message is very clear and unambiguous: any tax causing a citizen to become homeless is immoral! The citizens are willing to pay for reasonable government services, just do not tie anything to our homes. We refuse to continue renting our homes from the government.”
Abolishing property taxes would mean a radical change in how local governments are funded and run, but the Committee to Eliminate Ohio’s Property Taxes says between 2019 and 2023, the median property tax bill in Ohio jumped 23 percent, Columbus seems incapable of fixing a broken system, riddled with perverse incentives, and that it’s past time citizens forced state, county and local governments to live within their means.
Property taxes in Ohio are a complex system that is assessed based on a fraction of a real estate parcel’s value, as estimated by the county auditor’s office and billed biannually by the county treasurer. Rates are also subject to a number of rollbacks, carveouts, exceptions, exemptions and alternative valuation formulae, further complicating the matter.
In a recent interview with Gazette Newspapers, three members of the Committee to Eliminate Ohio’s Property Taxes, Brian Massie, Leonard Gilbert and John Marra, mayor of Timberlake Village, claimed Ohio’s property taxes are unfair and inequitable, tax unrealized gains in value, are convoluted, lack transparency, disregard a person’s ability to pay and are riddled with perverse incentives for local taxing authorities. Committee members also claimed local property taxes are pitched to residents deceptively and have fueled a ballooning public sector that’s outstripped taxpayers’ ability to sustain it.
Critics of the effort have said abolishing property taxes would eliminate $23 billion annually in funding from local governments that provide critical services.
About 55 percent of this figure, or $12.65 billion, goes to school districts for salaries, educational resources and facilities maintenance. Another 30 percent, or $6.9 billion, supports cities, townships and counties that maintain roads, fund safety forces and deliver other public services. The remaining 15 percent, or about $3.45 billion, goes to libraries, parks and emergency services, such as joint fire and ambulance districts, according to Lake County Treasurer Michael Zuren.
The Committee to Abolish Ohio’s Property Taxes has a new Facebook page, “Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes.”
The committee will be updating its website, AxOHTax.com, to provide timely information on signing locations throughout the state and for supporters to volunteer to help collect signatures, according to Massie.
Categories: Community Activism, Real Estate Taxes