By Brian Massie, Member, Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes
At least legislators are starting to understand that the citizens led Constitutional Amendment is real, and citizens want to control their own destiny. Merely being renters from the government is not acceptable. I will be visiting the Sandusky Republicans on Monday, September 8th, and will report on my visit.
ANY TAX CAUSING A CITIZEN TO BECOME HOMELESS IS IMMORAL!.
Ohio’s property tax reform bills multiply as abolishment gains support
- Updated: Aug. 27, 2025, 4:18 p.m.
- |Published: Aug. 27, 2025, 3:40 p.m.
By
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With a growing share of Ohioans, ready to abolish property taxes altogether, a group of House Republicans is rolling out the “Taxpayer Freedom Trilogy.”
A three-bill package they hope will strike a middle ground and break the impasse on real reform before it’s too late.
“We’ve got this tug of war from fed-up taxpayers vs the tax collectors, who don’t want to do anything,” said Rep. Gary Click, a Sandusky County Republican. “We need to find that middle ground where taxpayers have a voice, but we’re not defunding government services.”
Here’s what Click’s proposed legislation would do:
- House Bill 420 would phase out permanent property tax levies and ban them by 2030. After that, all levies would need an end date and go back to voters.
- House Bill 421 would let voters reduce their inside millage, the taxes counties charge without voter approval, by putting a question on the ballot.
- House Bill 422 would raise the voter threshold for passing new levies. Those at 1 mill would need 50% support, levies at 2 mills would need 60%, and those at 3 mills or more would need two-thirds approval.
“All of these bills increase the voice of the voter,” Rep Gary Click, a Sandusky County Republican, said.
He said his goal is to make property taxes hard to increase and easier to decrease.
But Democrats called the bills “political theater dressed up as taxpayer relief,” and that “real property tax relief” means expanded state credits like the homestead exemption, increased school funding and rebates for those hit hardest by skyrocketing taxes.
“Anything else is a smokescreen,” said Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, a Westlake Democrat. “Ohio families deserve better than cheap tricks from politicians in Columbus.”
Read more: Who broke property taxes? How state actions shifted the burdens to communities
Click has also heard from local government associations, who he said aren’t fans of his trilogy.
“I tell them if you don’t like what we’re doing, you’re going to really hate what the taxpayers do because that has momentum,” Click said.
Activists are already gathering signatures for a 2026 constitutional amendment that would abolish property taxes altogether.
A recent poll from Fallon Research found 61% of Ohioans would vote yes. Another 18% were unsure, and 21% reported they would vote no.
The poll also asked how local governments would replace more than $20 billion in property tax dollars, and one in four respondents didn’t know.
“You have to look at what’s beyond the target,” Click said. “In the legislature, one of the things I’ve learned and pay attention to is unintended consequences.”
Click argues eliminating property taxes without a replacement plan would be chaotic — leaving schools and local governments scrambling to keep the lights on.
His trilogy of bills is one attempt to head off that outcome. More than a dozen reform proposals were introduced in this General Assembly.
Gov. Mike DeWine also has his own working group studying reforms, and lawmakers are still weighing whether to override several of his budget vetoes tied to property tax relief.
Advertisements
Patriots at the Clyde County Fair, in Sandusky, Ohio
Categories: Property Tax Petition, Real Estate Taxes, State of Ohio, Uncategorized