By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Thanks to an Ohio patriot for sending us these articles.
Tuscarawas County forum weighs ending property taxes
JonBaker The Bargain Hunter
Published June 26, 2026 – 7:13 a.m. Modified June 26, 2026 – 7:31 a.m.
Officials in New Philadelphia said abolishing property taxes could cut local services, while an opponent called the system unsustainable.
A panel of government officials discussed the services funded by property taxes in Tuscarawas County at a forum on the subject, while an opponent of property taxes warned that the current funding system is unsustainable.
Around 80 people attended the forum June 25, held at the New Philadelphia branch of the Tuscarawas County Public Library.
The Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes has been pushing a constitutional amendment this November to end property taxes in the Buckeye state, but the group failed to get enough signatures to get it on the ballot. The group will try again to get it on the ballot in November 2027.
State Rep. Jodi Salvo, R-Bolivar, started her portion of the program by noting, “Property taxes, nobody likes them.”
She said that property taxes in Ohio raise $24 billion.
“With the initiative to abolish property taxes, the concern is we do not have a plan in place of how we would really backfill that $24 billion,” she said.
Salvo noted that all money raised by property taxes stays locally. If property taxes were eliminated, the government would have to look at local funding sources, including raising the sales tax. That tax could be raised anywhere from 18% up to 22%.
“That would be very burdensome for people on fixed incomes, anyone who’s financially disadvantaged,” the state representative said. “That would be a very high sales tax. And when you’re looking at that, our surrounding states would not be anywhere near that. So, that would be concerning.”
Others on the panel talked about where the money raised by property taxes go.
New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day said the money funds parks, cemeteries, municipal court, the health department, the police department, the fire department, the street department and street paving.
“If we would lose our property tax, all those departments and all those services would be impacted,” he said. New Philadelphia would lose 21% of its general fund.
Amy Adam, operations director with the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said that residents pay a small amount in property taxes to support her agency, but it’s huge to the 700 people it assists in the county.
Services include running Starlight School and Medicaid services for people locally, such as day programs, employment support, in-home care and home modifications.
“The loss of property tax dollars, without another plan to fund that, would be devastating to these people that we serve,” she said.
Also on the panel was Leonard Gilbert of Mentor, representing the Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes. He said the state doesn’t have a taxing problem, it has a spending problem.
“When we have these discussions, we never talk about what is the role of government,” he said. “When I ask that question, there’s complete silence. The role of government is very simple. It’s to promote law and order. Anything else above that is just icing on the cake.”
He said that if the government continues to grow bigger and bigger and families continue to get smaller and smaller, “you can’t stay on that path. You can’t do it, because you’re breaking the natural order of what God has ordained.”
Gilbert said the government is running on a fiat money system where the government prints something out of nothing.
During the question-and-answer portion of the forum, David Ramsell of Dover asked what the plan is to replace the revenue generated by property taxes.
“The reality is we have cities, we have townships, we have villages, you name it,” Gilbert said in response. “We have the state that also has a priority. All I’m saying is, shift the priorities, cut the spending, do the things that you guys are doing right now to consolidate resources and bring costs down. Then you come tell me about taxation. Those are things that I’m looking at.”
He said there are plenty of plans out there, but when one is put out, people complain about it. “You know why? Because we’re comfortable with the abnormal, and it can’t last.”
Others on the panel included Natalie Bollon, executive director of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties; Dennison Mayor Greg DiDonato; Dover Township Trustee Mark DiGenova; Detective Capt. Adam Fisher of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office; Tuscarawas County Auditor Larry Lindberg; Randy Lucas, superintendent of the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center; New Philadelphia Fire Chief Jim Parrish; Michelle Ramsell, director of the Tuscarawas County Public Library; and Jason Thornton of the Tuscarawas County Veterans Services Office.
The forum was moderated by Bob Scanlon.
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