Ohio property tax relief group begins work

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Sticker shock is hitting Ohioans hard when they open their property tax bills. 

NBC4 has shown you where property taxes have doubled and even tripled, and how many are desperate for some relief. 

State legislators have disagreed on the best way to get Ohioans that relief without compromising schools and others who rely on these dollars. 

Now the Governor’s Property Tax Reform Work Group is trying to find a solution. The work group is considering how to give Ohioans property tax relief without hurting the entities, such as school districts, that rely on this money. The group has until September to issue a report with concrete proposals to address property taxes. 

On Aug. 14, the group discussed five concepts, mostly focused on what should or should not be allowed when it comes to school levies. 

Those concepts were school district property tax reductions and cash balance carryover limits, school district property tax levy restrictions, adding substitute and emergency levies in 20-mill floor calculation, county budget commission authority and procedures, and limiting property tax increases via inflation cap.

“I'm not trying to supplant the legislature,” Governor’s Property Tax Task Force co-chair Bill Seitz said. “We are trying to refine what they have done while preserving the essence of the concepts they put forward and at the same time come up with additional ideas that have yet to be enacted by the general assembly that might that might provide further real property tax relief or greater transparency and clarity to the problem.”

The group, made up of leaders from counties and school districts, discussed options, shared opinions, and talked about how the concepts should be adjusted or issues they had with them.  

“The governor has not laid out any expectations of what he wants the end result to be," Seitz said. "He has assembled a group of folks who are experts in their respective fields of administering or benefiting from property taxation, with a good smattering of former legislators and business people, and said, 'Get to work and put your minds together and see what you can come up with.'"

In the meantime, a grassroots group is gathering signatures across the state to put a constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes on the ballot. 

This has been criticized by some lawmakers as a harsh approach.

NBC4 spoke with the petitioner, who said they are aiming to be on the May ballot and will announce when they have collected half of the 413,000 signatures meeded