Senate Democrats Call for Further Property Tax Relief

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood)released the following statement after the Ohio Senate passed a number of Republican bills addressing property taxes. 

“While I support increasing the owner-occupancy credit, a number of these bills do not go nearly far enough in addressing the property tax crisis facing Ohioans,” said Leader Antonio. “We will provide real property tax relief when the state is required to pay its fair share and help the homeowners who need it most. Otherwise, communities will have no choice but to keep raising taxes or make cuts to public schools, police and fire, libraries, local governments, or county agencies. The Republican-led legislature’s failure to fully and fairly fund our schools continues to shift the burden onto the backs of everyday Ohioans and places misguided blame on our schools and local services that actually make our communities strong.

The property tax bills passed today include House Bill 129, House Bill 186, House Bill 309, and House Bill 335. Democrats offered a number of amendments that would have:

• Provided real relief for homeowners by expanding the Homestead Exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners and providing much-needed relief for vulnerable Ohioans and create a property tax circuit breaker.
• Protected essential services by exempting critical services (libraries, townships, addiction services, and municipalities) from potential levy reductions, which would have safeguarded essential services against cuts in funding. 
• Repealed data center tax exemptions by ensuring that local governments and schools are not left financially strained by tax incentives given to data centers, but Republicans chose to continue subsidizing big corporations that increase utility costs while local communities face revenue losses. 
• Protected voter transparency by requiring new emergency levies in districts under fiscal emergency to be labeled that way on the ballot– letting voters know exactly what they are voting for when it comes to emergency funding.

Each of these proposals were voted down by Republicans. 

“Democrats are fighting to support homeowners, provide property tax relief to those who need it the most, and protect essential services,” said Leader Antonio. “I hope that my Republican colleagues join us in continuing to find ways to provide real tax relief to Ohioans.”

The bills now head back to the Ohio House for concurrence.