'Columbus, we have a problem': Northeast Ohio leaders say we need a property tax fix

CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio politicians took aim at the General Assembly on Tuesday, saying the legislature’s failure to move on property tax relief could leave homeowners out in the cold.

House Democrats blasted Republican leadership during a news conference at the Cuyahoga County administration building. They urged taxpayers to raise a ruckus in hopes of getting state laws changed now, before new tax bills hit people’s mailboxes in January.

“If any lawmaker is telling you we just can’t get it done and we don’t have the money, they’re lying to you,” said State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake). “They’re not being truthful. It is a choice to fail to act.”

Across the state, homeowners are grappling with higher valuations and property tax hikes.

In Cuyahoga County, home values jumped by 32%, on average, in a recent reappraisal required by the state.

Other counties are seeing similar trends, spurred by soaring prices, a severe shortage of properties for sale and more than a decade of anemic home-building.

Property tax bills will increase much less dramatically than values, in most cases. But taxes are rising enough to put thousands of low-income homeowners – and renters – at risk.

And though the General Assembly is weighing more than a dozen tax-relief bills, the Republican-dominated legislature can’t seem to reach consensus on a fix.

“I’ll be very honest. I don’t have a lot of faith in my colleagues,” Sweeney said when asked whether the General Assembly will act this year.

“But I will say that every single bill that we have proposed that actually will have real relief for Ohioans does have bipartisan support,” she added. “The problem is, we just don’t have enough.”

On Tuesday, she and her colleagues highlighted a handful of relief measures: Circuit breakers that would cut tax burdens for low-income homeowners and renters by providing a rebate or income-tax credit; property-tax freezes or deferrals for elderly homeowners; and an expansion of the homestead exemption, a state tax break that’s extremely limited today.

Legislators also are considering a bill that would give local governments – counties, cities and townships – the ability to slow property tax increases in specific areas, as rising home prices put longtime homeowners in peril.

“If other states can figure it out, so, surely, can Ohio too,” Sweeney said.

The crux of the problem is that incomes aren’t keeping up with home values. And for people like retired Cleveland homeowner Ed Livernois, there’s no way to earn more.

Livernois has lived in his house in Tremont for almost 37 years. He paid $38,000 for the property in 1987. The county says its current market value is $113,500.

But earlier this summer, Livernois received a letter about his proposed market value: $329,900, or almost triple what’s on the county’s books today.

“It was a shock,” he said.

Based on that math, his annual tax bill could go up by nearly $4,000.

He lives on $18,000 a year from his Social Security checks.

Elderly homeowners like him “cannot go to the Social Security and ask for a $100,000 raise,” he said. “It’s just not gonna happen.”

Livernois’s case is extreme — and he plans to challenge the county’s new appraisal.

But he’s not alone in worrying about losing the place he’s called home for decades.

State Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma) said he’s taken phone calls from crying constituents – not only homeowners but also renters whose landlords are passing the tax hikes along.

He knows how it feels to lose your foundation.

“I recall when I was a little boy, and my dad left us,” Brennan said during Tuesday’s event. “And my mom lost our house because she couldn’t afford to pay the house payment and property taxes on her department store income.”

State Rep. Phillip Robinson (D-Solon) criticized the state for relying too heavily on property taxes to fund public schools – and for cutting local government funding more than 10 years ago. Now, local tax levies for schools and other basic needs are driving property tax bills higher. And that's forcing voters to make tough choices.

“Columbus, we have a problem. Listen. Lead. And act,” Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne said after Tuesday’s news conference.

“We have not gotten the reception we’ve hoped for,” he added of the response from Ohio Statehouse leaders to the county’s pleas for help. “We’re gonna keep banging on the door. This isn’t something that’s gonna just end in this appraisal cycle. It’s something that’s ongoing. And we need our state’s support.”

The state requires counties to conduct mass reappraisals every six years and to make less intensive updates to property values midway through each cycle. This year, Cuyahoga, Erie, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Portage and Stark counties are going through the full reappraisal process, which involves driving by each property and analyzing nearby home sales.

Cuyahoga County is encouraging homeowners who disagree with their new values to file informal appeals by submitting photos and documents online, by mail or in-person. Those appeals are due by Friday – just a few days from now.

Homeowners who miss that deadline – or who don’t like the results of their appeal – can file formal complaints early next year with the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision.

“If you think your valuation is too high, tell us,” Ronayne stressed Tuesday.

That’s exactly what Livernois plans to do. He believes his house is worth much less than the county’s proposed figure.

“I’m 12 feet away from a four-story, 100-year-old brick apartment building,” he said. Plus, he doesn't have his own driveway.

And though the outside of his house looks tidy, thanks to a city home loan program that covered the siding, roof and porch, the inside is a bit of a mess. There’s crumbling brickwork in the kitchen. Light switches that do nothing. A bathroom with no hot water. And a bedroom where the ceiling’s caving in.

Then there’s the garage, unused for years and hidden in a tangle of vines.

Livernois recently spent $450 – a big expense – on a private appraisal to support his case.

“I do think there should be limits, especially on senior citizens,” he said of property taxes.

“They should try to keep people in the neighborhoods that have been living in the neighborhoods for such a long period, rather than force them to sell their house because it’s no longer affordable – and move to another neighborhood," he added. “Which I might have to do.”