House Democrats, Community Partners Calling for Real Property Tax Relief Instead of Ill-Conceived HB 335

COLUMBUS – Members of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus today held a press conference detailing the dangerous impacts House Bill (HB) 335 would have on the crucial funding for public schools, police and fire departments, county budgets and critical services Ohioans rely on.

“Our local government entities in Ohio provide critically important and vital services (education, public safety, developmental disability and behavioral health programs, children’s services, senior programs, etc.) to our citizens. Because the state has gradually reduced its role in helping cover the cost of these services, most have become more dependent on local property tax revenue to carry out their functions.

But many of our citizens on lower or fixed incomes have found it difficult to meet their property tax obligations. Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and I have tried for years to help alleviate this situation by calling for an expansion of the Homestead Exemption program and other circuit breaker type measures financed by the State General Revenue Fund (GRF). Very little action has taken place on these proposals as our seniors and others on fixed incomes continue to struggle. 

Instead of assisting our taxpayers in that matter, HB 335 reverses 90 years of policy and literally decimates our local entities’ abilities to deliver these needed services by slashing $3.5 billion of local property tax revenue without any participation by the state in reimbursing those losses. This bill will substantially defund our schools, our police and fire departments, and many of our essential county programs. It then suggests that these entities can restore that money by asking their voters to increase their local income and sales taxes, rather than stepping up to the plate and putting some of our “skin” (state revenues) in the game.

This proposal finances uneven property tax relief (mainly for the wealthy), on the backs of our local governments already struggling to deliver the core services of a civilized society. It is bad public policy as presently written, and our local government partners should certainly be given every opportunity to express their concerns on the devastating impact that it would visit upon them,” said Rep. Daniel Troy (D-Willowick), ranking member on House Ways and Means Committee.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to provide substantive, targeted, need-based property tax relief to Ohio’s residents. My advice to Ohioans is to continue calling and emailing your state representatives and senators,” said Rep. Sean P. Brennan (D-Parma), ranking member on House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee.

“Doing away with inside mileage would severely bruise the very heart of local governments, depriving them of the resources they so desperately need. As we have heard today, there are, without question, other real ways to bring about the relief that property owners have been appealing to this body to address for years. This is not the way-it is simply poor public policy,” said Rep. Veronica Sims (D-Akron), ranking member on House Local Government Committee.

House Democrats were honored to be joined by leaders from the Ohio Municipal League, the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters and the Ohio Education Association, all of whom detailed the troubling impact HB 335 would have on municipalities, fire departments and public schools. 

“Inside millage is a vital, stable funding source for municipalities—supporting core services like police, fire, and street maintenance. Ohio’s residents depend upon these services every day. Losing this financial resource would have a severe impact on local budgets that would likely lead to cuts in service, especially in smaller communities with limited alternatives,” said Kent Scarrett, Executive Director of Ohio Municipal League.

“Although the bill does exclude fire levies, very few of our departments rely solely on fire levy funds, these changes could further erode the local tax base without clear plans to backfill lost revenue. That leaves local governments in a bind — forced to either cut essential services or ask voters for more frequent and higher levies. Either way, it's our communities and our members who will feel the pressure,” said Jon Harvey, President of Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters.

“HB 335 would be devastating for the nearly 90% of Ohio’s students who attend our public schools. With half of all inside mills generating essential local revenue for public education, losing that revenue stream would lead to exploding class sizes, shrinking curriculum offerings, cuts to vital services for students, and a potential loss of 20,000 teaching positions across the state. Legislators should focus their efforts on fully and fairly funding our public schools, not implementing harmful, unvetted property tax changes on the backs of our kids,” said Scott DiMauro, President of Ohio Education Association.

• Despite what House Republicans have falsely claimed, HB 335 would in reality:  
• Defunds public schools by $2B, the largest school funding cut in Ohio history.
• Defunds police and fire departments by $650M in cities across the state, a larger cut than then Governor Kasich slashed the local government fund.
• Inside millage is often used to finance police and fire pensions, debt service
• Slashes county budgets by over $850M that support essential services for veterans, seniors, children, the mentally ill, those with disabilities, and more.

The critical services people rely on daily are delivered by their neighbors at the local county, city, school district and township level. Property taxes provide a stable source of revenue to augment sales and income taxes which tend to fluctuate with economic trends. 
 

“We cannot fully grasp how cutting local public funding for services like public education, police and fire, food pantries, homeless shelters and more, (especially in the name of property tax relief) will affect our communities. Instead, we are giving the Browns $600M and reducing the state income tax for the rich by $1.4B per year,” said Rep. Mark Sigrist (D-Grove City), member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“HB 335 would be an unmitigated disaster for localities while doing little to actually alleviate the burden of property taxes for homeowners who need it most. Rep. Brennan and my bill, the Ohio Property Tax Refund Act, provides immediate property tax relief to Ohioans and is a real first step in the right direction,” said Rep. Derrick Hall (D-Akron), member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Property tax relief should be targeted, need-based, and state-funded. House Democrats have introduced numerous, bipartisan proposals that cut property taxes for homeowners while keeping schools and local governments whole.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Tuesday’s press conference can be viewed in its entirety here.

A photo from Tuesday’s press conference is attached to this press release. Courtesy: Ohio House Democrats. Left to Right: Jon Harvey, Rep. Brennan, Rep. Hall, Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna), Rep. Troy, Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), Rep. Sigrist, Rep. Sims, Scott DiMauro.