Marlene Homan has lived in the same house on Cleveland's West Side since 1977. She raised two sons there and lost her husband there in 2017. Last month, she found out her annual property tax bill jumped by more than $300. News 5 Cleveland (WEWS) told Marlene’s story and put a face on what bad and outdated property tax policy does to Ohioans.
Marlene is not alone in the property tax trap. Cuyahoga County is one of seven Northeast Ohio counties that wrapped up a mass reappraisal last year. The others are Erie, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Portage, and Stark. Thousands of homeowners across the region are feeling the same sticker shock. As one Cleveland resident told News 5, "It's so unfair for somebody to live somewhere and think, 'Oh, I'm going to stay here 'til I die.' And then be forced out because they can't afford the taxes."
That's the heart of it. Seniors on fixed incomes are watching tax bills climb faster than their Social Security checks. Young families are getting priced out of homes they already own. Schools, police, fire, and roads almost all run on one source of money — your property tax payment. You buy a home, pay it off, and the government still sends you a bill every year for the right to live there. Miss too many of those bills and the home is no longer yours.
To be frank, there is no real fix in sight. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are running hard for governor, but neither has offered a serious property tax plan. A citizens group is now gathering signatures to abolish property taxes entirely on the November 2026 ballot – they probably won’t make it, but God bless them for doing something.
In the wake of this chaos, we suggest the Ohio legislature begin to look for real solutions, and that means looking directly to the south, where Florida is trying to fix the property tax disaster its residents face.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature are in special session right now on a plan called "Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes." It would exempt the first $150,000 of a home's assessed value in 2027, rising to $250,000 the next year. Snowbirds who aren't permanent residents get a smaller $50,000 exemption until they have lived in Florida for five years. The plan caps yearly increases on non-homestead property at 5%, down from 10%.
It limits what local governments can spend property tax money on, with categories spelled out: public safety, schools, infrastructure, natural resource projects, and core county operations.
It still has to pass a 60% public vote in November, which seems like a no-brainer.
While this is not a perfect solution, it’s a solid start. It’s an actual proposal voters can read, debate, and weigh on the merits.
Ohio lawmakers, and anyone in Columbus who can do math, should be looking at the Sunshine State. Because Marlene deserves better.
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