Property taxes are one of the biggest issues in this year’s race for Ohio governor.
Home values have jumped in recent years, and tax bills have gone up with them. The typical Ohio property tax bill rose 23% from 2019 to 2023, according to CoreLogic. Cuyahoga County has the state’s highest property tax rate.
Homeowners and farmers now pay about two-thirds of school property taxes. In the 1970s, they paid less than half.
Seniors on fixed incomes can feel it most, and some advocates worry older Ohioans could lose homes they have already paid off. For families hoping to buy, higher taxes make monthly payments harder to afford.
Last year, lawmakers limited most tax increases caused by rising home values to the rate of inflation. They also gave bigger credits to people who live in their homes.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy wants to roll taxes back to where they were before the pandemic. A Journal-News analysis found that could cost local governments and schools nearly $4.6 billion.
Democrat Amy Acton wants more targeted help. She would expand a tax break for seniors, give rebates to people whose bills spike and fully fund the state’s school funding plan. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, a Republican, says her plan lacks a realistic revenue source. Some Republican lawmakers also say they’ve already passed parts of her plan.
That matters because schools get about two-thirds of all property tax money.
Other ideas are out there, too. One group wants to end property taxes completely and is aiming for the 2027 ballot. A state lawmaker wants to swap local school taxes for one statewide tax.