Ohio Tax Revolt Pits Homeowners Against Public Budgets

Ohio campaign volunteers say they’ve gathered 300,000 signatures to abolish property taxes, which provide about 70% of local tax collections. Typical Ohio property-tax bills have climbed to nearly $3,000 a year. Replacing the $24 billion the state would lose would require an average income-tax rate just under 13%, according to the Tax Foundation.

Who Pays, Who Benefits

At a flea market in Hartville, Ohio, people signed petitions to end the tax. “I'm old. I've paid my home off,” said Ray Warner, a 72-year-old Akron resident. “Why would I pay property tax?”

Homeowners’ anger has grown as home prices, mortgage rates and insurance bills have risen. Home values have increased an average of 50% nationwide since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the median annual property-tax payment rose 25% from 2019 to 2024, or more than $600, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Bills can climb even when a homeowner loses a job or cuts spending. A higher sale price for a neighbor’s home can push up assessments and taxes. That increase can hit homeowners whose income hasn’t changed, even though their home’s value isn’t necessarily money they can readily use to pay the bill.

Since 2020, U.S. households’ real estate equity has grown 88%, or $17 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. Supporters of tax cuts say those gains are illiquid and may not help when bills come due.

A 2024 study led by researchers from the federal government and Yale University found that property-tax reductions in Georgia raised home prices. The cuts brought prospective buyers into bidding wars and encouraged existing owners to stay longer, leaving less housing available. The resulting price increases particularly hurt younger first-time buyers and disproportionately benefited older, long-term homeowners, the researchers found.

In California, one Los Angeles resident who has owned a home for 50 years and now has a property worth $1 million pays less than $500 a year in property taxes. A neighbor who bought a $1 million home the previous year owes $10,000.

Public Budgets and the State

Property taxes pay for schools and local services. Cities, counties, schools, labor unions, hospitals and chambers of commerce have formed coalitions to oppose cuts, warning that public services would suffer. Budget advisers to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine warned that abolishing the levy “would quite literally ‘defund’ the police,” while fire departments, schools and libraries would also face cuts.

Robert Butler, a past president of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and police chief in Independence, said abolition would mean “the immediate forced liquidation of patrol units and the degradation of emergency response.” He added, “You're gonna wipe them out.”

Local government leaders say replacing property taxes is difficult. Most states have phased in cuts or used other revenue to make up for lost funds. Texas tapped its budget surplus, while North Dakota used money from its oil-and-gas extraction tax. After California property-tax receipts fell, the state took responsibility for education funding and relied on income taxes that can swing with the stock market.

In Indiana, local governments have already lost revenue after the Legislature cut taxes on primary residences last year. Charlestown is growing as a former ammunition plant gets redeveloped, bringing jobs and residents that would normally increase property-tax revenue. Instead, the city is cutting its budget. A public park with mini golf, a splash pad and a roller-skating rink cut its operating schedule from seven days a week to four. Residents were told the city wouldn’t clear their streets immediately in the coming winter because it couldn’t pay snowplow drivers overtime.

Cuts, Campaigns and Limits

Ohio campaign leader Brian Massie says people should pay for services they use, not ones they don’t. “I'm not willing to give up my home for a book or a walk in the park,” he said. Massie called warnings about service cuts alarmist and said the Legislature would find other revenue as government shrank.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed more aggressive bills before signing a reduced package focused mainly on limiting future tax increases. “We have to provide for our schools; we have to provide for fire, EMS, police and children's services and many other things,” DeWine said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed eliminating property taxes for more than 90% of primary residences. Florida Republican lawmakers removed his proposed education-funding cuts before sending a property-tax measure to the November ballot. Incoming House Speaker Sam Garrison said Republicans wanted to cut taxes but had told voters “there's no such thing as a free lunch.”

Recent polls in Florida and Ohio show initial support for drastic cuts dropping below the level needed for passage after voters hear about possible local deficits or replacement tax increases. North Dakota voters rejected a 2024 repeal initiative by nearly a 2-to-1 margin after local governments, labor unions and business leaders argued the cuts were too severe and lacked viable replacement revenue. The state passed a landmark property-tax cut the following year.

Ohio’s campaign is part of a wider push, with proposals to reduce or repeal property taxes emerging in more than two dozen states. In Ohio, political observers believe the abolition measure could qualify for the 2027 ballot.