Art: Morgan Trau, WEWS.
Ohio lawmakers say they are trying to provide property tax relief by passing several targeted bills, but some homeowners say it’s not enough, while public schools say it’s at their expense.
One of the main debates this year at the Ohio Statehouse was how to fix and reduce skyrocketing property tax burdens.
“People are hurting, they’re losing their homes,” said Lakewood resident Beth Blackmarr.
But the Legislature must remember that it must support public schools, said Parma Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott J. Hunt.
“We still need operating dollars,” Hunt said.
Lawmakers have passed four bills that Republicans say address the first issue and provide facilitate to taxpayers.
“These are very, very important reform bills that are truly the most impactful in almost half a century,” said state Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson).
House Bills 186 and 335 limit the amount school districts can get from rising home values by tying tax increases to inflation. These bills passed both houses in a bipartisan fashion.
HB 309 allows county budget committees to reduce property taxes. It was passed mostly along party lines, but several Democrats joined Republicans to pass it, while several GOP members voted “no.”
HB 129 implements tax augment controls on school fees. It passed in the House with a majority vote, but in the Senate, all Democrats and state Sen. Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Township) voted no.
“We won’t see a huge property tax increase anymore if people don’t vote for it,” Thomas said.
Schools have argued for months that these bills will take away much-needed dollars from children, even though they are already struggling with state cuts in expected funding.
“We will talk about [cutting] staffing, which impacts what programs we may consider staying at Parma and those we may not be able to support,” Hunt told me. “Those things certainly impact the quality of education we can provide to our students.”
He added that if fees continue to decline, the district will have to dramatically reduce services provided.
“Everything will be on the table: transportation, potential participation fees, we’ll look at our buildings,” Hunt said.
But Lakewood homeowner Beth Blackmarr, who is fighting to completely eliminate property taxes, said she doesn’t want to hurt the schools. She says lawmakers aren’t doing enough to actually provide facilitate.
“They knew they had to do something,” Blackmarr said. “They ignored it in favor of pet projects like Browns Stadium.”
Instead of spending months focusing on how to exploit unclaimed funds to move the Browns to Brook Park, she said the Legislature should focus on affordability.
Thomas said this is his priority and he plans to continue doing so.
“It’s not enough,” Thomas said. “We need to do much more.”
It’s unclear how much money this legislation would actually save taxpayers like Blackmarr. But she said one thing is clear – these bills had to be passed years ago to actually have an impact her bills.
“This is a huge problem and, by the way, a problem that is the legislation itself,” Blackmarr said.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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