Ohio citizens working to get proposal on ballot to abolish property taxes
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A group of homeowners is taking tax relief into their own hands — fighting to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would abolish property taxes.
Property taxes are at an all-time high for Marlene Homan in Cleveland.
'When you're on Social Security, that's a lot of money,' Homan said of the increase in her tax bill. 'And I know a lot of people got hit with a lot worse.'
And with reappraisals and voter-approved tax hikes, it has been pricing some Ohioans out of their homes.
'Where does it end?' she asked.
Due to what Lakewood advocate Beth Blackmarr calls the lack of movement from lawmakers to provide relief, residents are taking taxes into their own hands.
'We really need change, because nothing was getting done — substantially,' Blackmarr said.
She is leading a movement to abolish property taxes in the state, and the Citizens for Property Tax Reform is on their way to getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Click here to read the full proposal.
'Legislators, in many ways, are reluctant to dive in,' she added.
State Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) has been tasked by House Speaker Matt Huffman to help devise property tax relief. The Northeast Ohio lawmaker understands the concerns, he said, but is asking homeowners to be patient.
'I know our members are motivated, it's just also getting it right and making sure the policy is a good one,' he said. 'We don't want to do anything that's just real quick or haphazard.'
Gov. Mike DeWine raised another concern about what happens to local governments, police stations and schools if there are no more property taxes.
'I understand [their concerns], but they have an obligation — I think a moral obligation — to come forward and explain how they're going to pay for schools, how they're going to pay for the things that we value in Ohio,' the governor told us.
Many schools rely on property taxes for the vast majority of their funding, with some Cleveland-area schools at about 80%.
'There are other ways that this can be approached,' Blackmarr said about funding schools. 'SDIT, a school district income tax, to help balance out the property taxes in their district.'
But the advocate said that this movement doesn't have to hit the ballot.
'So really, this is the power going back to the people?' we asked.
'It is; it's the power back to people,' she responded. 'Hopefully, what legislators will do, is counter with some legislation of their own.'
The state ballot board will decide Wednesday if the organization can start collecting signatures for the November ballot.
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