WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — That many Ohioans are struggling with rising property tax bills is no surprise to the people tasked with collecting those taxes, the state's 88 county auditors, such as Karl Keith of Montgomery County.
"What really brought it to a head is property values have increased in recent years. The real estate market is just off the charts," he said. "So as a result of that, these rising property values have just caused, in some cases, taxes to rise along with it."
And the auditors find themselves caught between the taxpayers and the lawmakers, said Chris Galloway, Lake County auditor.
"It's hard because people are lashing out at us but at the end of the day we are executing state policy as a county official because we are agents of the state," Galloway said.
That place in the middle, though, has provided them, they'll argue, with insight no one else has. They can identify where the system is broken and where it needs to be fixed, and they've informed lawmakers, but to no avail.
"That's part of the frustration, we've seen tax relief bills introduced in the legislature in the past and crickets, nothing ever happens," said Keith.
"It's been a very frustrating two years," Galloway added. "I mean, we've been advocating for various reforms, but they haven't taken place."
And with the legislature once again considering 19 property tax reform bills since January, the County Auditors Association of Ohio is meeting on Thursday in Willoughby to announce that they have developed a four-part solution.
"That involves homestead exemption reform and increase the value of that for seniors—20 mill floor reforms so as to eliminate that windfall of unvoted taxes to school districts," Galloway said.
That's what we've seen lately in places where property values have risen dramatically. It would also contain Budget Commission reform and owner occupancy credit increases.
So what makes them hopeful that the legislature might act? Citizens for Property Tax Reform. The Ohio group that just got the green light to begin collecting signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would abolish all property taxes. Something Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith says turns up the heat for Columbus to act.
"I think it causes a lot more pressure on legislators that they just can't run and hide from this issue much longer, and so I'm hopeful that something will be done," he said.
In the meantime, Citizens for Property Tax Reform has begun the daunting task of collecting the 413,000 signatures needed by July 1st if they hope to get the question to Ohio voters in November. They don't know how many they have so far, but say the response has been robust.
"We're moving, we're all across Ohio right now and as far as I can see, things are going well," said Beth Blackmarr of Citizens for Property Tax Reform. "I just grabbed a basket full of petitions from the post office today."
But will they have enough signatures to meet the deadline for November's ballot?
"We'd like to, but if we don't make the deadline, then we will be going on to May," she said.
Either way, they're confident the voters will eventually get the question. The Auditors Association says they have not taken a stand on the referendum, though they've expressed their concerns over the fact that it provides no mechanism for the property taxes that would be replaced. Another reason Galloway said for the legislature to act on the auditors' recommendations.
"I think a lot of [legislators] recognize that eliminating all property taxes in the state of Ohio in one fell swoop will create a headache for them," said Galloway. "Because ultimately if a constitutional amendment passes in say November and goes into effect January 1, they have nine weeks during the holidays to completely redesign a complete new taxation system for Ohio. And that is fraught with a lot of concerns."
