LAKE COUNTY, Ohio — As a petition effort gathers signatures to end Ohio’s property tax, some counties are taking matters into their own hands to protect residents.
Sean Larkin owns a 3,250-square-foot ranch where he pays about $6,000 in property taxes every year. For him, signing a petition to end Ohio’s property taxes for good was a no-brainer.
“I think we pay way too much. And my question is, where's the money going,” Larkin said.
In an effort to bring some relief, the Ohio General Assembly recently changed state law to let all 88 counties create a local homestead exemption, piggybacking on a state tax break for low-income seniors who own their homes. And in Lake County, that’s exactly what they did on Thursday.
“We passed a doubling of the homestead exemption for low-income seniors, which currently is about a $500 benefit. On average, it'll be about $1,000 benefit on average for seniors in Lake County. We also doubled the owner-occupied credit, which gives a two and a half percent rollback on property taxes for owners who live in their own home,” Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik said.
Unlike Ohio's existing homestead exemption, a countywide exemption won’t be reimbursed by the state — meaning the cost will come directly out of local property tax revenues. Lake County taxing authorities, including schools, libraries, and fire departments, will see about a one-and-a-half percent cut to their budgets.
People at Thursday’s meeting had mixed reactions to the move.
“We are actually here support the homestead exemption on your agenda today. We have been asking in our school district publicly for targeted relief to seniors and those on a fixed income,” said Jamie Shatsman, vice president of the board of education for Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools.
“This if adopted will have serious implications especially for Mentor schools. For Mentor, it will affect property tax revenue by 2.2 million dollars every year,” a resident said.
“I would say, if you're not prepared for a one and a half percent up or down in your budget, it means you're not budgeting,” Plecnik said.
Plecnik believes this is just one step toward bringing relief to taxpayers across the county.
“I think the big picture is that Columbus has been cutting local budgets for a long time, and the response of local government has to raise property taxes way, way too high to make up the difference,” said Plecnik.
He encouraged people to sign the petition.
“What's next is to sign the petition to abolish property taxes, because the only reason the state is looking at larger property tax cuts is because they're afraid that all the money is going to be taken away,” he said.
As for Larkin— he's tired of paying more without seeing the impact in his community.
“Yeah, but show me in writing what they're doing for us. Nothing, nothing at all,” said Larkin.
