CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A growing movement to eliminate property taxes in Ohio is gaining momentum, but Gov. Mike DeWine warned reporters Thursday the change could drive up the state sales tax.
"It would just be devastating to all kinds of local government, starting with schools, but also police and fire and children's services and mental retardation levies," DeWine said. "All of those would go away and we would be in a huge crisis in the state of Ohio. The sales tax would go up to 17, 18, 19, 20% sales tax in the state of Ohio on products that you buy, so it would just be absolutely devastating."
The group "Abolish Ohio's Property Tax" wants to place a constitutional amendment on November's ballot that would eliminate all property taxes in the state, both residential and commercial.
So what's that look like locally? Let's take Geauga Co., for example
Earlier this week, school districts in Geauga County gathered to discuss how they would adapt if the constitutional amendment passes.
All five school districts in the county revealed just how much of their funding comes from local property tax revenue to help pay for their expenses:
- Chardon: 68%
- Berkshire: 69%
- Cardinal: 71.6%
- Kenston: 75%
- West Geauga: 71%
During the presentation, districts laid out that without property taxes, they would all run out of money and exhaust their cash reserves by 2027.
They also stressed that as of right now, if the amendment were to pass, there's no guaranteed replacement revenue mechanism for the school districts.
Chuck Walder, the Geauga County auditor, serves on a newly formed task force examining what eliminating property taxes would mean for the county.
"If it does pass, there's probably more questions than answers," Walder said. "It depends on the entity. There are some entities that will have a catastrophic effect. I know the library for example is primarily surviving on property tax, townships more than 90% of their revenue is property tax."
Walder went through all sorts of scenarios in a conversation with News 5, including how if DeWine's 20% sales tax concern came true, many would look out of state for goods to avoid the sales tax. Additionally, Walder pointed out what abolishing commercial property taxes would cause.
"Do you think that Walmart will lower their store prices in Ohio versus Pennsylvania because there's no property tax in Ohio? I don't know that they're going to do that," Walder said. "So where's that money going to go? I think it's going to go to profit."
Walder is planning three educational events with the Geauga County Library and League of Women Voters to inform the community about the potential amendment.
The first event is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. at the Bainbridge Library.
"It's our job to keep the taxpayers informed about how their money is being spent," Walder said.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
