MANSFIELD — The future of property taxes in Ohio is still up in the air, though it doesn’t appear a grassroots effort to eliminate them at the ballot box will come up for a vote in November.
Lawmakers in Columbus continue to debate, discuss and differ on ways to provide “property tax relief” to convince residents not to do away with them all together.
With the statewide issue as a backdrop, the Richland County Board of Commissioners on Thursday voted to continue a local relief measure launched in October.
The three-member board unanimously approved the continuation of an extra 2.5-percent owner-occupancy tax credit that took effect Jan. 1.
The state legislature — in the two-year budget approved last summer — handed counties a tool that could reduce local property taxes by doubling the 2.5-percent exemption allowed by the state.
The only caveat is the state provides no funds to replace those dollars to local entities, including about $1.1 million in lost operating revenue for school districts in the county.
The tax relief issue was scheduled to expire at the end of the year in Richland County. Commissioners opted to make it “continuing,” which means it remains in place until commissioners opt to end it.
The move means about 30,000 parcels in the county, about 41 percent of all county parcels, will remain eligible for the credits. It saves local property owners about $1.7 million annually.
To receive a tax reduction on an owner-occupied home in Ohio, residents must own and occupy that home as their principal place of residence on Jan. 1 of the year they file for the reduction. A homeowner and spouse are entitled to this credit on only one home.
“The state legislature (in HB 96) appropriately reacted to residents who are getting frustrated with the increase in property taxes,” Commissioner Tony Vero said Thursday. “Certainly the schools voiced their concerns with our action, and that’s OK.”
Commissioner Cliff Mears called the local decision “measured and appropriate relief” for the owners of the 30,000 parcels.
“Allowing $1.7 million in property tax relief to Richland County owner-occupied parcels is not excessive,” he said. “We think it’s reasonable.”
