Ohioans hoping to receive property tax relief after years of seeing their bills creep up are set to hear the suggestions of Governor Mike DeWine‘s working group at the end of the month, after the governor shot down efforts by Republican lawmakers in the state to introduce reforms.
Some experts, however, say that the changes that DeWine’s property tax reform group will propose are likely to be exactly the same pushed forward by state lawmakers.
Either way, the proposed changes are unlikely to satisfy a number of Ohioans who are getting increasingly fed up with the governor’s and the legislature’s failure to address the issue, and who believe that property taxes should be abolished in the state entirely through a constitutional amendment.
Why Are Property Taxes So Contentious In Ohio?
Home values have skyrocketed in Ohio in recent years as the pandemic homebuying frenzy led to a surge in demand in the state, and property tax bills have followed suit. According to Redfin, the median sale price of a home in Ohio was $275,900 in July, up from $191,500 five years earlier.
Within the same time frame, the Buckeye State also became one of the states where homebuyers carry one of the heaviest property tax burdens.
According to the Tax Foundation, Ohio ranks eighth in the nation for property tax burden—ahead of expensive states like New York and California—while ranking 40th in median household income. In 2023, according to the Tax Foundation, the effective property tax rate in the state was 1.31 percent of an owner-occupied home’s value.
Residential property owners have taken the brunt of these increases. According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, the taxable value of real estate property across the state was $470 billion in 2024. However, around 17 percent of that—the equivalent of about $89 billion—were properties exempt from taxation, including the Cleveland Clinic.
When some properties carry a lighter tax burden, others have to take on a heavier one to support the cost of running public schools, local governments and other essential public services.
The impact of this heavier property tax burden on Ohio homeowners is getting hard to ignore, with tax delinquency rates shooting up across the state. In Mahoning County, the tax delinquency rate is currently 18 percent, according to reporting by Tribune Today, with about $71.9 million of uncollected property taxes.
In parts of Youngstown, according to Realtor.com, as many as 1 in 3 homeowners are behind on their property tax payments.
“Ohio families need urgent property tax relief because rising tax bills are squeezing working Ohioans who are struggling to afford their homes,” Donovan O’Neil, state director for Americans for Prosperity-Ohio, told Newsweek.
“The legislature has been on top of this problem for years—holding hearings, listening to hundreds of hours of testimony, and advancing more than 20 major recommendations. Many of those reforms were included in the state biannual budget before the Governor’s veto blocked immediate relief,” he said.
What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?
Lawmakers in Ohio agree that property taxes in the state have risen beyond what many residents can afford, but disagree on what exactly to do about it.
In late June, DeWine vetoed nearly all of the property tax reforms pushed forward by state lawmakers, effectively removing them from Ohio’s new operating budget. That included a ban on certain types of local levies and the imposition of a limit on how much schools can save every year, among others, which critics warned might weaken public schools in the state.
The only veto that Republican lawmakers managed to override during a special session in July was one banning replacement, emergency, and substitute levies—which by itself would not deliver any kind of immediate relief to struggling homeowners.
Instead, DeWine has created an 11-member property tax reform group tasked with developing measures to address the crisis and offering relief to struggling homeowners. Their suggestions are expected by the end of the month.
Lisa Garvin, a contributor to the Today in Ohio podcast, said that DeWine has suggested that if his working group recommends the same property tax reforms that he vetoed in June, “then he might go along with it.” Podcast host Chris Quinn described it as a potential “slap in the face to the legislature.”
In the coming weeks, the state will be lurching toward a showdown between Governor Mike DeWine’s approach and that of his fellow Republicans in the state. If no action is taken, auditors warn that the state might face an additional 25 percent increase in property taxes next year.
A Grassroot Movement Taking Matters Into Their Hands
The real issue that lawmakers need to address, according to O’Neil, is not a lack of study on the issue of property taxes. “It’s that Ohio has one of the most bloated systems of local government in the nation,” he said. “With more than 3,900 political subdivisions—the fifth most in America—each stacking income taxes, property taxes, and additional burdens on families, it’s no wonder Ohioans feel crushed by runaway tax bills.”
O’Neil says that Ohioans don’t need another working group, they need action. “When the legislature provided action, Gov. DeWine vetoed those solutions,” he said. “Lawmakers must press forward with bold reforms this fall that stop automatic tax hikes, rein in unchecked levies, and finally deliver certainty and relief for homeowners.”
When asked for comment by Newsweek, the office for DeWine shared a link to a statement published on the governor’s website.
“As property values have increased in Ohio over the last decade, the resulting property tax increases have strained many family budgets and challenged the financial security of many on fixed incomes,” said DeWine. “Building upon previously expressed concerns and work done at many levels of government, I am forming this Property Tax Reform Working Group to issue concrete recommendations for meaningful property tax reforms that address the needs of property owners, are affordable to our state budget, and protect local schools and other services.”
But some residents fed up with waiting for lawmakers to fix the situation are taking matters into their hands. A grassroots movement to abolish property taxes in Ohio is growing increasingly frustrated with the state legislature. Whatever suggestions they make for reform, they say they will push forward with their attempt to put abolishing property taxes in the state on the ballot.
“It’s irrelevant to us because now, after talking to so many people throughout the state, they’re saying they do not have a voice in this government. No one is worried about them,” Brian Massie of the Citizens for Property Tax Reform said in an interview for The State of Ohio. “We’re going to get the signatures and we’re going to let the citizens vote.”
Citizens for Property Tax Reform has been circulating petitions to put a proposal to abolish property taxes in the state before voters in November 2026. The effort, according to the group, is nonpartisan and not backed by any political parties.
To put the issue before voters, the group will have to collect at least 440,000 signatures by next July.
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