Two Republican lawmakers in the Ohio legislature are proposing a constitutional amendment designed to cap property tax increases.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Reps. Beth Lear and Scott Wiggam proposed the amendment that would limit property tax increases to the prior year’s inflation rate or 4%, whichever is lower. The amendment would use the 2023 property tax payments for its base rate.
As an example of how the amendment would work, if a house with an appraised valuation of $400,000 in tax year 2025 had a property tax payment of $4,000 in 2023, the tax payment could not be more than $4,160 under the amendment – the figure comprises the 2023 tax payment of $4,000 added with $160, or 4% of $4,000.
Wiggam said the amendment wound guarantee property tax increases would not impact homeowners severely in the wake of Ohio’s property value increases.
“Our property tax system is a broken system in the state of Ohio and property taxpayers must be protected,” he said.
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It is critical to home ownership! Fixed income people and even working people are not getting over 4% raises. If you look at some states and their tax bills, people can not afford to live in their homes because of the taxes. It is imperative to keep private ownership
Of property affordable without the state being the enemy of it by taxing people out of the market
I agree with this proposal. As a Realtor, I have had to help people sell parts of their land to pay for greatly increasing property taxes. These folks were on a fixed income and could no longer afford the taxes. More and more people are expressing this concern to me.
This makes good sense. I hope this is adopted by local authorities across the nation.
For this to work, property taxes and values would need to be updated / reassessed every year and at the moment, property values are only reassessed every 6 years in Ohio with an update every 3 years in between. I think it’s great to try to keep property taxes in check, but that is why Homestead reductions were created. Maybe that needsto be updated instead. All of our community services are funded via property taxes and government spending is out of control. Another good place to start making cuts!
I am sure their intentions are good but they have not thought out the math over a period of time. If you increase taxes each year by 4% after 4 years the tax bill has increased by $679 . First year increase is $166. The increase in the second year would be $166, third year would be $173, the fourth year would be $180. This would be a tax increase over four years of $679. Do the math over a 10 year period and the increase becomes quite burdensome. I suggest that there are better to address out of control property tax increases than what is being offered currently. We need to understand that this issue affects renters as well. Landlords pass on the entire property tax burden to those who rent. Making it even more difficult to save and buy their own home.
The proposal being discussed will long term prove a burden to homeowners. The math after 4 years at a 4% tax increase would add an additional $679 in taxes. Renters are also affected by these out of control property taxes. In the first quarter of 2024 one in four homes were bought by investors. These investors then rent to individuals who can’t afford to purchase a home. These investors, in the form of rent, are passing the tax bill on to renters. Along with higher interest rates and inflation, property taxes make it next to impossible for someone to purchase a home, especially young people.