Summit County voters will weigh in on whether the county should be able to limit property taxes in November. The amendment they're being asked to consider would also shield the county from some state proposals to eliminate property taxes.
Ohio lawmakers have been trying to address property taxes, after home values rapidly escalated in recent years. However, some of the proposals at the Statehouse would hurt programs and organizations that rely on property taxes, advocates say.
If approved, the Summit County charter amendment would help give residents relief from rising property taxes following an average increase of 31% after properties were reevaluated two years ago, Brian Nelsen, Chief of Staff at the Summit County Executive's Office, said.
“[It] places a limitation on the county’s ability to levy unvoted property taxes," he said.
The amendment would enact a limitation on unvoted property taxes and cap annual growth to 3% – so if property taxes skyrocket again, the county would lower how much it’s collecting to only 3% more than the previous year, Nelsen said.
"We said, 'Well, if they continue to go up like this, it will drive property owners out, and it is one thing we can control,'" he said.
This amendment would also shield the county from a proposed bill at the statehouse that would eliminate all unvoted property taxes, he said.
"One of the proposals that really led to this was the introduction of House Bill 335 earlier this year, which called for the essentially abolishment of the use of inside millage," Nelsen said.
That bill would repeal those unvoted property taxes that county's use to provide essential services. However, the bill has faced opposition from Democrats and officials from public schools and local government statewide, who say those cuts would annihilate education, public safety, developmental disability and behavioral health programs and services for children and seniors.
Although the proposed amendment would mean the county would not be impacted by HB 335, it wouldn't stop the impacts of a citizen led ballot initiative gathering signatures to eliminate all property taxes to try to get on the ballot next year, Nelsen said.
The amendment helps residents without compromising county services funded by property taxes, Summit County Councilmember Jeff Wilhite said.
“The message is we heard you," he said, "and we’re doing everything that we can to keep the property tax situation in check.”
And it adds extra hoops for officials to jump through to pass more taxes, Nelsen said.
"It also requires that in order to enact any unvoted taxes, that you need a 60% approval from county council, plus you need the county executive's sign off," he said.
The county and the Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board recently gave back taxes to residents after Summit DD's 2023 replacement levy garnered too much money, Nelsen said.
"We went back to county council, and county council approved reducing the millage rate, as did the Developmental Disabilities Board, in order to provide $16 million of tax relief to our residents," he said.
Nelsen pointed to that example as another way the county is practicing responsible tax reform, he said. Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro has long spoken out against property tax legislation at the Statehouse, arguing that cuts to property taxes would decimate the essential local services the county provides.
"I think this is a responsible tax reform effort that won't jeopardize critical public safety, criminal justice initiatives in the county," Nelsen said. "911 services, for instance, are paid out of this."
The county would have to raise its sales tax rate to 17.5%, a level illegally high, just to break even from lost property taxes, he said. The most the county could raise its current 6.75% sales tax is another 1%, he said, still lower than the sales tax in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties and near Montgomery County's 7.5% tax, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation.
The amendment will be on the November ballot.
