"Property Tax Reform" Bills Advance in House

 

Posted on 10/09/2025

The Ohio House passed two "property tax reform" bills yesterday and appears poised to begin action on yet another problematic property tax measure.

First, the House passed House Bill 309 which the OPRA strongly opposed. The bill allows a County Budget Commission to reduce millage on any voter-approved levy, excluding debt levies, if the CBC determines the revenue is "unnecessary or excessive." Again, the bill does not define unnecessary or excessive. Under the bill, CBCs are prohibited from reducing a voted levy in its first five years, unless the levy is a renewal. The authority granted by the bill is permissive. It does not require CBCs to reduce millage, it only expressly allows such reductions. The bill was voted out of committee yesterday morning and passed the full House 75-19 with all no votes coming from Democrats. The bill now moves to the Ohio Senate for consideration.

In other property tax action, the House also passed House Bill 129 which relates to the calculation of the 20 mill floor for school districts.

Also this week, House Bill 466 was referred to the State and Local Government Committee. This bill was introduced in late September and would require levies approved by unelected Boards (including park boards) to also be approved by an elected authority (in the case of 1545 park districts it would be the county commissioners) before being placed before voters. This is obviously a serious concern. We will be monitoring this legislation and will provide more information as we receive it.

In terms of action that you can take, at this point, we encourage you to reach out to Senate members to express your concerns about House Bill 309 and to talk with House members about House Bill 466.

We do expect this assault on property tax levies to continue. We remain vigilant on these issues and will keep you posted. Please let us know if we can provide further information.