When Your Home Becomes a Tax Burden: Ohio's Property Tax Crisis

Could Ohio become the first state to completely abolish property taxes? With skyrocketing home valuations forcing seniors out of their long-paid homes and creating financial strain for countless homeowners, a group of determined citizens is fighting to fundamentally change how public services are funded.

Beth Blackmar from Citizens for Property Tax Reform joins us to share her personal story - a shocking 51.9% increase in her century-old bungalow's valuation that mirrors the experience of homeowners across the state. We dive deep into the frustrating appeals process that often provides little relief, even when professional appraisals contradict county assessments. Beth explains how only 30% of Ohio residents shoulder the entire property tax burden, with many seniors now paying monthly tax bills exceeding their original mortgage payments.

The conversation extends beyond tax policy to explore broader housing challenges facing Ohio. With Central Ohio projected to reach 3 million residents by 2050, outdated zoning codes from 70 years ago are hampering development. Business growth depends on housing availability, infrastructure investment, and thoughtful regional planning - all interconnected issues that demand proactive solutions rather than reactive policies.

What makes this movement particularly fascinating is that advocates for abolishing property taxes aren't seeking to defund schools or public services. Instead, they're challenging legislators to develop more equitable funding mechanisms that distribute costs across all Ohioans rather than concentrating them on property owners. Their petition has cleared initial hurdles, and with 500,000 signatures, Ohio voters could face this transformative question on November's ballot.

Visit reformpropertytax.com to learn more about this initiative or to get involved in reshaping Ohio's approach to funding essential services while preserving affordable homeownership.

Transcript

Welcome to Central Ohio Matters

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to Central Ohio Matters , the podcast where we delve into the issues that shape Central Ohio's future . Each episode features in-depth conversations with local leaders , visionaries and changemakers driving progress in our region . These conversations offer insights into the challenges our communities face and the solutions being crafted to move them forward . Here are your hosts , michelle Gatchel and Ryan Rivers them forward .

Speaker 2 0:24

Here are your hosts , michelle Gatchel and Ryan Rivers , so we had a great episode for you . I think it's going to be a topic that a lot of people will be interested in . Ryan , it's property taxes , and there's a group out of the Cleveland area , cuyahoga County , is actually proposing a ballot issue to abolish property taxes . Won't that turn things upside down if that goes through ?

Speaker 3 0:46

Yes , making a lot of news .

Speaker 2 0:48

Yeah , well , you know , the latest is that the Attorney General did say rule that it is a fair proposal . So the next will be the Board of Elections to decide whether or not it actually gets a place on

Beth Blackmar Discusses Tax Reform

Speaker 2 1:04

the ballot . And joining us to talk about why they came up with this idea is Beth Blackmar . Beth , thank you for joining us . Oh , thank you for having me . So let's start with you from the beginning . Kind of how did the idea for abolishing property taxes come about ?

Speaker 4 1:24

Well , it started with it wasn't to abolish property taxes . What we're really doing currently is working a two-prong problem . So it's the legislation . Do they legislate ? Do they change it with the legislators ? Do we work to abolish property taxes ? So , roughly two years ago , keith Davies and a few other people started a little organization , sos save our seniors and so that went along . And last year I got my re-evaluation in the mail , as did so many others , and I almost fainted , seriously . At first I thought it was junk mail and I almost tossed it . Then I said , no , wait , wait , let me see that . And I opened it up and I'm like , oh my goodness . So my valuation went up 51.9 percent . 51.9 percent .

Speaker 4 2:37

Now , mind you , very quickly , I'm going to keep this , keep this short , but I live in a 1911 bungalow , two-bedroom bungalow in Lakewood frame construction , all original original floors , original plaster walls , original porches . It's all the original stuff which comes with all the original problems . I have cracks in my plaster , you know it , and various things that come along with having a house , a century house , you know , basically . And uh , so it is not like these . These uh , homes say next door , next door is a perfect example that it was a , you know a modest two-story home and uh in in need of , uh you know , some repairs and so on , and the owner sold it and rehabbers came in and boy oh boy , they redid that thing from the studs in and it's gorgeous . It's a four bedroom home with two and a half baths and it's got three floors on it . The third floor is finished . It's just beautiful . Unfortunately , and it's sold for close to $400,000 . Unfortunately , that impacted the value of my home , whereas my home is not worth that . I could never sell it for that . I'd be lucky to get much less than half that for my home . It has impacted because that's the way that they do the valuations of the county they have to take a broad brush , so you have to go back and fight any anyways .

Speaker 4 4:13

Long story short , I was going through social media , came across this advertisement for SOS and something about property tax and I'm like I'm in , I'm in , I'm there . So I showed up and I met Keith Davey who was running this thing and was kind enough to start . You know , really get this going and secure a location to have a meeting at several meetings . And so I joined the steering committee and that's how this thing happens . And then we kind of rebranded and became citizens for property tax reform . That is what we're doing , you know , and went on to try and meet with our legislators and so on and so forth to affect

Personal Impact of Tax Reassessment

Speaker 4 4:57

some real change .

Speaker 4 4:58

Because you know , at this juncture , as it sits now , we have senior citizens that are having to relocate because they can't pay property taxes . They have no idea what to do , how to do anything about it , when you know , when it came to contesting their valuation , some of them were entirely helpless . You know , if you're in a wheelchair in your house and you're not computer literate , what do you do ? You know , if you're in a wheelchair in your house and you're not computer literate , what do you do ? You know there's nothing you can do . You can't contest that . So that's where we are with this thing . And so far the legislators , though , try as they might , they have not been able to solve this problem .

Speaker 2 5:40

And part of the problem also is the fact that property tax our schools rely on property tax to help fund them . Yes , so it's like students versus seniors , kind of on . Who gets hurt the most ?

Speaker 4 5:55

well , yeah , it's a really tough . It's a tough problem . Uh , you know , I think that when you look at this whole , this whole , you know , across the state of Ohio , what you have is a situation in which 30% of the residents of Ohio are paying all of the freight . You know , 30 , only 30% of the rent of the 30% of Ohio pays property taxes . 20% of that 30% are senior citizens . So you know , there's gotta be a more equitable way to to divvy up these costs . That would bring them down tremendously across the board .

Speaker 4 6:40

You know we already have in the state of Ohio , we have 212 townships , slash cities that currently already are using income tax to offset the cost of the public schools . It's called an SDIT or a school district income tax . Okay so , and you know , as far as not paying taxes or not paying property tax , you know we're already giving out . The last tally was 69 billion dollars across ohio in tax abatements . That's not counting , uh , uh , tiffs . That , and those tax abatements can last anywhere from 10 to 30 years . Tiffs can last anywhere from 10 to 60 years .

Speaker 3 7:25

Did you try to go through the appeal process for yourself ?

Speaker 4 7:29

I did . I did , and so what happened was , you know , I went on the website and looked at all the requirements and came back with an assessment . They said get an appraisal from a certified appraiser . I did that . Um , because I'm gonna throw some numbers out here real quick my home was at like 188 000 . They took it up to 299 000 . So the appraisal , my appraisal , I went , got appraised . The appraisal came in at roughly and these are rough numbers . I say don't quote me on it , but I am the one talking At $195,000 , right With comparables included . So I submitted that on to contest it in an informal contesting of the value valuation and they came back to me and said well , how about we cut it in half and do it at two , 45 ? I'm like what ? I have an appraisal .

Speaker 3 8:34

Right .

Speaker 4 8:35

So this is kind of what and this is happening . This is sort of what's happening , not sort of this is happening across the state . It's like they're saying get an appraisal , I spend the money and go to the saying get an appraisal , I spend the money and go to the effort of getting an appraisal . They're not cheap . It was a $550 for my appraisal and they don't take that , that appraised amount . So I went back and went for I have applied for a formal hearing with that same documentation of that appraisal and also photographs of the interior of the house , some exterior problems , and you know , hopefully I'm going to go back after it again because you know , but I just don't , I can't you know when you've got it . When they say , get an appraisal , you get an appraisal , you've got comparables on there . It seems to me like they should take that and run with it , but they're not and that's a problem . You know we're having this problem .

Speaker 3 9:30

And how long of a process has that been for you ?

Speaker 4 9:34

Oh , this has been going on since last year . I mean , I think it was , I think August of last year , I submitted , I think I'm pretty sure August of last year , I submitted that they came back to me and uh , they didn't get back to me until I think it was January , with , uh , the here's , your , here , you know , 245,000 , split the difference , and uh , um , then I gathered everything and resubmitted it before the March 31st deadline , because that was the deadline .

Speaker 4 10:06

I mean . After that , if they , if , if , if I don't like what they're saying , then I go to Columbus with a form DTE form for . I have to go to the tax board there at

The Appeal Process Challenges

Speaker 4 10:20

Columbus and try and contest it that way .

Speaker 3 10:30

Columbus and try and contest it that way . So , if successful , what is being proposed as far as offsetting the loss of revenue from , you know , from the property tax ?

Speaker 4 10:37

Well , that's really you know . I mean , there's a number of things that can be done . I talked about a little bit . I talked a little bit about that earlier , but you know that's up to our legislators . This has always been up to our legislators as far as what to do with this . There are other . There are other streams of revenue that could make this a more equitable process across the board for all Ohioans and not being relying so heavily on seniors and people who are . You know , you pay for your home for 30 years , okay , and at 30 years time , you know , if everything goes well , you had a 30 year mortgage , you're done paying for that house . But now here comes property taxes that are escalating and escalating , and escalating . And let me tell you , it's not unusual to have those property taxes come out to more per month , divided by 12 , than they paid for the original mortgage on the home .

Speaker 2 11:33

Yeah , right , right .

Speaker 3 11:37

And do you feel that this is something that's been a compounding issue that you know ? None of us have a crystal ball . We can't predict the future . However , do you feel like this is something that was on the horizon , that was obviously coming and was just one of those things that no one ever addressed ? And we've gotten to the point now where we've passed , you know , the threshold of pain tolerance for increases and home costs , and you know it's one of those where , how we've been proactive and looked ahead , this could have been avoidable .

Speaker 4 12:18

Absolutely could have been avoidable . Yeah , have been avoidable . Yeah , there was no . You know , the this has been boiling for some time and uh , you know , and the , the concerning part is there's no end in sight . We were just speaking with uh , a uh someone , an auditor from Ross County , last night on a radio show and he said that across Ohio , there's likely they're going to be likely trying to increase valuations across the board another 30% . That's coming .

Speaker 4 12:55

So , you know , I mean this is not abating and you , you know , the sad part is , I mean , well , people , you know , I talk to people day in and day out . I'm talking to homeowners day in , day out . I'm talking to entire back office . That's me . I talk to people all the time and the one thing I hear consistently is you know , I really want to do my part . I really like my public schools , I really like my fire and EMS and I really think my city does a great job for me .

Speaker 4 13:36

There is no doubt that people don't want to stop contributing . That's not the idea at all . People do not want to stop contributing . They like what they have and they want to keep it going . But they're saying to me just don't tie it to my house . If we can't keep this under control , we can't do anything else about it . Don't tie it to my house , put it with something else that is , a more equitable system across the state of Ohio . And I just , you know it's like you know , there's been , you know , a little bit of backlash lately on trying to defund public school . Oh no , these , nobody wants it . Nobody wants it . We all love our schools . You know people want to contribute .

Speaker 2 14:18

Are there any other states currently that have something that you guys feel is a good example of what you might want ?

Speaker 4 14:24

I know no .

Speaker 2 14:27

Well then , you know , ohio's been the first in a lot of things , so let's go yeah , I mean seriously , you know .

Speaker 4 14:35

Yes , there's some other models across the country that rely less on property tax , but every single state has property tax . Other legislators , can I please ? Other legislatures in other states are proposing to eliminate property tax . Really , you know , the issue here in Ohio is we don't have tourism , we can't get rid of income tax and property . We don't have tourism . We don't have some of these other streams of revenue that some of the other states that have lower taxes do Nevada , florida , some of these other places . So you know we're going to have to get creative , you know , with how we're going to do this , but we cannot continue to rely on 30% of residents to support 100% of Ohio

Petition Process and Next Steps

Speaker 4 15:34

. We just can't do that .

Speaker 2 15:37

You presented it to the Attorney General's office . Um , you just got his decision on the night , on the night . So what ? What is next ?

Speaker 4 15:48

well , today is the ballot language or or the language of the final language of the petition . It was it , it was , there was a , there was a , there was a I think it was called a ballot hearing today in Columbus that the people there there's a separate entity that originated this petition and they're called the Committee to Eliminate Ohio's Property Taxes and of course we at the Citizens for Property Tax Reform we support this effort . We support any legislation and any good things to change what we're looking at right now . So we support this petition effort and they were at a hearing in Columbus to get the final go ahead and the final language for this petition and it looks like it's from all indications .

Speaker 4 16:42

It looks like it's all systems go . We're going to know more later .

Speaker 2 16:46

Okay , so if it all works , you go to the ballot . What legislative entities are you ? Do you have any support from any Senate or House members at this point in time ?

Speaker 4 17:06

Well , there are several that support finding another route . There are several that support finding another route . Getting them to speak out on the topic is another matter . It's really it's very touchy . You know , all this legislation is very touchy . When it comes to property tax , they built a Jenga tower that it's very difficult to pull the blocks out of , and there's a fellow by the name of Ron Ferguson down south that comes to mind , and Ohio state representative . There are several others that would like to see change .

Speaker 2 17:50

So how can people get more information if they want to keep up with the changes ?

Speaker 4 17:56

Okay , so they can sign on to reformpropertytaxcom . That's reformpropertytaxcom Sign in . You're going to get an email from me personally and we're keeping everybody up on on the latest changes , what's going on , what's going on with the petition drive and what's going on in legislation , and we also have a radio show every tuesday night . Uh , and we that is linked to the website so they could go in there and they can look at past , they could listen to past shows . They can link can link Tuesday night at 7 o'clock to the live show that we're doing . And , yeah , so log in to reformpropertytaxcom .

Speaker 3 18:43

The petitions . It's not a light number . You need quite a lot of signatures , don't you ?

Speaker 4 18:50

Oh boy , howdy do we ? We need , well , the minimum is $460,000 . Okay so , and you've got to have a margin in there , for , you know , signatures that don't , you know , aren't don't pass muster . So we need a good 500,000 signatures , a solid 500,000 signatures , to do this thing .

Speaker 2 19:19

signatures to to do this thing and we need it by july 1st . That's a pretty tight deadline , it sure is . I see a bunch of people at malls and grocery stores in the future , yeah , and festivals and senior centers yes . Next steps we'll wait to hear if the ballot is approved , the ballot language is approved , and what that will say . And then what election will this be part of ?

Speaker 2 19:41

well , we're targeting november okay , so listeners , you could all be voting on this , so if this is something that interests you , get involved yes , please , please , get involved .

Speaker 4 19:54

please come see us at reformpropertytaxcom .

Speaker 2 19:58

Well , beth , thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Ryan and I about this proposed ballot issue , and we will probably have you back on in the future if things change .

Housing Affordability and Ohio's Future

Speaker 4 20:09

Thanks , so much .

Speaker 2 20:10

Thanks , ryan . That was a great interview with beth and I actually am kind of looking forward to seeing what happens , because property tax gosh the , the ohio board of election did approve that they move forward to put it on the ballot by getting I think it's like 40 460 000 signatures . She said that they need to get it on the ballot and she was saying they have to get at least 500 just because some may be thrown out for whatever reason . So that sounds like they're going to move forward with that starting this week .

Speaker 3 20:46

Yeah , and I think this is overall part of a bigger , you know , with housing , a bigger overview of just an issue in Ohio and across the country . You know housing has been a challenge with the increase in values , affordability , you know , the lack of housing stock . So I feel like overall general , you know , the overall theme of these issues has been brewing for a while now , just in housing , and then of the many layers you know , there is the issue of property tax . As we've seen these values increase , these affordability issues come to the surface . Of course , we've seen these property taxes continue to climb . So it's an issue that affects many and I think we're at the point now where something's going to have to be figured out here .

Speaker 2 21:53

You know , it seems , in one way , shape , one way , one form or another , there's something about housing always in the news . I mean just today , columbus City Council Pro Tem Dorans did an editorial about housing and how you know he's not up for just finding a quick fix for right now . He thinks that we need to plan it out because , you know , the future has us . Let me look at this number here . He says he says in the future , we're expecting what ? 3 million people by 2050 ? And he said if we don't plan for that logistically now , with roads and housing and things , it's not going to happen . He said we can't just plan for people to move to Columbus . We've got to make it a place where people that live there now can afford to stay people that live there now can afford to stay .

Speaker 3 22:57

Yeah , and I think the reactive approach obviously is is never the direction you want to go . I think we need to be proactive and a lot of these issues are complicated and there's not an easy solution . However , you know , like anything , you want to be proactive and plan for the future . Central Ohio we're , you know , we're lucky that we live in a great area and it's , you know , attracting others and it continues to grow and we're going to see an increase in population . But you look out at some of these other areas in Ohio , these rural areas that are struggling with housing as well . So I mean , this is kind of , you know , universal , maybe a little bit different challenges , but the overall housing throughout the state of Ohio is something that's on everyone's mind .

Speaker 2 23:50

Yeah , and you know we've talked to a couple of development people in our shows and it seems to constantly come up . They want to bring businesses in to create jobs for Ohioans , but if we don't have the infrastructure around that location where that big business might go in , they're not going to be able to get the people to do the job . So it's all tied together and I think Beth said a really good quote there that it's a big Jenga that you pull one block out and it crumbles and we just don't know how to make it not crumble .

Speaker 3 24:28

Yeah , and it's definitely going to force the discussion . You know how these things work , I think , as far as you're talking a lot of money there , if you eliminated the property tax , how do you offset ? That is obviously the number one question that everyone has . I don't know if we've got all the answers here today , but with this going forward , it's definitely putting the issue issue front and center and um , uh , I don't think it's an easy , an easy answer that we're going to come to here quick , but uh , it certainly seems like you know , here , the next year , um one way or another , we're going to be looking at some changes .

Speaker 2 25:13

Right and you know , I don't know if there's other States that have good situations that we can or even other countries for that matter emulate , but it does seem like we're to that tipping point between schools and infrastructure and growth that it's exciting because we are growing right .

Speaker 3 25:38

we don't want to dampen that , you know moving forward , but you know well and you look like you said , as far as other states and different models out there , I think that kind of goes back to what is , uh , you know , what is the the future of ohio , as beth pointed out , to different states that have a lot of tourism um , what are our goals , what is our future ? What kind of businesses are we trying to attract ? What is the identity , um , you know , of ohio ?

Speaker 2 26:11

well , that's a big one too , right ? So , yeah , I I it'll be really interesting to see what happens and and who does come up with the plan . I mean , you know , that's going to help us move forward .

Speaker 3 26:34

Absolutely , but I think it takes you know it's partnerships obviously trying to attract businesses and private investment here to Ohio . At the wheel here , who's going to be determining our , our policies and helping shape you know what is , like I said , the the future of ohio .

Speaker 2 27:02

Yeah , and you know , I think morpsey did a survey , I'm going to say back in april , maybe before that um , and it showed that central ohio residents their top

Infrastructure and Regional Planning

Speaker 2 27:15

concerns are housing , jobs and child care and um gosh , that covers everybody pretty much in ohio in some way , shape or form .

Speaker 3 27:24

So obviously the people are ready yes , I believe uh , infrastructure was in there as well . Uh , have new development . Um , I think that's an easy one . Uh , no one likes sitting in traffic . So that's with the development and , um , with the expansion and growth . Uh , obviously we're keeping up and keeping ahead of our infrastructure needs well , I , I will say too , is .

Speaker 2 27:51

and you know , we've heard a lot in the news about our the airlines having issues right now and that they have all these outdated antiquated traffic towers Right . And when Dorrance did his editorial , he pointed out that our zoning code is like 70 years old , that our zoning code is like 70 years old . So , you know , it seems like there's a lot of things that we , as a state , if you will , we're going on autopilot , because you know there's the saying if it's not broke , don't fix it . But maybe we need to like put in place some plans in the future of let's revisit coding and see if it still works .

Speaker 3 28:35

for now , yeah , and I think all that boils down to regional planning , the importance of planning and making sure you identify , you know , obviously , as far as industrial , manufacturing , housing , retail , I mean , there's certain things you want in areas and not you know , on top of each other . Or how do you plan a community and make sure it's structured in a way that makes sense ?

Speaker 3 29:03

So I think you know a lot of that just comes down to the different regions of Ohio and making sure you know you're looking forward and there's a plan there in place .

Speaker 2 29:16

Well , we'll have to continue watching the outcome of this ballot issue .

Speaker 3 29:20

for sure , yeah , absolutely we're heading into things . I feel like that have kind of been on the back burner . I've been brewing for a long time and it kind of feels like we're at the point now where the rubber is going to hit the road .

Speaker 2 29:41

And hopefully change will be good , because change is usually good .

Speaker 3 29:45

Well , change is never seems like . Change is never easy , but necessary .

Speaker 2 29:51

Yeah , yeah , all right , but necessary , yeah , yeah , all right . Well , again , if you're interested in you know checking it out look up Citizens for Property Tax Reform online and that's the information that you'll find from that group about the ballot issue and how they're progressing .

Speaker 1 30:11

Thank you for listening to this episode of Central Ohio Matters . Be sure to like , share and download . We cover government policies , healthcare challenges , housing and business developments , transportation solutions , education and innovation . If you know of a good story we should be talking about , go to the radio station website and fill out a contact form Directed to Michelle Gatchel , host of Central Ohio Matters . Thank you ,