His veto went against the legislature’s desire to eliminate a political subdivision’s authority to levy replacement property tax levies, along with a school district’s authority to levy fixed-sum emergency, substitute emergency levies, and combined school district income tax and fixed-sum property taxes.
“These levies serve as important tools for school districts as they seek to maintain their long-term financial stability,” DeWine wrote in a veto message explaining his decision.
But, DeWine’s Republican colleagues in both the House and Senate have made it clear that they believe these forms of levies are confusing to voters, and that eliminating those types of levies will alleviate — or at least rein in — an exacerbating property tax problem throughout the state.
“Our voters are confused; they’re terribly confused. We did something about that, along with other bills, and the governor vetoed them,” said Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Ashtabula.
There’s an added sense of urgency for lawmakers, as a citizen group is attempting to get a measure on a statewide ballot to do away with property taxes altogether, resulting in a loss of $124 billion in yearly revenues for Ohio’s local schools and municipalities.
“We are facing a possibility next year of totally eliminating property taxes and it’s because of things like this,” O’Brien said.
Democrats, meanwhile, argued that eliminating these types of property tax levies doesn’t actually provide relief in the present day and instead further hamstring school districts and municipalities.
“Can you name one person that would see a lower tax bill because of this override?” Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, asked his colleagues on the Senate floor.
With the override confirmed, the law will now go into effect in about 90 days, according to Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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