Clark County could provide $4.2 million in additional Homestead exemptions and $1.8 million in owner-occupancy tax credits, according to information from the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
State lawmakers included the so-called “piggyback provision” in the state budget in response to skyrocketing property taxes ever since the pandemic skewed home values and sent them through the roof. Unlike other tax proposals in the budget, this provision was not vetoed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
‘Piggyback’ explained
Former Ashtabula County auditor Rep. David Thomas, who was tagged by House leadership to lead property tax reform efforts, explained the piggyback tax break like this.
“Owner-occupancy, you would get a doubling of that and then Homestead you would get a doubling of that. And it’s not that the county is paying for the entire amount, it’s each entity would essentially not receive the revenue from that payment,” Thomas said.
He said counties can pay the whole tab, “If they’d like they can cover it, but it’s essentially the lost revenue for all those different entities.”
The Homestead exemption shields the first $28,000 of a property’s value from taxation and the homeowner must be at least 65 years old or permanently and totally disabled. The income threshold is $40,000.
In Clark County, Homestead exemptions for property tax years 2022 and 2023 totaled about $4.2 million each year, according to Clark County Auditor Hillary Hamilton. If doubled through this provision, the Homestead exemptions could be upwards of $8.4 million.
The owner-occupied tax credit gives property owners a tax break on the property they live in.
For owner-occupancy credits in Clark County, it was about $1.8 million in both tax year 2022 and 2023, according to the auditor’s office. Doubling that would be about $3.6 million.
Cuts in the region
In the largest county in the region, Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith said if Montgomery County commissioners approved the piggyback tax credits the combined revenue loss would be roughly $32 million. The schools would lose $18.2 million, the county loss would amount to $5 million and $4.7 million for cities, villages and townships.
“The same families who need tax relief are also the ones who rely on the essential local services that could be impacted, like police and fire, human services and public schools,” Keith said.
There is also a grassroots effort afoot to completely eliminate property taxes. The constitutional amendment question could be on a statewide ballot next year.
Rep. Thomas told this news outlet if the local governments don’t start warming to the idea of trying to control their own destiny through things like enhanced budget commission power and the piggyback provision, the alternative will be much worse.
“I’m trying to point locals to the train is coming, and if you’re not actually going to do what we need you to do, don’t put up a stink when we try to decrease the tax rate for you because you don’t want to,” he said. “Because the voters will actually take action.”
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