COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a package of property tax reform bills into law, including four measures that reflect positions he vetoed earlier this year, as lawmakers continue to grapple with mounting public pressure over rising tax bills.
DeWine said the legislation provides meaningful relief while stopping short of eliminating property taxes altogether — a proposal pushed by the public interest group Ax Ohio Tax. The governor warned that abolishing property taxes would force sales tax rates to skyrocket and destabilize local government funding.
Two of the newly signed bills aim to slow the growth of property taxes by tying increases to inflation. House Bill 335 caps inflation-based increases on inside millage, while House Bill 186 applies the same limits to outside millage approved by voters.
Another measure, House Bill 129, changes how the state’s 20-mill minimum funding requirement is calculated. Under current law, emergency and substitute levies are excluded from that calculation. The new law includes those levies, creating more room for the state’s long-standing reduction factor to lower effective tax rates.
DeWine also approved House Bill 309, granting county budget commissions the authority to reduce voter-approved levies if they determine the taxes are unnecessary or excessive. House Bill 124 gives county auditors expanded control over property valuations.
“I think what took place today, with the signing of these bills, brings about meaningful tax relief and brings about clarity,” DeWine said. “No longer will people see the spikes that they have seen.”
The governor said he has heard firsthand accounts of residents selling their homes after experiencing property tax increases of 30 to 35 percent. However, he reiterated that fully eliminating property taxes would be, in his words, “a great mistake.”
