Commissioners, McNally protest property tax hike | News, Sports, Jobs

Staff Photo / Ed Runyan
State Rep. Lauren McNally spoke to reporters Thursday at the Mahoning County Courthouse about what she called an “unprecedented increase in property taxes.” She was joined by county commissioners Carol Rimedio Righetti, David Ditzler and Anthony Traficanti.

YOUNGSTOWN — State Rep. Lauren McNally, D-59th of Youngstown, joined Mahoning County commissioners Thursday to talk to reporters about what McNally called an “unprecedented increase in property taxes” at the Mahoning County Courthouse.

McNally began talking to commissioners about the issue months ago, including at a public meeting in May. She said Thursday that the public needs an “update” to understand that the property tax increases that property owners see “are entirely up to the state Legislature and that’s a choice.”

She said lawmakers have engaged in “tax pass-through” for the past few decades, meaning “passing taxes from the state to local homeowners and communities.” She said that “forces communities and local homeowners to pay more than their fair share to keep police, fire and safety personnel on the streets.”

McNally said she is working in Columbus and with local leaders, such as Mahoning County commissioners, to “find solutions that will lower our property taxes and create a more equitable system that doesn’t require property owners to continually foot the bill.”

She said Thursday’s news conference was intended to urge state leaders in Columbus to “get serious about providing real relief to all Ohioans. We can definitely lower our property taxes, reduce costs and continue to support essential services if we ensure the state pays its fair share and returns our taxes to local communities.”

She said the cost of rising property taxes, as seen in the latest property assessment last year, “is not a natural phenomenon.” For example, the state “has long neglected to fund public schools in Ohio,” she said. “Over the last decade, the state has shifted funding away from our local communities and toward private schools,” she said. “This year, it cost us a billion dollars.”

That has led to public schools having to make up the difference, or “having to do more with less.” That means going to voters and asking for more money, she said.

She said that has led to Ohioans having to vote on school taxes more often “than any other state in the last 20 years.” That’s “why homeowners are seeing a shortfall in their bills.” It’s especially hard on seniors and working-class families “who are stretched to their limits,” she said.

Another example of “tax shifting” has been the cuts in state funding for local governments, she said. Local governments are dealing with about $1 billion less than they were in 2011, she said. That has led to increased burdens on police, fire and other safety departments across the state.

Some lawmakers want to repeal the business tax, which could result in losses of $400 million by 2031 for services such as libraries and emergency services, she added.

In most states, she said, businesses pay more in property taxes, while homeowners pay less. “Now, Ohio homeowners and farmers pay two-thirds of the total property taxes,” she said. “Despite these handouts, studies show that Ohio still lags behind the nation in job creation and has one of the worst economies in the United States,” she said.

In his remarks, Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said he was “taxed, as are the taxpayers of Ohio.” He thanked McNally for “bringing this issue to the attention of the state government. You’re the only one who has responded to it.”

He said that such a large increase in property values ​​should not come as a surprise to anyone.

“If the state and the revaluers knew the housing bubble was out of control, why did they revalue based on bloated, inflated housing costs that hurt every senior citizen, anyone on a fixed income?”

He said a tax commission is needed “to monitor this every time we reassess taxes, because right now property taxes are worse than utilities. They’re worse than gas prices at the pump.”

McNally said Ohio House Democrats have filed the following bills to help lower property taxes in Ohio:

HB 60, which would expand the property tax exemption to cover an additional 75,000 seniors and raise its cap to $40,000, providing nearly $250 million in targeted relief.

HB 263 aims to freeze more than $400 million in property taxes for more than 700,000 seniors earning $50,000 or less.