The group that wants Ohio voters to abolish property taxes almost certainly won’t make the fall ballot, even though the deadline to submit signatures is more than two months away.
Members of the Committee to Abolish Property Taxes released their signature total in a livestreamed event, after months of refusing requests to do so from journalists and group volunteers. The group, also called Ax Ohio Tax, needs a minimum of 413,487 valid signatures from 44 of Ohio's 88 counties by July 1 to make the November ballot. That's 10% of the total ballots cast for governor in the last election for that office, in 2022.
"We have currently 305,000 signatures. Our minimum goal is 620,000. We are on a pace to reach the 413,000, but not our minimum goal of 620,000," said Brian Massie, who leads the Ax Ohio Tax group. "If we fall short of our 620,000 goal, we will decide if we will risk turning in all of the signatures, hoping we have met the required signature count of 413,488, or do we continue collecting signatures to ensure that we will get them the amendment on the 2027 ballot."
There have been three citizen-initiated constitutional amendments put onto the general election ballot since 2018: redistricting in 2024, reproductive rights and abortion access in 2023 and criminal justice reform in 2018. Backers of each of them turned in more than 700,000 signatures to get them before voters. All three of those efforts used paid signature gatherers.
Group members have said a way to restore the billions of dollars voter-approved property taxes raise for schools, first responders and other local services is not included in this amendment. They have said lawmakers who have ignored their concerns for years will have to decide that. Massie quoted Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), who represents the district where the announcement was held, as saying it's "irresponsible" of the group to propose eliminating property taxes without replacing that revenue.
"It's not the role of the citizen," said Massie. "If our legislators do not feel that they're capable of coming up with other reforms, then maybe they need to move on and we need to get some new leaders in the state."
"The people of Ohio are saying, cut my taxes, cut it now. And frankly, because the state legislature has ignored us for so long, people are saying we want to take all the money back. We want to flip the table and start over, because that's the only way you force meaningful change," said Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik, one of the few elected officials who has publicly supported the abolishment effort. "And if we don't fix this problem, this state will continue on a long, slow decline, and we will bear witness to the death of what could have been the greatest state in the nation. That's sad. We're not going to let that happen."
The group held their event, which had been billed as a "huge announcement", in a home in Lake County, where the owners have constructed a replica of the White House Oval Office, complete with a copy of the Resolute Desk. That desk has been used by most presidents since it was given to Ohio-born President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880.
Cirino wasn't surprised that the group doesn't have the signatures to head to the November ballot, because he said it's "a bad idea".
"We have close to $24 billion a year that our communities collect in property taxes, not just for schools, but for every other levy that the voters vote for," Cirino said "And these are for services that they're asking for. And so what these guys want to do is basically cancel out what the voters have asked for in approving these various levies."
And Cirino said he thinks the proposal would fail if it got to the ballot, because voters are starting to understand the issue.
"Who wouldn't want to abolish a tax, right? But if that's the only question you're asked when you sign a petition, then you haven't done your duty of knowing what you're signing," Cirino said. "Massie has admitted he doesn't have a plan. He thinks that's our job to figure it out. It's a multi-billion dollar problem that he would create that we would have to figure out. And believe me, it would involve raising taxes in other areas big time."
A coalition of over 65 groups of local elected officials, businesses and trade groups, and unions representing first responders and teachers had formed to fight the amendment if it made the ballot. In a written statement, the group Ohioans to Protect Public Services called the proposal "reckless" but said it recognized the need for property tax reform.
"However, abruptly eliminating two thirds of all tax revenue for critical local services, with no plan to replace the lost revenue, is not the way to do it," the statement reads. "Every Ohioan relies daily on essential services that are funded by property taxes — police, fire, and EMS services, road maintenance, senior care, public schools, services for at-risk kids and those with developmental disabilities, local parks, and more. Abolishing property taxes sounds good on the surface. But doing so without a plan for what comes next will only create chaos and trigger big increases in sales and income taxes, drastic reductions in local services, or both.”
