Gadfly Bites 4/9/25—The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Taxation

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1. The topic of the day is taxes, especially property taxes. This piece sets out to explain how property taxes area too darn high across Ohio and how the House version of the state budget bill does exactly the wrong thing (especially in relation to school funding) to make those taxes go down. Governor DeWine doesn’t begrudge them their opinion (“I’ve never found that schools are bashful about mentioning the need for money, and I don't blame them. That's what they should be doing.”), but he also didn’t sound super positive that they were going to get their wished for either: “We still have a long way to go.” (Columbus Dispatch, 4/8/25) There are three main parts to the debate, as I read it. These are: The mysterious “20-mill floor” (if you want to read a great explainer on that part of it, see here), increasing property values in communities all over Ohio, and the carryover amounts (some would say “excessive” amounts) hundreds of school districts are currently holding onto while others are staring into the red. Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham told a gathering of voters this week that he has fixes for all of these issues, but I’m not sure the right enough people were listening to make anything happen. But good on him for trying. (Vindy.com, 4/9/25) Meanwhile, in suburban Cincinnati, Norwood City Schools is taking the City of Norwood to court (awkward!), arguing “irreparable harm, damage, and injury” due to its overgenerous property tax abatement policies. This is serious—they’re starting to eat their own! (Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/8/25)
   

2. The budget bill passed out of the House Finance Committee yesterday, but not until after making some tweaks to the very issues being snarled about above. House Republicans claim victory, saying that if this most recent version of the bill had been in effect already, it would have already resulted in “$4.2 billion of property tax relief.” House Democrats call that “fake property tax relief” and predict that it will end up “injuring every single school district’s bank account” if passed as is. Onto the full House next. Where it all stops? Nobody knows! (WVXU-FM, Cincinnati, 4/9/25)

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