Replacement Levies

The Ohio House moved quickly yesterday to pass House Bill 28, which would eliminate replacement levies for all political subdivisions. The House vote of 62-29 came after committee testimony from virtually every local government group (including OPRA) opposing the bill.

State Rep. Dan Troy offered two OPRA supported amendments on the House floor. Both were tabled by party line votes.

The in the second straight session that the House has passed legislation eliminating replacement levies.

The bill now moves to the Ohio Senate, which stopped a similar House Bill last session. We will obviously be very involved on the Senate side and will keep you posted.

What is very clear at this point is that there is a growing group of House Republicans who have targeted property tax as a significant problem. This group is not seeking to compromise on this issue. We remain concerned about what property tax "reform" will be contained in the House version of the budget, which we expect to see in a couple of weeks.

We will talk more in depth about this at our April park district section meeting.

One piece of good news. The ODOT budget, which includes our road improvement funding, passed the House and Senate yesterday with that funding in tact. It heads to Governor DeWine for signature.

Please reach out if we can provide further information.