COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that a petition to abolish property tax has been approved.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has approved the petition title and summary for a proposed constitutional amendment titled “Abolishment of Taxes on Real Property.”
The amendment seeks to add a Section 14 to Article XII of the Ohio Constitution. The petition was received by the Attorney General’s Office on May 1 from the Ohio Citizens for Property Tax Reform.
“Having carefully examined this submission, I conclude that the title and summary are fair and truthful statements of the proposed constitutional amendment,” said a response letter from Yost’s office to the petitioners.
According to its website, the Ohio Citizens for Property Tax Reform is a non-partisan grassroots citizens group with a mission to inform the public on “skyrocketing taxes, and the impact high taxes have placed on everyone.”
Citizens for Property Tax Reform Plan
- Step 1: Immediate relief for Seniors. Freeze property taxes for all Cuyahoga County homeowners 65 years of age or older
- Step 2: Increase the amount of the Homestead Exemption. Expand the requirements so that more seniors are eligible.
- Step 3: Reform property tax for all Ohiohomeowners. A total overhaul of the funding mechanism for public education in our elementary and secondary schools.
Now that the petition has been approved, the next step involves the Ohio Ballot Board determining whether the proposal constitutes a single constitutional amendment or multiple amendments.
If certified, petitioners must gather signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. These signatures must be collected from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, with each county contributing signatures equal to at least 5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
Should the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office verify sufficient signatures at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment will appear on the ballot in the next regular or general election occurring more than 125 days after the petition’s filing.
To view the full text of the certification letter, as well as the petition, you can click HERE.
