Ohio lawmakers, unions, and researchers urge Ohioans not to sign an anti-property tax petition

Ohioans could potentially abolish property taxes, a move that could result in the defunding or closure of government-funded facilities, prompting some Ohio lawmakers, unions, and researchers to begin a campaign to persuade Ohioans not to sign the anti-property tax petition to put the proposition on the ballot.

“Our organization supports meaningful tax reform, but the total elimination of property taxes without a secured, guaranteed replacement creates a public safety crisis,” Independence Police Chief Robert Butler, president of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, told WOIO-TV/19 News. “These funds are the backbone of many local law enforcement agencies. Eliminating them without a transition plan leads to a predictable result: slower response times, fewer officers on patrol, and an erosion of the security every Ohioan relies on.”

Vice President of the Ohio State Board of Education and former Democratic state Sen. Teresa Fedor was among those who opposed the idea, urging approximately 200 people who attended the community panel discussion about the property taxes on Wednesday not to sign the petition, according to The Toledo Blade.

“Let’s say it: Don’t sign the petition,” she said, according to the news source. “This is a real threat, and we must stop it in its tracks. So together, let’s set the stage for its defeat through education and advocacy.”

The Blade reported that, for the Committee to Abolish Ohio’s Property Taxes to put their proposition on the November ballot, they need to collect 413,487 valid signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties by the July 1 deadline. The group, also known as Ax Ohio Tax, recently told Signal Ohio that they’ve already collected 305,000 signatures.

“The state Legislature refuses to cut property taxes in any meaningful way,” Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik, who wants to abolish the property taxes, said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “The politicians are leaving the people no choice but to flip the table and start over with the constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes.”

Fedor told Ohioans that if the property taxes are abolished, schools will be closed, the organizations will begin laying off people, and farmers will lose their funding because, according to her, the state will lose approximately $24 billion in funding, according to a February memo from Kimberly Murnieks, director of the Office of Budget and Management.

“Get involved,” she said. “Listen to this, policy makers should engage directly with residents here in our communities, not at the statehouse, which you can never get to, and you have two minutes to be heard.”

Given the anger over property taxes, it makes political sense that school districts are looking to income taxes instead.

But all school districts need to think about what they really need in an era of demographic change & declining student enrollment.https://t.co/stPGOhwpyx

— Greg R. Lawson (@BuckeyeInstGreg) May 1, 2026

Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit policy research institute, also said during the event that if property taxes are abolished, suggested that the sales taxes will be doubled.

“You would have to increase the sales tax to something like 14 percent across the state, by far, the highest of any state, and similarly with the income tax,” he told The Blade.

Schiller also warned people that everyone will be affected if that happens, in one way or another, because they won’t have access to a local public library, school, health services, or other services funded by Ohio taxpayers.

Lisa Sobecki, president of the Lucas County commissioners, who also appeared on the panel, warned Ohioans that the local economy allegedly will be negatively affected, saying that the anti-property tax approach won’t attract businesses to the state.

“I think of the small business owner who can face a rise in the sales tax up to 20% or even higher,” she said, according to The Blade. “That small mom and pop business is going to be affected too.”

Fedor agreed that there must be a tax reform, adding that it should not be as “extreme” as the proposition by the activists. Ohio lawmakers previously introduced several bills last year to provide property tax relief while also keeping the taxes in place.

Among those who appeared on the panel were former state representatives John Patterson and Stephen Dyer, as well as Ted Finnarn, a farmer and member of Ohio Farmers United and Ohio Farmers Union.

“This is two-thirds of local tax revenue for local services that’s at stake here,” Curt Steiner, a spokesperson for the Ohioans to Protect Public Services coalition, told The Dispatch. “It’s going to require massive reductions in service levels or big taxes in other areas. We’re making those points now.”