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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 421
2025-2026
Representatives Click, Thomas, D.
Cosponsors: Representatives Newman,
Willis, Gross, Workman, Hiner, Deeter
To
enact sections 5705.262 and 5705.263 of the Revised Code
to
allow electors to reduce unvoted property taxes by initiative and to
name this act the Taxpayers Freedom Trilogy – Act Two: Arresting
Inside Millage.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 5705.262 and 5705.263 of the Revised Code be enacted to read
as follows:
Sec.
5705.262.
(A)(1)
The electors of a subdivision or other taxing unit may initiate the
reduction of a rate of levy of the subdivision or other taxing unit
within the ten-mill limitation by filing a petition with the board of
elections of the county in which the subdivision or other taxing unit
is located. If the subdivision or other taxing unit has territory in
more than one county, the petition shall be filed with the board of
elections of the county in which the most populous portion of the
subdivision or other taxing unit is located.
(2)
The petition shall be on a form prescribed by the secretary of state,
shall state the amount of the proposed reduction of the rate of levy,
shall include a written argument in favor of the proposed reduction
that does not exceed three hundred words, shall designate a committee
of between three and five electors to represent the petitioners, and
shall be signed by qualified electors of the subdivision or other
taxing unit equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the total
number of votes cast in the subdivision or other taxing unit for the
office of governor at the most recent general election for that
office.
(3)
Immediately upon the filing of the petition, the board shall notify
the taxing authority. During the period beginning on the day the
petition is filed with the board and ending on the day the board
certifies the results of the election on the question of the
reduction, neither the taxing authority nor the county budget
commission may change the rate of the levy. If the petition is
determined to be insufficient or invalid, the restriction described
in this division ceases to apply to the taxing authority and county
budget commission.
(4)
If the board determines that the petition is sufficient and valid,
the question shall be submitted to the electors of the subdivision or
other taxing unit for their approval or rejection at the next general
election held at least one hundred twenty days after the petition is
filed with the board.
(B)
The board of elections shall do both of the following at least ninety
days before the day of the election at which a question is submitted
to the electors under this section:
(1)
Request that the county auditor certify to the board, in the same
manner as required for a tax levy under section 5705.03 of the
Revised Code, an estimate of the levy's annual collections and the
levy's rate in both the last year before the proposed reduction and
the first year that the reduction applies, stated in dollars, rounded
to the nearest dollar, for each one hundred thousand dollars of the
county auditor's appraised value. If the subdivision or other taxing
unit is located in more than one county, the county auditor shall
obtain from the county auditor of each other county in which the
subdivision or other taxing unit is located the tax valuation
applicable to the portion of the subdivision or other taxing unit in
that county. The county auditor shall certify that information to the
board of elections within ten days after receiving the board's
request.
(2)
Request that the taxing authority of the affected subdivision or
other taxing unit provide a written argument in opposition to the
proposed reduction that does not exceed three hundred words. The
taxing authority shall file the argument with the board of elections
at least eighty days before the day of the election. If the taxing
authority fails to prepare and file the argument by that date, the
board of elections shall prepare the argument or shall designate a
group of persons to prepare the argument and file it with the board
not later than the seventy-fifth day before the day of the election.
(C)(1)
The board of elections shall publish notice of the election in a
newspaper of general circulation in the subdivision or other taxing
unit once a week for two consecutive weeks before the election, or as
provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. The board of elections
of each county in which the subdivision or other taxing unit has
territory, if it operates and maintains a web site, shall post notice
of the election on its web site for thirty days before the election.
The notice shall state the time and place of the election and shall
include all of the following:
(a)
The purpose of the levy proposed to be reduced;
(b)
The levy's estimated annual collections;
(c)
The amount of the proposed reduction in rate, expressed in mills for
each one dollar of taxable value;
(d)
The rate of the levy in the year before the proposed reduction and
the first year that the reduction applies, both expressed in dollars
for each one hundred thousand dollars of the county auditor's
appraised value;
(e)
The arguments filed in support of and in opposition to the reduction.
(2)
The form of the ballot shall include all of the information described
in divisions (C)(1)(a) to (e) of this section.
(D)(1)
If the question is approved by a majority of the electors voting on
it, both of the following apply:
(a)
Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of this section,
beginning on the first day of January following the election, the
taxing authority of the subdivision or other taxing unit shall levy
the tax upon the tax list of the subdivision or other taxing unit at
the reduced rate specified by the petition.
(b)
The taxing authority may increase the rate of the levy only in
accordance with section 5705.263 of the Revised Code.
(2)
Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this section, if the
proceeds of the levy are used to pay debt service, the taxing
authority shall continue to levy and collect amounts sufficient to
pay the principal of and interest on those debt charges as they fall
due.
(E)
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a county budget
commission shall not reallocate mills reduced pursuant to this
section to any other subdivision or taxing unit, unless and until
electors approve a question submitted under section 5705.263 of the
Revised Code.
Sec.
5705.263.
(A)
The taxing authority of a subdivision or other taxing unit, with the
affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of its members, may adopt a
resolution proposing to increase the rate of a tax within the
ten-mill limitation by not more than the extent to which that rate
was reduced under section 5705.262 of the Revised Code. The
resolution shall state the amount and purpose of the proposed
increase and shall include a written argument in favor of the
increase that does not exceed three hundred words. The resolution
shall go into immediate effect upon its passage, and no publication
of the resolution is necessary other than that provided for in the
notice of election. The taxing authority shall certify the resolution
to the board of elections of the county in which the subdivision or
other taxing unit is located or, if the subdivision or other taxing
unit has territory in more than one county, to the board of elections
of the county in which the most populous portion of the subdivision
or other taxing unit is located. If the board determines that the
resolution is sufficient and valid, the question shall be submitted
to the electors of the subdivision or other taxing unit for their
approval or rejection at the next general election held at least
ninety days after the taxing authority certifies the resolution to
the board.
(B)
Upon determining that the certification of the resolution is valid,
the board shall do both of the following:
(1)
Request that the county auditor certify to the board, in the same
manner as required for a tax levy under section 5705.03 of the
Revised Code, an estimate of the levy's annual collections and the
levy's rate in both the last year before the proposed increase and
the first year that the increase applies, stated in dollars, rounded
to the nearest dollar, for each one hundred thousand dollars of the
county auditor's appraised value. If the subdivision or other taxing
unit is located in more than one county, the county auditor shall
obtain from the county auditor of each other county in which the
subdivision or other taxing unit is located the tax valuation
applicable to the portion of the subdivision or other taxing unit in
that county. The county auditor shall certify that information to the
board of elections within ten days after receiving the board's
request.
(2)
Request that the committee representing the petitioners who most
recently placed a rate reduction proposal on the ballot with respect
to the levy that was approved by the electors under section 5705.262
of the Revised Code provide a written argument in opposition to the
proposed increase that does not exceed three hundred words. The
committee shall file the argument with the board of elections at
least eighty days before the day of the election. If the committee
fails to prepare and file the argument by that date, the board of
elections shall prepare the argument or shall designate a group of
persons to prepare the argument and file it with the board not later
than the seventy-fifth day before the day of the election.
(C)(1)
The board of elections shall publish notice of the election in a
newspaper of general circulation in the subdivision or other taxing
unit once a week for two consecutive weeks before the election, or as
provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. The board of elections
of each county in which the subdivision or other taxing unit has
territory, if it operates and maintains a web site, shall post notice
of the election on its web site for thirty days before the election.
The notice shall state the time and place of the election and shall
include all of the following:
(a)
The purpose of the levy proposed to be increased;
(b)
The levy's estimated annual collections;
(c)
The amount of the proposed increase in rate, expressed in mills for
each one dollar of taxable value;
(d)
The rate of the levy in the year before the proposed increase and the
first year that the increase applies, both expressed in dollars for
each one hundred thousand dollars of the county auditor's appraised
value;
(e)
The arguments filed in support of and in opposition to the increase.
(2)
The form of the ballot shall include all of the information described
in divisions (C)(1)(a) to (e) of this section.
(D)
If the question is approved by a majority of the electors voting on
it, then beginning on the first day of January following the
election, the taxing authority shall levy the tax at the increased
rate and division (E) of section 5705.262 of the Revised Code no
longer applies to that levy.
Section
2.
This
act shall be known as the Taxpayers Freedom Trilogy – Act Two:
Arresting Inside Millage.