06/05/2026
PROPERTY TAX PETITIONERS WON’T MAKE NOVEMBER BALLOT, VOW TO CONTINUE EFFORT
Ax Ohio Tax announced this morning that they have not collected enough signatures to place the elimination of all Ohio property taxes on the ballot this November, but vowed to continue their efforts and will attempt to place the issue before voters in November 2027.
OPRA Executive Director Woody Woodward, who has been a leader of the coalition opposing the elimination of property taxes, Ohioans to Protect Public Services, says his focus won’t change.
“Here’s what I know is gonna happen,” Woodward said. “Parks and recreation agencies and parks and recreation professionals around the state are going to continue to do what they do every single day—providing world class parks and recreation opportunities that make a real difference in the lives of the people they serve. That commitment hasn’t changed. And it won’t change. That’s what drives our members on a daily basis.”
“The other thing that won’t change is that OPRA and our coalition partners are going to continue to educate the public about just how disastrous any proposal to completely eliminate property taxes would be to our state. These dangerous proposals would result in the elimination of critical services, including public safety services, would drastically impact public schools, and would result in huge increases in the state sales and income taxes which would affect every person in the state. The proposal is dangerous at levels that proponents of the idea have not even considered.”
Ohio law requires petitioners to file valid signatures equal to ten percent of the vote in the most recent Governor’s election in order to place an issue on the ballot. That number is currently just over 413,000 signatures. Woodward said he expects that 650,000 to 700,000 signatures would need to be collected in order to ensure that 413,000 are valid.
Signatures do not expire, so signatures that have been collected to date could still be submitted next year. But Woodward said he believes that as signatures age, the validity rate drops. “If people move or change their names, if voter registrations expire, they will lose valid signatures as time goes on.”
Woodward said he believes that the work of the coalition has been critical. “I think collecting signatures has gotten a lot harder for them because of the work that we have done. We’ve done a lot of research, we’ve heard from a lot of experts in state government finance, and we’ve begun to get information out to the public. And as concerned as folks are about property taxes, this much is clear: the more people learn about the impact of completely eliminating property taxes, the less supportive they are of this reckless proposal.”
Woodward said he expects OPRA to continue to be engaged with legislators about what he called “necessary, common sense property tax reforms” which relieve the property tax burden for homeowners while allowing local governments, including parks and recreation agencies, to continue their important work.
Link to Release: https://www.opraonline.org/News/33123/Property%2DTax%2DPetitioners%2DWont%2DMake%2DNovember%2DBallot%2DVow%2Dto%2DContinue%2DEffort
