We are feeling the financial sting of one this state’s biggest failures.
We are more than two months into yet another year without a comprehensive solution to the Ohio Supreme Court finding that Ohio’s method of funding education is unconstitutional due to its overreliance on local real property taxes.
This is the case even with the state’s recent move to the Ohio Fair School Funding Plan that provides an inputs-based funding model that includes greater equity by counting both local property tax and personal income wealth.
My property taxes have gone through the roof
Unfortunately, these changes find property taxpayers paying more – much more in some cases.
For example, the annual taxes for my Franklin County property 20 years ago were $6,000. For that same property with no improvements and no changes in the neighborhood, my taxes this year are $18,000.
This is down from the $22,000 I was going to be taxed before appealing the appraisal with the county auditor’s office.
These increases are particularly onerous for senior citizens on fixed incomes. And while seniors’ incomes may be fixed, their expenses are not.