Your Concord Township Trustees face a difficult challenge. Property tax reform is needed in the state of Ohio. This issue is polluted with talking points and overreaching political agendas are detrimental to sound policy and legislation. Concord Township receives 75% of its budget from property taxes. Elimination of this funding will bankrupt the township in about 40 days. As your elected leaders, we are tasked with the responsibility of maintaining safe communities which require adequate funding.
All too often, voters perceive and assume that all government sits on endless funding sources and has deep pockets. In reality, economic swings affect local government the same as taxpayers. Local governments are unable to deficit spend, unlike the federal government. Whereas larger government, federal and state, are often laden with waste and excess; township government is typically lean, efficient and at times, frugal.
Under the shadow of DOGE, the current political environment is focused on fraud, abuse and waste in government. It is very important to understand that pursuing a policy of lower taxes at higher levels often results in reductions to funding for local communities. There is a history of exactly this in the state of Ohio.
The Ohio legislature, in the mid-2000’s, eliminated the estate tax, and phased out tangible personal property and inventory tax. Changing that tax helped the state become competitive in order to attract new business to Ohio. However, this was detrimental to township government. By the end of the decade, the Ohio budget was in trouble. Under the leadership of Governor Kasich, the state fixed the budget while also improving the tax climate. A win for tax payers you might say, well, not so fast.
In 2013, the Kasich administration cut the state income tax across the board and implemented phased reductions to the top income rates, which went fully into effect by 2018. Improving the tax climate in Ohio, once again, hurt funding to local governments. To balance these tax reductions, there were cuts to the state budget. From 2011 to 2018, the Ohio legislature reduced funding to the Local Government Fund, or LGF, by 50%. This resulted in fewer tax dollars that were collected by the state, which in turn were returned to taxpayer home communities to fund local government.
As a candidate for township trustee, I researched the township budget, specifically noting in historical financial information the decline to these revenue items. The replacement of personal property tax with the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT), and the elimination of the estate tax cost the Concord Township budget as much as $600,000 per year. The variability of these tax receipts was due to the collection of estate tax, some years being higher than others depending on deaths and varying values of estates of township residents who passed.
In 2024, a new formula was adopted unanimously across Lake County. I was a leader on this issue representing residents of Concord and the other Lake County Townships. Months of diligent work resulted in a compromise with cities and villages that produced a 10-year phase-in to a population-based formula that treats Concord Township much more favorably than it has the last 40 years.
Talk of cuts or reduction to cut the income tax in Ohio risk more cuts to LGF. Each time the Ohio legislature attempted to fix or lower the rate of tax in Ohio, local government funding suffered. These cuts promote more increase to local taxes, in Concord Township this means more levies.
Will the Ohio legislature punish townships in Ohio again? Will small communities again suffer under the flag of lower taxes? Will all the effort to obtain more LGF funding be whisked away by state lawmakers? Will Concord Township end up back where we started, needing again to seek more levies to adequately fund your township government?
I share the concerns of my constituents about property taxes. Levies have become a toxic issue due. Eliminating property tax without a viable funding alternative will devastate Concord Township. For 30 years the state legislature have promoted cuts to local government funding, while they cut state taxes. They allowed residential tax payers pay a higher share of the property tax bill across the state, with no consequence to their budget but at the cost of local budgets and local services. The elimination of property taxes will not result in a rationalization within the state budget cutting waste, it will only hurt local communities.
Over the last two years, both a police levy in Painesville Township and fire levy in Concord Township passed by extremely narrow margins. These new levies are the difference between funding your government, and not adequately funding government. Without these levies, two townships in Lake County would face significant reductions to police, fire and EMS. This means less than an immediate response when you dial 911. As shocking as that may sound, it is a harsh reality. Public safety is a function of local government I view as basic and essential.
I am working with other township leaders and talking with our legislators sharing these concerns. I have a responsibility to keep you and your family safe, it is a responsibility I take very seriously. I will not act recklessly with your finances and I will not act in a way that politically risks the essential funding which keeps you safe.