Local elected officials in Butler County, and our local legislators to Butler County, were among the first in Ohio to raise the alarm. We invited the Ohio Tax Commissioner to the table — not once, but repeatedly — to talk through solutions, seek flexibility, and craft reforms. Those invitations were met not with empathy or partnership, but with silence and a cold shoulder. The commissioner refused to meet. The state’s response wasn’t just indifferent—it was dismissive.
So, we took matters into our own hands. Butler County’s leaders, alongside our area’s state legislators (Thomas Hall, Jennifer Gross, Sara Carruthers and now Diane Mullins, Rodney Creech and Senator Lang), held multiple tax summits in 2023 and 2024. We brought stakeholders together to diagnose the problem, discuss legislative solutions, and challenge local governments to voluntarily forego the windfall created by inflated property valuations. We sounded the alarm—and we waited. But since our first summit, virtually no action has been taken in Columbus. And all the while, the tax burden has only grown heavier.
Frustration among voters has turned to anger. Many now see property taxes not as a contribution to public good, but as a blank check being cashed by unaccountable bureaucracies and institutions that no longer reflect their values.
The criticism has not been limited to tax formulas. It has also expanded into a growing distrust of the institutions funded by property taxes—most notably, public schools. In Ohio, schools consume the majority of property tax revenue. But a swelling number of parents believe that schools are no longer focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic—but on radical social agendas.
From the promotion of gender ideology in the classroom to teachers having public meltdowns over election results, the confidence gap is widening. In one nearby district, a teacher posted a video online emotionally reacting to the 2024 election, a move that deeply politicized her role. In other cases, students are permitted to “socially transition” at school without parental knowledge. Parents who question these practices have been silenced or removed from school board meetings.
Public libraries have similarly drawn scrutiny, particularly when taxpayer-funded book displays promote sexually explicit content under the banner of inclusivity. These are not isolated incidents — they are catalysts in the minds of voters who now view public institutions as culturally unmoored and unresponsive.
Elsewhere, other taxpayer-funded agencies face their own crises of confidence. Boards tasked with addressing addiction, mental health, and homelessness continue to ask for more money, despite little measurable progress. Agencies like the Miami Conservancy District have proposed massive property assessment increases without a vote of the people, exposing a fundamental flaw: taxation without representation.
And yet — still — there is no meaningful legislative action to protect Ohioans from being taxed out of their homes or to impose the accountability that taxpayers demand.
So is it really any surprise that this movement has emerged? A growing share of Ohioans no longer see property taxes as funding public safety, schools, or libraries — they see them as underwriting cultural agendas they do not support and bureaucracies that refuse to answer for outcomes.
Now, the proposal to abolish property taxes may be a blunt instrument, and yes, the unintended consequences could be severe. A swift repeal would defund police, fire, and EMS services. Parks would close. Road maintenance would halt. These are real risks, and they should not be ignored.
But neither should the public’s outrage.
This amendment effort is not just about taxes — it is a vote of no confidence in the status quo. A symptom of broken trust. And unless Ohio’s leaders begin to listen — to really listen — to the people they serve, the voices calling for radical change will only grow louder.
Whether or not this proposal makes it to the ballot or ultimately passes, one thing is clear: the era of automatic tax increases and unchecked government growth is over. The people are awake. And we are watching.
Michael McNamara is the Butler County Treasurer.
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