GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio — Geauga County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday not to adopt “piggyback” property-tax exemptions, after weeks of warnings from local schools, townships and levy-funded agencies that the measure would trigger more levies and cuts to services.
Dozens of officials packed Tuesday’s meeting to outline how the exemption — which would’ve expanded homestead and owner-occupied tax credits on the local level, but provided no reimbursement to local governments — would erode their budgets.
Don Rice, superintendent of the Geauga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, told commissioners his agency alone would have lost about $317,000 a year.
“We understand that people right now don’t like taxes. We don’t like taxes. Nobody likes tax,” Rice said. “But it’s how you pay for the services that are necessary, and you have to balance that.”
After brief discussion Tuesday, Commissioners Jim Dvorak, Ralph Spidalieri and Carolyn Brakey approved a motion stating the county will not implement the so-called “piggyback provision” that state lawmakers newly offered to county governments this year as a form of additional property tax relief.
Under the new state framework, counties can “piggy-back” on the state’s homestead exemption for seniors and those with disabilities, and the 2.5% owner-occupied tax exemption, which would’ve further reduced tax bills for those who qualify. Unlike the existing program, the expansion is locally funded with no reimbursement from the state.
Brakey said in a statement that while residents are feeling the strain of higher taxes, the tool “isn’t the right fit for Geauga County.”
“Our local taxing entities run lean budgets, and this approach would have forced across-the-board cuts that they can’t absorb,” she said.
Auditor Charles Walder’s financial analysis -- along with negative responses from schools and townships -- showed the exemption would likely push agencies to seek new levies sooner than they would have otherwise, “leaving taxpayers chasing their tail,” Brakey said.
Spidalieri said commissioners did consider the need for tax relief but concluded the exemption would do more harm than good.
“We can’t look at these different desperate measures — this would have just created extra hurdles for our schools, these townships and more,” he said.
Tuesday’s vote came after Brakey and Walder asked taxing entities in October to provide financial-impact data. Many responded that despite rising property values, their levies operate on tight, voter-approved budgets and could not withstand the reduction.
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