As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 129
2025-2026
Representative Thomas, D.
Cosponsors: Representatives Dean, Fischer, Gross, Hall, T., Johnson, Peterson,
Williams, Workman
A B I L L
To amend sections 319.301 and 5705.314 of the
Revised Code to limit the ability of school
districts to reallocate unvoted property tax
millage and to include certain property and
school district income taxes in the calculation
of a school district's effective millage floor.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 319.301 and 5705.314 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 319.301. (A) The reductions required by division (D)
of this section do not apply to any of the following:
(1) Taxes levied at whatever rate is required to produce a
specified amount of tax money, including a tax levied under
section 5705.199 or 5748.09 of the Revised Code, or an amount to
pay debt charges;
(2) Taxes levied within the one per cent limitation
imposed by Section 2 of Article XII, Ohio Constitution;
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(3) Taxes provided for by the charter of a municipal
corporation.
(B) As used in this section:
(1) "Real property" includes real property owned by a
railroad.
(2) "Carryover property" means all real property on the
current year's tax list except:
(a) Land and improvements that were not taxed by the
district in both the preceding year and the current year;
(b) Land and improvements that were not in the same class
in both the preceding year and the current year.
(3) "Effective tax rate" means with respect to each class
of property:
(a) The sum of the total taxes that would have been
charged and payable for current expenses against real property
in that class if each of the district's taxes were reduced for
the current year under division (D)(1) of this section without
regard to the application of division (E)(3) of this section
divided by
(b) The taxable value of all real property in that class.
(4) "Taxes charged and payable" means the taxes charged
and payable prior to any reduction required by section 319.302
of the Revised Code.
(C) The tax commissioner shall make the determinations
required by this section each year, without regard to whether a
taxing district has territory in a county to which section
5715.24 of the Revised Code applies for that year. Separate
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determinations shall be made for each of the two classes
established pursuant to section 5713.041 of the Revised Code.
(D) With respect to each tax authorized to be levied by
each taxing district, the tax commissioner, annually, shall do
both of the following:
(1) Determine by what percentage, if any, the sums levied
by such tax against the carryover property in each class would
have to be reduced for the tax to levy the same number of
dollars against such property in that class in the current year
as were charged against such property by such tax in the
preceding year subsequent to the reduction made under this
section but before the reduction made under section 319.302 of
the Revised Code. In the case of a tax levied for the first time
that is not a renewal of an existing tax, the commissioner shall
determine by what percentage the sums that would otherwise be
levied by such tax against carryover property in each class
would have to be reduced to equal the amount that would have
been levied if the full rate thereof had been imposed against
the total taxable value of such property in the preceding tax
year. A tax or portion of a tax that is designated a replacement
levy under section 5705.192 of the Revised Code is not a renewal
of an existing tax for purposes of this division.
(2) Certify each percentage determined in division (D)(1)
of this section, as adjusted under division (E) of this section,
and the class of property to which that percentage applies to
the auditor of each county in which the district has territory.
The auditor, after complying with section 319.30 of the Revised
Code, shall reduce the sum to be levied by such tax against each
parcel of real property in the district by the percentage so
certified for its class. Certification shall be made by the
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first day of September except in the case of a tax levied for
the first time, in which case certification shall be made within
fifteen days of the date the county auditor submits the
information necessary to make the required determination.
(E)(1) As used in division (E)(2) (E) of this section,
"pre-1982 :
(a) "Pre-1982 joint vocational taxes" means, with respect
to a class of property, the difference between the following
amounts:
(a) (i) The taxes charged and payable in tax year 1981
against the property in that class for the current expenses of
the joint vocational school district of which the school
district is a part after making all reductions under this
section;
(b) (ii) Two-tenths of one per cent of the taxable value
of all real property in that class.
If the amount in division (E)(1)(b) (E)(1)(a)(ii) of this
section exceeds the amount in division (E)(1)(a) (E)(1)(a)(i) of
this section, the pre-1982 joint vocational taxes shall be zero.
As used in divisions (E)(2) and (3) of this section,
"taxes charged and payable" has the same meaning as in division
(B)(4) of this section and excludes any tax charged and payable
in 1985 or thereafter under sections 5705.194 to 5705.197 or
section 5705.199, 5705.213, 5705.219, or 5748.09 of the Revised
Code(b) "Current expense school district income tax" means a
school district income tax, as defined in section 5748.01 of the
Revised Code, levied for the current expenses of a school
district.
(c) "Qualifying taxes charged and payable" means the sum
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of the following:
(i) For real property taxes, the taxes charged and payable
for current expenses, including any real property tax charged
and payable under sections 5705.194 to 5705.197 or section
5705.199, 5705.213, 5705.219, or 5748.09 of the Revised Code;
(ii) For current expense school district income taxes, the
property tax equivalent rate computed for the school district
under division (E)(4) of this section.
(2) If in the case of a school district other than a joint
vocational or cooperative education school district any
percentage required to be used in division (D)(2) of this
section for either class of property could cause the total
qualifying taxes charged and payable for current expenses to be
less than two per cent of the taxable value of all real property
in that class that is subject to taxation by the district, the
commissioner shall determine what percentages would cause the
district's total qualifying taxes charged and payable for
current expenses against that class, after all reductions that
would otherwise be made under this section, to equal, when
combined with the pre-1982 joint vocational taxes against that
class, the lesser of the following:
(a) The sum of the rates at which those taxes are
authorized to be levied , including the property tax equivalent
rate calculated with respect to any current expense school
district income tax;
(b) Two per cent of the taxable value of the property in
that class. The auditor shall use such percentages in making the
reduction required by this section for that class.
(3) If in the case of a joint vocational school district
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any percentage required to be used in division (D)(2) of this
section for either class of property could cause the total
qualifying taxes charged and payable for current expenses for
that class to be less than two-tenths of one per cent of the
taxable value of that class, the commissioner shall determine
what percentages would cause the district's total qualifying
taxes charged and payable for current expenses for that class,
after all reductions that would otherwise be made under this
section, to equal that amount. The auditor shall use such
percentages in making the reductions required by this section
for that class.
(4) Each year, on or before the first day of September,
the tax commissioner shall compute a property tax equivalent
rate for each school district that levies a current expense
school district income tax, as follows:
(a) Multiply one mill times the total taxable value of the
district as determined in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of section
3317.021 of the Revised Code;
(b) Estimate the total amount of tax liability for the
current tax year under the current expense school district
income tax;
(c) Divide the amount estimated under division (E)(4)(b)
of this section by the product obtained under division (E)(4)(a)
of this section.
(F) No reduction shall be made under this section in the
rate at which any tax is levied.
(G) The commissioner may order a county auditor to furnish
any information the commissioner needs to make the
determinations required under division (D) or (E) of this
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section, and the auditor shall supply the information in the
form and by the date specified in the order. If the auditor
fails to comply with an order issued under this division, except
for good cause as determined by the commissioner, the
commissioner shall withhold from such county or taxing district
therein fifty per cent of state revenues to local governments
pursuant to section 5747.50 of the Revised Code or shall direct
the department of education and workforce to withhold therefrom
fifty per cent of state revenues to school districts pursuant to
Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code. The commissioner shall
withhold the distribution of such revenues until the county
auditor has complied with this division, and the department
shall withhold the distribution of such revenues until the
commissioner has notified the department that the county auditor
has complied with this division.
(H) If the commissioner is unable to certify a tax
reduction factor for either class of property in a taxing
district located in more than one county by the last day of
November because information required under division (G) of this
section is unavailable, the commissioner may compute and certify
an estimated tax reduction factor for that district for that
class. The estimated factor shall be based upon an estimate of
the unavailable information. Upon receipt of the actual
information for a taxing district that received an estimated tax
reduction factor, the commissioner shall compute the actual tax
reduction factor and use that factor to compute the taxes that
should have been charged and payable against each parcel of
property for the year for which the estimated reduction factor
was used. The amount by which the estimated factor resulted in
an overpayment or underpayment in taxes on any parcel shall be
added to or subtracted from the amount due on that parcel in the
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ensuing tax year.
A percentage or a tax reduction factor determined or
computed by the commissioner under this section shall be used
solely for the purpose of reducing the sums to be levied by the
tax to which it applies for the year for which it was determined
or computed. It shall not be used in making any tax computations
for any ensuing tax year.
(I) In making the determinations under division (D)(1) of
this section, the tax commissioner shall take account of changes
in the taxable value of carryover property resulting from
complaints filed under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code for
determinations made for the tax year in which such changes are
reported to the commissioner. Such changes shall be reported to
the commissioner on the first abstract of real property filed
with the commissioner under section 5715.23 of the Revised Code
following the date on which the complaint is finally determined
by the board of revision or by a court or other authority with
jurisdiction on appeal. The tax commissioner shall account for
such changes in making the determinations only for the tax year
in which the change in valuation is reported. Such a valuation
change shall not be used to recompute the percentages determined
under division (D)(1) of this section for any prior tax year.
Sec. 5705.314. If the The board of education of a city,
local, or exempted village, or joint vocational school district
proposes to shall not change the purpose of its levy within the
ten-mill limitation in a manner that will would result in an
increase in the amount of real property taxes levied by the
board in the tax year the change takes effect , the.
If the board of education of a city, local, or exempted
village school district proposes to change its levy within the
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ten-mill limitation in any other manner that would result in an
increase in the amount of real property taxes levied by the
board in the tax year the change takes effect, the board shall
hold a public hearing solely on the proposal before adopting a
resolution to implement the proposal. The board shall publish
notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in
the school district once a week for two consecutive weeks or as
provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. The second
publication shall be not less than ten nor more than thirty days
before the date of the hearing, and the notice shall include the
date, time, place, and subject of the hearing, and a statement
that the change proposed by the board may result in an increase
in the amount of real property taxes levied by the board. At the
time the board submits the notice for publication, the board
shall send a copy of the notice to the auditor of the county
where the school district is located or, if the school district
is located in more than one county, to the auditor of each of
those counties.
Section 2. That existing sections 319.301 and 5705.314 of
the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. (A) The amendment by this act of section
319.301 of the Revised Code applies to tax years beginning on or
after the effective date of this section.
(B) The amendment by this act of section 5705.314 of the
Revised Code applies to levies authorized within the ten-mill
limitation for tax years beginning on or after the effective
date of this section.
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