COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State Senator Al Cutrona has responded after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed several items in the state budget bill pertaining to property tax.

Cutrona says his number one focus has been and will continue to be proerty tax relief for Ohioans and called DeWine's veto of budget items pertaining to property tax relief "concerning."

"Among the reforms the governor vetoed are actions that would have contained the rate of growth of property taxes across the state, added more accountability to local taxing subdivisions and created more ballot transparency to levies," Cutrona said.

During a press conference Tuesday morning, DeWine said these provisions were "thoughtful," but the reason he vetoed them was that if they were to be implemented all at once, it would create "a huge, huge problem" for Ohio's school districts and other critcal services.

One recent piece of legislation introduced regarding property taxes include one to raise the threshold to pass levies from a simple 51% majority to a 60% supermajority.

Another would allow county budget commissions to review county budget commissions to review the budgets of taxing authorities to determine if the tax revenue is still needed and recue or pause levies if it is not needed.

Local communities have expressed concern for both of these proposals with some saying it could make levies necessary for things like schools and emergency services nearly impossible to pass or get on the ballot.

Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham has acknowledged the need for property tax reform and said solving the problem requires a change in tax policy.

Some policy changes proposed by the County Auditors Association of Ohio (CAAO), of which Meacham is president, include improving homestead exemptions, expanding owner occupancy credits and the creation of new laws around taxing for school districts.

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