The Ohio Senate has opted to override one of Governor DeWine's line-item budget vetoes and looks to provide potential property tax relief.

That relief is set to come in the form of reduced levy options for schools in the coming year. Going forward Ohio will not allow schools to place certain levies on the ballot including,  fixed-sum emergency, substitute emergency and combined income tax and fixed-sum levies. 

Fixed-sum emergency levy: An emergency levy that generates a set amount of money annually, since some levies fluctuate.

Substitute emergency levy: Substitutes an existing emergency levy, typically when new properties have been added to the tax base.

Combined school district income tax and fixed-sum property tax levy: Allows districts to combine two levy types, an income tax levy and a levy that generates a set amount of money yearly, as one issue.

Governor DeWine originally vetoed the change out of fiscal concern for school districts across the state.

In a 21-11 vote, the move barely passed the state Senate; a minimum of 20 votes were needed to pass.

"Going forward, the only mechanism that townships have for levies are going to be brand new levies or renewals, which renewals don't have any sort of increase," Boardman Township administrator Jason Loree said. 

Weathersfield schools have three emergency levies, and Superintendent Damon Dohar said this leaves them with a lot of questions and uncertainty moving forward, given that the levies generate a bulk of their funding.

"This is a challenge for us as public educators," Dohar said, "We have always here at Mineral Ridge, maintained our fiscal resources very well. However, though, when you keep taking fiscal resources away from us that had nothing to do with us, then it makes my job much more challenging."

The new law encompasses all emergency and replacement levies introduced after January 1, 2026. Any levies within the now-restricted categories that are currently on the November ballot will remain there to be voted on.

The change means local governments will have fewer ways to structure levy questions on the ballot, but County Auditor Ralph Meacham believes it'll bring transparency for voters long-term.

"The general assembly thought it was misleading to call something an emergency levy that's been in existence for five or 10 years," he said. 

For townships and safety services, the impact may not be immediate, but they lose some flexibility.

"And with the property tax not being very popular right now, it makes it very difficult for townships to even try and plan out how you're going to operate and function when you just don't know where you're going to stand," Loree said. 

In a statement, the Ohio Education Association said in a statement that it's "appalled by the actions of the members of the majority party in the Ohio Senate to ram through half-baked property tax provisions in the new state budget that will cause extreme harm to Ohio's public school districts, communities, and the nearly 90 percent of students in our state who attend our public schools. These provisions, which were also pushed through by members of the majority party in the Ohio House in July, will throw school districts' finances into chaos and will force schools to increase class sizes, cut staff, and reduce programs for students." 

Youngstown City Schools also issued a statement and said they're carefully evaluating the long-term effects and stressed that decisions about local funding are best made by voters and school boards.