COLUMBUS, Ohio (WLIO) – Governor Mike DeWine has signed Ohio’s new two-year budget into law, but not without some significant revisions. DeWine issued 67 line-item vetoes, including the removal of proposed property tax changes that lawmakers had included, which he said would have impacted schools and local governments.
“We have to find solutions to our property tax problem. But look, I'm an optimist, but as I looked at those and imposing those right away in this budget, all of them, I felt that this was not going to be good for our students ultimately. You know, the only thing that matters is our students,” says DeWine.
The governor acknowledged that property tax concerns are real and promised future action.
“I will be convening a working group to be formalized and announced in the coming weeks, which will make recommendations to the General Assembly and to me on how we can provide meaningful property tax relief to Ohioans and still fund our schools, still fund our schools and fund our critical services,” adds DeWine.
Among the vetoed items was a measure that would have pulled funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which DeWine said could have affected key lake projects.
“I am announcing today that our administration to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is committed to undertaking these three dredging projects, and we will do them, and we will do them within this biennium as prescribed in the original language in the budget that's at Grand Lake St Mary's, Indian Lake, and Lake Loramie,” says DeWine.
One controversial measure DeWine did not veto was the legislature’s plan to use $1.7 billion from the Ohio unclaimed fund account to help finance stadium projects, including one for the Cleveland Browns. DeWine initially proposed raising taxes on sports betting to help fund the new dome stadium in Brook Park, but ultimately agreed with the alternative.
“And to me, the biggest objectives were no taxpayers dollars used for this in the sense of nothing coming out of general fund, nothing competing against education. And it couldn't just be about the Browns, it had to be universal. This proposal, which the legislature wanted to do, satisfied those two things. And when you get the two prime objectives, it seems to me, it's time to say, yeah,” adds DeWine.
The stadium funding plan may face legal hurdles. Two former Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to sue current Republican lawmakers over the use of money from the unclaimed fund, calling it unconstitutional and illegal. Whether the plan moves forward may ultimately be decided in court.
Statement from Senate President Rob McColley and Finance Chairman Jerry Cirino:
"We appreciate the governor’s support of our significant income tax reform that reduces the tax burden on Ohioans by moving to a single flat income tax bracket.
Yet it is puzzling that at a time when Ohioans are demanding a reduction in their property tax burden, the governor vetoed all of the General Assembly's reforms, which would have contained the rate of growth of property tax across the state, added more accountability to local taxing subdivisions, and would have created more ballot transparency to levies.
These are kitchen table issues that hard working families understand, and the General Assembly needs to strongly consider acting on their behalf to implement these vital changes that would return the property tax system to its cost controlled guardrails as originally intended."
