Ohio lawmakers are discussing reducing property taxes for farmers, but some say this could increase residential taxes and hurt school systems.
According to Allen County Auditor Rhonda Eddy-Stienecker, there's been a consistent increase in farmland due to the Current Agricultural Use Value, or CAUV, over the last few years. Lawmakers proposed legislation to provide relief for farmers, but this could shift that burden on to residential property tax payers.
Eddy-Stienecker says the CAUV is a good program, but high taxes for farmers are a concern. "I think there were some issues where savings were getting so big that they've started making some changes to get that savings back in line, and I think that's the other question, is the valuation currently today what it should be, and it was just too low or is it too high, and I think that's where the state legislators are trying to make those decisions," said Eddy-Stienecker.
According to the Associated Press, schools could lose millions in local taxes. Bath Local Schools Superintendent Dale Lewellen says this concerns him, and could confuse tax payers. "There's a good chance that those folks who had to take on more of the burden are going to say, my taxes have been going up, why are you not getting more money," said Superintendent Dale Lewellen, "And it's very difficult to have people understand that just because one persons taxes go up, that might not mean that we're getting more money, it might mean somebody else's went down and the district gets the same amount of dollars."
The Associated Press says the proposed legislation could reduce farmland values by more than 25%.Â
