Commissioner Don Dixon scoffed at the measure saying they are “misleading” taxpayers into believing they are addressing tax reform, “anybody that thinks this is a fix, you might as well go to Disneyland, because this is not, it’s a pitiful, pitiful try to do something meaningful in Columbus.”
“This whole thing is just a sham, let’s call it what it is,” Dixon said. “We gave back $26 million in inside millage to every property owner in Butler County before these guys came up with any suggestions, let alone their bad suggestions... This does not help accomplish anything as far keeping the taxes low so people can afford their houses.”
Dixon said they will discuss the “piggyback” idea at the commissioners’ fifth “summit” with state legislators and other local leaders on Tuesday.
The state has been struggling to find consensus on how to solve the serious property tax issues that has led t a citizens’ group so fed up they’re trying to eliminate property taxes altogether.
The main sticking point has been who benefits from reforms and who pays for them.
State Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., has authored or co-sponsored the second highest number of property tax bills this General Assembly and the highest number over the previous legislative session.
He said “I’m going to push them” on the piggyback option at the summit next week.
“If it’s a priority for our commissioners who have hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank and they want to cry and scream that it’s our fault, we gave them tools, then it can be their fault if they decide not to act,” he said. “It’s not just the commissioners, everybody has complained for the last two years, it’s all the state. For the hard part they’re correct, but once we give power to the locals the conversation really should happening locally, I would argue.”
The new law — the only property tax relief vehicle the governor didn’t veto — gives county commissioners the authority to essentially piggyback the state-funded Homestead exemptions and 2.5% owner-occupancy credits for eligible property owners using local dollars.
The Homestead exemption shields the first $28,000 of a property’s value from taxation and the homeowner must be at least 65 years old or permanently and totally disabled. The income threshold is $40,000. The 2.5% owner-occupancy credit only applies to levies passed prior to 2013.
County Auditor Nancy Nix and her team have taken a deep dive into this budget provision and estimate the doubled owner-occupancy credit would give relief to roughly 105,070 homeowners totaling $8.9 million. There are around 18,069 Homestead exemption recipients who would see an additional $7.2 million tax break.
There are 160,885 real estate parcels countywide and 135,788 are residential. West Chester Twp. has the most households receiving the owner-occupancy credit with 19,110 and Liberty Twp. has 14,216. Here’s the tally in the largest cities: Hamilton has 14,486, Fairfield 11,623 and Middletown 10,788.
The top three areas for Homestead exemption recipients are Hamilton with 3,096, Middletown has 2,596 and West Chester 2,626.
The commissioners can cover the benefit for the entire county at a cost of $16.1 million, impose the revenue loss on the taxing bodies that receive property taxes, or do nothing.
If they pass the cost onto the other taxing jurisdictions, the schools would take the biggest hit at $10.4 million collectively, the county would lose $2.1 million, the townships total nearly $1.5 million and the remainder goes to cities, villages, libraries, parks and vocational schools.
The Lakota Schools would lose the most, nearly $3.2 million. School Treasurer Adam Zink had no comment on the possible revenue loss.
Virtually the only revenue source townships have to provide vital services like police and fire is property tax. West Chester Twp. stands to lose $696,587 — based on taxes paid last year — and Trustee Mark Welch’s reaction was strong.
“I’m not in favor it, if the county wants to do something benevolent for the residents of Butler County then it’s on them to pay for it,” he said. “Don’t say we’re going to do something benevolent because we love you guys so much and these other guys are going to pay for it. Doesn’t work that way. If they’re going to do it they need to pony up and do it themselves.”
The main revenue source for cities is income tax, but Hamilton would still lose about $328,320 if the commissioners decide to apply the tax break.
“It’s a lot of money,” Hamilton Finance Director Dave Jones said. “It’s not devastating, we’ll work through it when we do the 2026 budget process, but any revenue cuts with rising costs are not something we look forward to obviously.”
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