New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day is opposed to a statewide effort to eliminate property taxes, and he is sharing his opinion with his peers and state legislators.
A group called Citizens for Property Tax Reform is trying to collect more than 400-thousand signatures statewide to put a constitution amendment on the November ballot abolishing property taxes in Ohio. Meanwhile, two Republican state representatives last week introduced a bill that would eliminate inside property taxes, or property taxes not voted on by the public.
Day says that would dramatically defund schools, safety forces and local governments.
“We depend upon property taxes to pay police and fire pensions and bill needs in our general fund. How much property tax the city receives on an annual basis, $2.1 million. Don’t forget that some of that money is used to pay off bonds that were used to fund the construction of the fire station, so that’s something else we’d have to find another way to pay for those bonds.”
Day says he is looking forward to discussing the issue at this week’s Mayor’s Association of Ohio Conference in Columbus. He has also expressed his concerns to state Representative Jodi Salvo.
The deadline to submit signatures for a November ballot issue is July 2. Meanwhile, the property tax bill – House Bill 335, has not yet been assigned to a committee.
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