Rep. Peterson Votes on Budget Plan that Delivers Historic Property Tax Relief for Ohioans, Implements Flat Tax
COLUMBUS – State Representative Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) today announced that the Ohio House of Representatives approved the conference committee report for Am. Sub. House Bill 96 –the State Operating Budget. The budget plan, which allocates funding for state programs and operations for the next two years, includes provisions that aim to protect freedom, family and fiscal responsibility – approving historic property tax relief for Ohioans, implementing a flat tax rate and providing a record amount of state funding for school districts.
“I am excited to finally get Ohio to a flat 2.75% income tax that is fair and lower than our neighboring states,” said Peterson. “The income tax paired with property tax relief allows Ohioans to keep more of their hard-earned money.”
LANDMARK PROPERTY TAX REFORM
In addition to billions in direct relief, the bill makes a variety of structural changes that aim to promote transparency, update the levy process and enhance checks and balances for property tax rates at the local level, ensuring that taxpayers see more direct control over ballooning property tax bills. The bill also provides direct relief to residential homeowners by allowing the Board of County Commissioners to provide up to a 2.5% owner-occupancy tax credit on a taxpayer’s bill (modeled off the state’s current owner-occupancy credit) for all residents and a permissive homestead exemption for those who qualify for the state homestead exemptions.
A STRONGER ECONOMY WITH A FLAT TAX
Republicans in the legislature have continued to phase down the state income tax in recent years, providing savings for Ohioans. The new budget plan takes the top tax bracket down from 3.5% to 3.125% in tax year 2025 and down to 2.75% in tax year 2026, and into the future. The move to a flat tax makes Ohio more competitive with surrounding states, simplifies the tax code, and spurs revenue.
BOOSTING FUNDING FOR OHIO SCHOOLS
The budget prioritizes the education and well-being of Ohio students, ensuring that school districts are funded through the final phase of the Cupp-Patterson funding model. Ohio public schools will receive nearly $700 million more for public education over the biennium than they received in FY25.
REVITALIZING LOCAL COMMUNITIES
House Bill 96 continues to invest in various state initiatives that help solidify Ohio as the best place in the nation to live, work, raise a family and start a business. The bill increases funding for Brownfield Remediation, provides funding to help with blight, continued investments for the All Ohio Future Fund, further expands the Welcome Home Ohio program, and helps address the housing shortage across the state through two new targeted initiatives designed to incentivize additional single family home construction.
SUPPORTING OHIO FAMILIES
To help families who need assistance paying for childcare, the budget establishes the Child Care Choice program, providing $100 million each fiscal year for eligible families, helping more Ohioans cover the cost of needed child care services. The bill also increases funding for the Help Me Grow program, which is a system of supports for pregnant women, caregivers with new babies, and families with young children with developmental delays and disabilities.
BACKING THE BLUE
This budget invests in supporting law enforcement and promoting public safety by providing $65 million over the biennium for local law enforcement training, $21 million over the biennium to support local costs of the MARCS program, which helps equip first responders to better respond to emergency situations and $27 million over the biennium for the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center. Additionally, the budget includes $8 million to provide grants to small county volunteer fire departments.
PRIORITIZING WORKFORCE READINESS AND HIGHER EDUCATION
This budget makes a marked effort to prioritize workforce readiness in Ohio, investing in various higher education programs such as the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, the Choose Ohio First Scholarship, and an increase in the State Share of Instruction by 1% each year, helping lower costs for students at Ohio’s state institutions of higher education.
PROMOTING HEALTHCARE TRANSPARENCY
In an effort to promote transparency in the Medicaid program, the bill works to protect taxpayer dollars and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse through a number of provisions, creating a variety of new reporting requirements that the Ohio Department of Medicaid must follow and ensures that important audits will be conducted on state Medicaid spending.
¿House Bill 96 now goes to the Governor for consideration.