Group Advocates for Property Tax Reform to Benefit Ohio Senior Citizens
ZANESVILLE, OH –A group advocating for property tax reform is taking action to bring relief to Ohio homeowners—especially seniors.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform is a non-partisan group dedicated to highlighting the impact of property taxes on Ohio residents, with a particular focus on senior citizens. Today, the group held a public event to raise awareness for their goal.
“The group originally started out specifically looking for property tax relief for senior citizens, who were really the most affected by these high property taxes, but it’s expanded out. You know, we’re here today in Zanesville, and as you can see, we have 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and 40-somethings, so now it’s affecting everybody in the state,” Co-leader of citizens for property tax reform Keith Davey said.
The group has laid out a three-step plan to address property tax concerns: the first step is to provide immediate relief for seniors by freezing property taxes for all Ohio homeowners aged 65 and older. Step two is to expand the homestead exemption, and step three is to completely reform the way public education is funded in Ohio.
“Education without activity isn’t any good. We come to these groups, and by the way, we’re willing to go anywhere in the state to have a meeting and educate. We want people to know where your property taxes go. We talked about it today, how much of it goes to public schools. The school funding in Ohio has been voted on constitutionally four times since 1997, and there are other ways to fund public schools besides property taxes. The state has a myriad of ways to do that, so the local school boards should do that. But the big takeaway is to get on the phone with your state rep, your state legislature, and the governor. Tell them we need relief, and we need it now,” Davey said.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform is actively gathering support, traveling across all 88 counties in Ohio to collect over 500,000 signatures for their petition. If you’re interested in learning more or getting involved, visit reformpropertytax.com.
