Geauga Schools Panic Over Abolishing Property Tax, the Solution May Be in The May Primary
BY JEFF SKINNER
CHARDON - In February, Chardon Schools Superintendent Mike Hanlon took time to address the public regarding his concern that if the abolish property tax amendment is approved by voters, the school district would be completely out of money by 2027. It is a sentiment shared by most in political power currently, who have no idea how the state would fund services without property taxes. However, the answer to that question is directly tied to the upcoming Republican Primary and the direction the state will take in 2026.
While at the Geauga County Library headquarters in Claridon Township on February 2, representatives from Geauga’s five school districts met to discuss the issue, stating that should the amendment pass, without an alternative funding source, many districts would be forced to shut down as property taxes account for roughly 75% of school revenue.
At the meeting, Hanlon presented a 52-slide presentation titled, “The Future of Public Education: Geauga County,” in which he argued a coordinated information campaign needed to be waged to communicate to the public the risks of abolishing property tax in an ‘irresponsible’ manner. It is a sentiment that is shared across the state, with current office holders arguing the amendment is ‘risky’ while those same officials have also quizzically been approving billions for sports stadiums.
It could be argued, much of the reason for the panic, both on local and state level, comes down to the lack of credible strategy for dealing with abolition of property taxes from the current administration in the Governor’s office, as well as the two largest party candidates for governor, Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy. Neither has proposed an effective strategy for dealing with the amendment, and, in the case of Ramaswamy, have worked back-channel deals and initiatives to attempt to buy out and shut down the amendment outright.
However, alternative Republican candidate Casey Putsch has presented a realistic strategy for reshaping the state into a ‘wealth-funded’ model for services that could actually function to not only abolish property taxes, but enrich the residents over time.
Based on the interview TOR conducted with the one-time lead policy strategist for Putsch’s campaign, George Roush, Ohio’s tax system is not only completely out of date, but fundamentally missing golden opportunities to revolutionize under the incoming data center industry. According to Roush, abolition of property taxes can only occur successfully if whoever sits in the ‘high seat’ institutes two meaningful changes. First, large investment firms have to be limited in their ability to purchase single family homes in bulk, of which there is currently no bulwark against in Ohio. And second, the state funding apparatus has to be shifted to a wealth-based service model.
“Other countries have worked through these systems in the past,” Roush said. “So, the first thing is if we eliminate property tax, it doesn't mean that there can't be a service fee. In our model, we are going to define between what is a profit-generating property and what is not. So, if you're living in a house, let's say that you are growing old, you're retiring, you live in your home or you're raising a family and you own a home for your family to live in or for you to live in your primary residence, that's yours and you're not generating a profit. If you own a second home and you live in it and you don't rent it out, that's also yours. You are entitled to have as much property as you want provided that you own it. But if you're operating a business or a sole proprietorship out of, let's say, your house and it's not a dual-use purpose where you happen to be selling Etsy stuff out of the garage while you're living there, if it's a specific profit-generating property such as a storefront or a rental property or any other commercial-use property in the state, well, then you are making a profit off of the services that are provided by the state. So, we will institute a service fee that is not for residences. As long as it's a residence, it's free.”
While the service fee associated with solely business properties will be flat, i.e not tied to property valuation, it will be scaled based on number of properties owned by said entity and scale exponentially based on the number of individual domiciles owned. This will prevent large investment firms from buying up massive housing stock if property tax vanishes. According to Roush, rates would obviously scale and fluctuate between large investment firms and smaller mom and pop style rental companies.
The next stage of how those fees are processed and handled is what truly makes this endeavor the only true viable plan to make the Ax OH Tax initiative functional for Ohio residents and answers the most pressing question of how services will continue to be funded without property taxes.
“We're going to create state wealth funds, just flat-out sovereign wealth funds, that are going to do that,” Roush said. We are working on a policy that we've been scouring the legal books to make sure that we're okay with this. We've been looking at the Ohio Revised Code as well as federal regulation just to make absolutely certain that we can do this. We're going to allow companies to pay their service taxes and potentially other taxes, but right now definitely the service fee. They'll be able to pay their service fees in company common stock. This has never been done before in a state. It's been done by countries, but it has not been done by states. And it turns out you legally can do it.”
This wealth fund would be managed by fiduciary wealth managers that will invest on the state’s behalf and on the people’s behalf and with much higher yields than the current pension fund investment strategies. In addition, it will create a direct correlation between the success of businesses in the state and the wealth and betterment of Ohioans on the street level. In addition, the fund will be used to create specific industry corridors in Ohio with proper zoning definitions to ensure industries like data centers will be placed in specific sectioned zones best suited for them rather than over historic landmarks and residential backyard where they are currently doing the most damage.
It’s certainly a revolutionary concept, but it’s one that only comes from a specific Republican primary candidate with the creativity and ingenuity to get it done, namely Republican candidate Casey Putsch. Hanlon’s presentation is indeed accurate, that based on current leadership and trajectory, school districts would be shut down within 1-2 years of the amendment passing without the Putsch plan, or, perhaps more disastrously, less inventive gubernatorial candidates choose to shift funding of the districts to Income or Sales Tax to compensate.
According to West Geauga Schools Superintendent Nancy Benincasa said the district would be out of cash by April 2027 if property taxes are abolished. Kenston Schools Treasurer Seth Cales said the district would be out of cash by April 25, 2027. Cardinal Schools Superintendent Jack Cunningham said the district would be out of cash by Oct. 11, 2027, and Berkshire Schools Superintendent John Stoddard said the district would run out of cash by April 2027. It is indeed a daunting prospect for the county, and conversely the state. However, it is only a looming risk under less inventive leadership.
