Login | June 07, 2025
Bill would expand budget commissions’ authority
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: June 6, 2025
A northeast Ohio lawmaker offered details during a recent Ways and Means Committee hearing about legislation he’s proposed to transform county budget commissions into taxpayer watchdogs.
Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, characterized House Bill 309––titled the Budget Commission Overhaul Act––as another necessary element to reform Ohio’s property tax system.
“The budget commission is currently an existing entity at the county level,” he said. “Its function and actual effectiveness varies so widely and has become so inadequate for our taxpayers.”
Composed of the county auditor, treasurer and prosecutor, a county budget commission is tasked with annually reviewing the budgets of taxing authorities and setting tax rates based on need of revenue and voter approval.
“Original intent of this three-person locally elected board was to ensure local entities received what was needed in the following year of operations,” Thomas said. “Today, the board acts as a rubber stamp, in part due to legal ambiguity, in part due to political pressure from local entities and in part simply due to the wearing down over the years of this taxpayer protection.”
He offered Lake County as an example. The county sits on nearly $400 million of collected taxpayer revenue in government bank accounts, while taxpayers see ever-increasing tax bills, he said.
Thomas said neither the Lake County auditor nor about half of the state’s county budget commissions have authority to decrease tax rates as a result of interpretation of the law as written.
“This bill fixes that and gives clear black-and-white language,” he added.
HB 309 includes explicit language that the budget commission’s responsibility is to review yearly all property tax levying political subdivisions for need of the property-tax revenue in the following year and grant full authority to suspend, reduce and question need for all property-tax revenue, including inside millage, outside voted levies, emergency levies and bond levies, testimony detailed.
Thomas added that the burden of proof is the responsibility of a taxing authority, not the budget commission.
The bill stipulates that a public hearing should be held to determine the need for property-tax revenue in instances in which carryover of property tax-levied dollars increases more than 30 percent of the previous year’s expenses for a specific fund, testimony continued.
Additionally, HB 309 would remove the veto ability for the largest city to prevent approval of the local government fund allocation.
Thomas explained that another of the bill’s provisions requires county district library levies to be determined by county commissioners in a manner similar to children services, mental health and developmental disabilities levies.
HB 309 also calls on the budget commission to provide a recommendation of action to county commissioners before they vote on any new or existing levy action.
“I have met with representatives from every taxing authority and have some minor changes to the language presented, but the overall mission and intent (of the bill) is solid,” Thomas continued. “In between elections, the voters need a voice and an oversight body to ensure their tax rate is as low as possible. I made this bill bold purposefully as it is desperately needed for our property taxpayers.”
Eleven House members co-sponsor the bill, which awaits further consideration by the committee.
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