Staff photo / David Skolnick Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham discusses tax levies and the impact they have on homeowners at a League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown event Tuesday at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham said the current property tax system in Ohio is broken, but there are ways to fix it.

Meacham, a Republican, spoke Tuesday to about 15 people at a League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown event at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. He said he has issues with how property taxes are assessed, the 20-mill floor guarantee for school districts, replacement levies and the large cash carryovers several school districts maintain.

The average property value in Mahoning County increased by 38% in the last revaluation in 2023. Meacham said each homeowner saw an average 9% increase in property taxes.

Meacham said the Ohio Department of Taxation determines the revaluation rate, which isn’t the best option. He wants county auditors to make that decision because they are closer to the situation and better understand the reasons why specific houses sell for certain prices in their counties, which is how property values are determined.

In Mahoning County, the total property value went from $5.36 billion in 2020 to $7.22 billion in 2024.

But Meacham said the county’s tax delinquency rate is 18%, with about $71.9 million not collected. About one-third of all property owners in Youngstown owe delinquent taxes, he said.

Meacham talked about the 20-mill floor for school districts. The state Legislature in 1977 approved the bill that guarantees each of the 611 school districts in Ohio receive at least 20 mills even though about 400 of the districts are below that guaranteed amount.

That permits schools below that 20-mill floor to collect the full 20 mills.

“This is taxation without representation,” Meacham said. “You should be permitted to vote on the levies.”

The Jackson-Milton Local School District is about 5.4 mills below 20 mills and receives $1.44 million annually that voters haven’t approved, the Poland school district gets $2.7 million annually this way and the Springfield district gets $1.04 million annually.

Meacham said the County Auditors Association of Ohio, which includes all of the county auditors in the state, supports limiting the growth of fixed-rate levies subject to the 20-mill floor.

State Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, who represents a portion of Trumbull County, recently introduced legislation to limit the revenue school districts can receive from the 20-mill floor to inflation.

Meacham said he supports efforts to ban replacement levies from the ballot, saying the name is “disingenuous” as “it’s really a tax increase.” The Ohio House approved a bill to ban replacement levies two weeks ago, largely along party lines, 60-32 with Republicans in the majority. The Senate, also controlled by Republicans, hasn’t considered it yet.

A replacement levy is an existing levy that is being replaced at the original amount approved by voters, which generally increases property taxes.

Also, Meacham called for governmental entities seeking tax levies to be more direct with voters about the actual cost rather than selling it as “the cost of a pizza every Wednesday night.”

He added: “Someone broke it down by a week or a month and they make it look like less. People are fudging it with pizzas weekly or monthly. Don’t screw around with it.”

Meacham also said he is concerned with school districts having large carryover fund balances.

The Ohio House is considering restricting the carryover maximum to 25%. Most public school districts are over that percentage, primarily to have enough cash on hand if needed, for ongoing capital improvement projects and / or to keep their bond rating high so they can borrow money at a lower interest rate.

House Republicans want public school districts to return some of that money to property taxpayers, but it is being met by opposition from school district officials and the Democratic minority in the Legislature.

Meacham pointed out that Jackson-Milton’s carryover amount is 116%, for the Sebring school district it’s 79% and it’s 60% for the Canfield school district.

Meanwhile, the Republican-led Legislature has expanded vouchers for charter schools in Ohio at the expense of public schools.