State Rep. Tex Fischer plans to shortly introduce legislation for a 2026 constitutional amendment to limit property tax bills.

The proposal would cap property tax bills at 1.25% of a house’s total appraised value and at 1% for seniors who have lived in their houses for at least five years, said Fischer, R-Boardman.

“I’ve been working on it for a while, but took a little bit of a pause because of the state budget,” Fischer said. “It hasn’t been rolled out yet, but it will be like the caps on sales and income taxes. It’s a hard ceiling.”

State Rep. Beth Lear, R-Delaware, will be the bill’s other main co-sponsor.

The proposal, to be introduced in the next couple of weeks, comes as Ohioans have experienced significant increases in the value of their homes.

Recent property tax reappraisals saw property values go up 38% in Mahoning County and 35% in Trumbull. It didn’t result in everyone’s property taxes going up, but several experienced significant increases.

“We need to solve the problem,” Fischer said.

Fischer said it hasn’t been determined yet how much property taxpayers would save under his proposal or how much it would cost local government entities.

The proposal would permit voters to decide on a constitutional amendment to cap property tax bills at 1.25%. The current average rate, Fischer said, is about 1.6% of the assessed value.

With this change, $1,250 is the most a homeowner with a house valued at $100,000 would pay in annual taxes. It would be a $2,500 cap for a house valued at $200,000.

Fischer wants the state Legislature to pass the bill and get the proposal on the ballot as soon as the May 2026 primary or the November 2026 general election at the latest.

“It’s a fair middle ground between abolition (of property taxes) and doing nothing,” he said.

The Committee to Abolish Ohio’s Property Taxes is circulating petitions to eliminate property taxes in the state with plans to get it on the ballot in 2026. The committee needs 442,958 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. It originally had planned to place the initiative on this fall’s ballot but decided to continue collecting signatures past the July 2 deadline to qualify this year.

A constitutional amendment backed by the General Assembly doesn’t need to go through the signature-gathering process.

Fischer said he wants to get the amendment on the May 2026 primary ballot to get ahead of the committee’s effort to abolish property taxes.

Fischer said of the abolition plan: “I don’t necessarily oppose it, but it will be chaotic and painful. People are frustrated with their taxes. If they want the sledgehammer approach, it’s an option. If we can get the cap on the primary ballot and it fails then I back the sledgehammer approach.”

While school districts typically make up the majority of a tax bill, there are numerous other entities collecting property taxes.

As for what entities would be most affected by the 1.25% cap proposal, Fischer said his proposed legislation would give legal guidelines to county budget commissions, consisting of the county auditor, treasurer and prosecutor.

“Their task would be to determine where it’s most needed,” he said. “It will be done at the local level.”

State Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, who represents portions of Trumbull County, said of Fischer’s proposal, “It has a lot of validity. All options should be on the table. We should be spending time to flesh it out. This has legs.”