WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners are exploring ways to reduce the tax burden on residents by providing matching homestead property tax exemptions for senior citizens and allowing an increased amount of sales tax dollars to stay in the county instead of paying for state programs.

Commissioner Denny Malloy said Ohio HB 96 — the most recent biannual state budget — allows counties to exempt up to 2.5% on real property for owner-occupied homes.

“This gives every homeowner in the county a chance to keep more money in their pockets,” he said.

Fourteen counties in Ohio already have taken this type of action, according to Malloy.

He told his colleagues the number one complaint he has been hearing from constituents has been the increasing tax burden they’ve been experiencing.

“The revaluation (of property taxes), which caused a lot of grief for homeowners, does not sit well with the tax payers,” he said. “Coupled with rising electric and utility bills that are beyond our control, there is very little a commissioner can do to ease the burden of taxes.”

Ohio has a homestead tax exemption of 2.5% for seniors that are 65 and older, disabled veterans and families of those killed in the line of duty, he noted. House Bill 92 allows county commissioners to match the exemption by the same amount.

“So we can literally double it (the exemption) for our senior citizens,” Malloy said. “The average senior citizen under homestead exemption saves between $350 to $500 a year. We can double that amount.”

Malloy said Lake, Lorain, Franklin and Stark counties are among those who already have implemented this policy.

He noted that taking this kind of action will require local schools and governments to cut their spending because there will be less money being collected.

Malloy also said Trumbull County has a sales tax of 6.75%, but the county receives only 1% of those funds collected. The majority of the money, 5.75%, is used by the state to pay for its programs.

“We need to join up with some of the other commissioners that are telling the state to give us more of our sales tax back,” he said. “Cut some of the state spending and state programs. Let the counties keep more of the money that we earn.”

Malloy said cutting property taxes for seniors will not significantly affect Trumbull’s general fund revenues.

“We will still have our sales tax,” he said. “As we get more businesses, we will get more sales tax revenues.”

Commissioner Rick Hernandez questioned how these actions will affect local school districts and area townships.

“You did mention making cuts, but where do we cut,” Hernandez said. “I don’t know where to cut.”

Hernandez said they must talk to schools and townships to determine how they will be affected by these actions. He is in agreement with looking at these options, but is asking for more in-depth studies of the ramifications of the proposed changes.

Malloy noted if the state allows Trumbull to retain another quarter percent of the sales tax being collected and only takes 5.5% of the sales tax revenues — and earmarks the quarter percent to go back to the county, it would be enough to fund what the townships and schools would be losing.

“We are only asking for our own money back,” he said.

Commission President Tony Bernard suggested sending letters to Trumbull’s state representatives and its state senator asking for an additional 1% of the sales tax back, not just a quarter percent.

“The state is sitting there with $4 billion in its rainy day fund,” Bernard said. “We definitely are not getting enough money back here.”

Benard has advocated for property taxes to be rolled back, not completely eliminated.

“Right now, I’m more for doing something with the owner-occupancy tax,” he said. “That affects everybody. That would cost approximately $2.5 million. We have to research going from 2.5% to 5%. We should do that immediately,” Bernard said.

Malloy emphasized that the county would not be asking for money from any other county. It would be asking for a return of a percentage of the money its citizens pay.