YOUNGSTOWN — Property taxes are a sore spot for many Ohioans — senior citizens in particular — but the county auditor does not believe the state’s recent actions are the solution.

In fact, he said the bills recently passed by the Ohio Legislature will be far more costly to the Mahoning Valley communities than any benefits some of its residents might enjoy.

“We need a lot more. Senior citizens need broader property tax relief than what’s offered here,” said Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham. “But what’s being done here is they’re kind of pitting the Homestead Exemption and owner-occupied tax credits for senior citizens against everyone else.”

Meacham discussed the potential ramifications of one aspect of House Bill 96, passed at the end of 2025, before Mahoning County commissioners at their regular meeting Thursday.

Among other new rules in the bill, HB 96 allows county commissioners to double the value of the Ohio Homestead Exemption and owner-occupied tax credits, which predominantly benefit Ohioans 65 and older.

Meacham said the homestead exemption saves those residents, on average, about $450 per year, and the owner-occupied tax credit saves an average of $62.

All told, the savings to residents cost Mahoning County roughly $12.24 million annually. The Homestead Exemptions cost approximately $8.2 million and the owner occupancy credits about $4 million. The terms of the existing tax credit programs provide full reimbursement to Ohio counties from the state government.

Under HB 96, however, if commissioners enacted a resolution to double the values of those credits, it would cost Mahoning County an additional $12.2 million that the state will not reimburse. Meacham said the cost to the county, its townships and school districts would be profound.

“With these additional reductions under HB 96, if approved by commissioners…each township, school district and other property tax-supported entity will receive less of a tax distribution,” he said. “This effectively reduces the voted millage to the property tax supported entities’ levies for each district. In other words, voters approved these levies to put out a specific amount to them, and they would be reduced.”

Meacham said his office’s website provides a fully detailed accounting of the prospective losses, by township, school district and county department. He also reviewed some of those numbers with commissioners.

Mahoning County and all of the departments under its budget would take a $1.8 million annual cut. The general fund would lose $424,585 per year; Mental Health and Recovery Board would lose $126,688; and, between its two operating levies, Developmental Disabilities would take a hit of about $639,670.

Mahoning County school districts would suffer the most, Meacham said, enduring an annual collective loss of about $7.6 million.

The three largest hits would come to Youngstown City Schools (about $1.6 million), Austintown Local School District (about $1.03 million) and Boardman Local School District (about $1.28 million). Canfield schools would lose about $700,000, Poland schools about $690,000, and Mahoning County Career and Technical Center more than $410,500.

The county’s 14 townships would lose a total of between $1.5 million and $1.6 million annually, most notably Austintown ($506,511) and Boardman (about $530,000).

Cities and other publicly-supported entities would fare little better. Campbell stands to forfeit nearly $119,000, Youngstown more than $141,000, Mill Creek MetroParks more than $285,600, and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County more than $337,000.

Meacham said if such a resolution were adopted before July, the losses would apply to tax year 2026, if adopted after, the hits would be delayed until next year’s tax bills.

“I don’t think our townships, I don’t think our schools, I don’t think our municipalities can afford to take a cut of over $12 million every year,” he said. “We absolutely need help for seniors, but we also need some adjustment on what the schools are doing. We have some excellently run school districts in Mahoning County, and we have others that are smaller and…there should be some incentive for schools to use every tax dollar more efficiently.”

Commissioners expressed frustration with the bill and what they see as a lack of good intentions from Columbus.

“This is just another trickle down effect from the state. If they want to help seniors over 62 or 65 — go back to the 1970s, to the original Homestead Exemption percentages,” said Commissioner Carol Remedio-Righetti. “Because what they’re trying to do here is bring it down to the county commissioners, not only in Mahoning but everywhere. And then we’re the ones who are going to enforce it, and who takes the hit? Taxpayers do. Their kids do, the schools do, developmental disabilities, mental health.”

Meacham agreed.

“In the five bills that came out, there’s virtually no participation from Columbus,” he said.

“What would happen if this was passed, well our townships and schools would have to come back and ask for another levy to make up the difference. I know Austintown can’t survive on a half-million dollar loss; neither could Boardman or anyone else.”

Commissioner Geno DiFabio, a Republican, castigated the administration and legislators without giving his party any leeway.

“The state didn’t go to their wallet for anything, and we are the ones that have to provide the services and they said ‘well, you’ll just have to cut them.’ Right now, the Republicans are in charge and they didn’t do anything to fix it, other than put it on us,” he said. “Even last summer I went down to the (County Commissioners Association of Ohio) conference and the state didn’t have any angst until somebody said they were going to eliminate property tax, then they got on board and said well maybe we better look at it. There was nothing from the Republicans, the Democrats; nobody was pushing to do anything.”

Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, who has made a professional career in real estate outside of his county office, said the state could have done much more to simplify things and had options to make sensible reforms.

“Their solution is, basically, they’re trying to put us out of business. And you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he said. “They should have started prepandemic. Go back to before the housing boom even started, because all of these valuations were done in the middle of a housing boom when everything was at its highest. We didn’t know that. The state did, but they let it go, and said ‘we’ll just throw it on the county commissioners.’ These solutions, they’re not solutions.”