YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County officials appear poised to provide some tax relief for homeowners, but it would come at a cost for local schools and governments.

County commissioners will meet Tuesday morning to discuss approval of a resolution to increase the owner-occupied tax credit for county residents. The decision must be made by Wednesday, which is the beginning of the new fiscal year.

“We’ve had a lot of info from (Mahoning County Auditor) Ralph (Meacham) since February, and being that the state isn’t offering any real relief, we have to make a decision about what we’re going to do,” said Commissioner Geno DiFabio.

DiFabio said commissioners will not pursue an increase in the homestead exemption credit.

“Even Lake County, with ‘Commissioner No’ (John Plecnik) up there, they did only the one. Anybody who’s doing anything is only doing one or the other,” he said.

Trumbull County Commissioners passed a similar resolution last week.

Meacham last week explained that this year’s triennial revaluation shows an expected property value increase of about 24% — the corresponding increase in property tax is not yet clear. Three years ago, residential property values in the county increased an average of 38% and brought a 7% average increase in property taxes.

Homestead and owner-occupied credit adjustments have been the only possible relief solution provided by state legislators since then — approved in House Bill 96, passed at the end of 2025.

In February, Meacham gave a presentation before commissioners in which he discussed the potential ramifications of the bill.

House Bill 96 allows county commissioners to double the value of the Ohio Homestead Exemption — which primarily benefits qualifying seniors and certain disabled homeowners — and the owner-occupied tax credit, which is available to qualifying owner-occupants regardless of age. 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.

But under the original laws enacted in 1971, counties receive state reimbursement for those tax credits, totaling $12.4 million annually for Mahoning County.

Under House Bill 96, Columbus will not reimburse counties for the value of any increases to either tax credit, which can be up to double the current amount. That means that every dollar allocated for the additional tax credits will come from support the county already provides to school districts and local governments.

Meacham said the total cost, if commissioners approve fully doubling the owner-occupied credit, will be just over $4 million. School districts will take the hardest hit, losing more than $2.4 million. County entities will lose nearly $487,000, townships more than $521,000, municipalities more than $100,000 and special districts — like Boardman Park, Mill Creek MetroParks, and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County — will lose more than $250,000 collectively.

“As you look at all the places that have to take a haircut, they’re tighter than a drum,” Meacham said. “They don’t have a lot of reserves, some schools and townships don’t have a lot of money.”

Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, Poland, and Youngstown City Schools all would suffer multi-hundred-thousand-dollar losses. Meacham provided the following breakdown:

• Austintown, loss of $356,491

• Boardman, loss of $474,004

• Canfield, loss of $379,324

• Poland, loss of $352,497

• Youngstown, loss of $285,662

The Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities stands to lose nearly $240,000 annually from its two operating levies. MCBDD Superintendent Bill Whitacre already told commissioners at last week’s regular meeting that the agency needs a new levy on the November ballot for additional funding because a 2023 state decision increasing Medicaid waiver reimbursement rates nearly doubled the county’s required local match.

The resulting reduction in annual budget carryover could leave the board financially insolvent in as little as two years. Commissioners approved the request to ask voters for a 2.4-mill levy that will likely cost the owner of a $100,000 home $84 per year. MCBDD hopes that, if passed, it will help make up a gap of $6 million to $8 million.

The Public Library will lose $104,000. Austintown Township will lose $133,000 and Boardman Township $192,000.

Boardman Fiscal Officer Brad Calhoun told trustees last week that the township’s five-year forecast is foreboding and will necessitate a levy on the November ballot. The specifics of that funding request have not yet been determined.

Additionally, Meacham notes that under Ohio House Bill 186, the owner-occupied tax credit will increase annually over the next four years, while the nonbusiness credit correspondingly drops and is ultimately eliminated.

The nonbusiness property tax credit applies to rentals, second-homes, investor-owned residential properties and other nonowner-occupied real estate. The current rate is 10%.

Next year, the owner occupied tax will increase from 2.5% to 5.7% while the non-business credit decreases to 7.5% Ultimately, in 2029-30, the owner occupied tax credit rate will be 15.38% and nonbusiness credit will be 0.

But that does not mean the county’s increase to the tax credit will grow in kind.

HB 96 authorizes county commissioners to increase the owner-occupied credit by up to an additional 2.5 percentage points, effectively doubling the current state credit from 2.5% to 5%. Neither HB 96 nor HB 186 appears to authorize counties to increase that local credit beyond the additional 2.5 percentage points or to automatically match the state’s future phased increases.