Many Mahoning Valley homeowners are mad over rising property taxes and vow they aren’t going to take it anymore.

They are not alone. Many residents throughout the Buckeye State have been slammed with mammoth spikes in their property tax bills this year because of the skyrocketing valuation of their homes. Those values in Mahoning County have risen on average 38% after last year’s countywide revaluation of 164,000 parcels.

To their credit, Mahoning County commissioners last week sent out a compelling letter to leaders in the Ohio General Assembly that outlined, in their words, “the profound impact of these tax hikes on residents and the urgent need for reform.”

Many homeowners told commissioners they risk displacement from their homes over their inability to pay. The impact on senior citizens, many of whom live on meager fixed incomes, has hit particularly hard.

“Many senior citizens already have to decide between taking their prescription drugs or putting food on their table,” Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said. “With the increase in property taxes in Mahoning County now, I do not want to see residents having to make a choice between paying their taxes or keeping their homes.”

Fortunately, however, it appears as if the urgent appeals of commissioners and taxpayers alike will not fall on deaf ears in Columbus, where state tax laws are written and implemented.

That’s because a panel created last year has convened with property tax relief as its top priority. To its credit, the House and Senate Joint Committee on Property Taxation Review and Reform already has conducted several productive hearings to gain insights into the scope of property tax problems and to find workable solutions.

We urge that panel to continue to work aggressively and speedily to find viable routes to lessen the burden of heightened property taxation and then recommend meaningful legislation to reform the system.

Among those giving testimony to the committee were representatives of the National Conference of State Legislatures on Feb. 28. Committee members learned that huge hikes in property taxes are not isolated to Ohio. They have become a hot potato nationwide.

Fourteen states enacted property tax relief laws in 2023, including West Virginia. Among the reforms implemented have been greatly increased property tax credits, relief payments to taxpayers, limits on the scope of allowable increases and freezing of property tax levels for senior citizens on Social Security.

Members of the joint committee in Columbus should therefore explore what options might work best for Ohio.

But it’s not only the adverse impact of sudden surges in property taxes on individual homeowners in the state that warrants fixing. This state’s broken property tax system also takes a toll on business and economic development.

Representatives of the Ohio Business Roundtable told committee members that Ohio’s single biggest challenge to greater economic competitiveness is the level of taxation and the complexity of our tax structure. Among nine peer states in the study they presented, Ohio had the third-highest per capita property tax ($207) after Michigan ($233) and Pennsylvania ($306). Clearly those rankings discourage new businesses from scouting out our turf for expansion and growth, which would translate into expansion and growth of the state’s tax base.

It is this newspaper’s hope that committee members will hear the appeals of county leaders, property taxpayers and testimonials at its hearings to draft workable and meaningful reforms.

Our optimism, however, must be guarded. After all, it’s been 27 years since the Ohio Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the Buckeye State’s overreliance on property taxes to fund public schools in the state. Over those three decades, little structural change has occurred and as Mahoning commissioners pointed out in their letter to state leaders, “the basic inequities of the system continue to plague public schools, and we now rank 22nd in the nation in quality of education.”

The next few weeks and months will be critical for the committee to wrap up its hearings and propose meaningful reforms — preferably before the General Assembly’s long summer recess. In the event that cannot happen, lawmakers might want to give related legislation sponsored by state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, a closer look.

Her measure, House Bill 402, would temporarily freeze 2023 property taxes throughout Ohio at 2022 levels. Those who have already paid the higher tax bills would be eligible for future credits for the difference.

Clearly, however, there’s no time to waste. The sooner Ohio adopts a more fair, equitable and affordable property tax system, the sooner the anguish and outrage of many property owners can cease.