Ohio property tax reform took concrete shape at the end of 2025, when Governor Mike DeWine signed four bills responding to the tax spikes homeowners saw after recent county reappraisals. The package caps unvoted tax growth tied to the school district 20-mill floor and inside millage, gives county budget commissions new power to reduce levies they consider excessive, and redirects state-funded rollback credits away from investors and toward people who live in their homes. Most provisions take effect March 20, 2026.
Why Your Bill Went Up Even With Inflation Protection
Ohio reappraises every property on a six-year cycle, with an interim update at the three-year mark.1Ohio Department of Taxation. Property Value Reappraisal and Update Schedule When counties that hadn’t been revalued since before the pandemic housing boom finally caught up, assessed values jumped all at once.
A 1976 law, House Bill 920, is supposed to blunt that effect. It reduces the effective tax rate on existing voted levies when values rise, keeping total revenue roughly flat.2Legislative Service Commission. Property Tax Reduction Factor But Ohio also guarantees every school district a minimum of 20 mills (2% of taxable value) in operating revenue. When HB 920 would push a district below that floor, the reduction stops.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 319.301 Roughly 400 Ohio school districts sit at or near the 20-mill floor.4Ohio House of Representatives. Representatives Jim Hoops and David Thomas Introduce 20 Mill Floor Inflation Cap Legislation
In those districts, the full 20 mills applies to the new, higher value, and bills jump without any vote. For decades, values didn’t rise fast enough for the floor to matter much. Recent reappraisals changed that, and the reform package targets exactly this gap.
The Four Reform Laws Signed in December 2025
Governor DeWine signed four bills on December 19, 2025, with an effective date of March 20, 2026. Each one addresses a different piece of the problem.
House Bill 186: Capping 20-Mill Floor Growth to Inflation
HB 186 is the centerpiece. It caps property tax growth tied to the 20-mill floor at the rate of inflation (measured by the GDP deflator) and applies a credit retroactively to property owners affected by recent reappraisals and triennial updates. It also phases out the Non-Business Credit and increases the Owner-Occupancy Credit (details below).
To replace revenue school districts would otherwise lose, the law suspends a scheduled 2026 sales tax holiday and guarantees districts receive at least the property tax revenue they collected for tax year 2024.
House Bill 129: Pulling Emergency and Substitute Levies Into the Floor
Previously, emergency and substitute levies were excluded when calculating whether a district sat on the 20-mill floor, which gave districts an incentive to use them. HB 129 counts revenue from existing emergency and substitute levies (those approved before January 1, 2026) toward the floor calculation starting with tax year 2026. Districts can renew these as “fixed-sum levies” for up to five-year periods.
House Bill 309: Letting Budget Commissions Reduce Excessive Levies
Every county has a budget commission made up of the auditor, treasurer, and prosecuting attorney. HB 309 gives these commissions enhanced authority to reduce voter-approved levies they determine are unnecessary or excessive, after a public hearing. “Unnecessary” means generating revenue beyond the taxing authority’s reasonable needs; “excessive” means collecting more than needed to provide services at statutory or community standards.
House Bill 335: Capping Inside Millage
Inside millage is the small amount of property tax (up to 10 mills) that local governments can levy without voter approval under Ohio’s constitution. HB 335 caps growth in revenue from inside millage at the rate of inflation, extending to this category the same principle HB 186 applies to the 20-mill floor.
How the Rollback Changes Affect Your Bill
Ohio has long reduced property tax bills through two state-funded credits. The Non-Business Credit (the 10% rollback) reduces qualifying levies on all real property. The Owner-Occupancy Credit (the 2.5% rollback) adds a further reduction for owner-occupied homes.5Ohio Department of Taxation. Distributions – Real Property Tax Rollbacks – Overview Since 2013, neither credit has applied to new levies, only to older levies and their renewals.6Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – 2.5% And 10% Rollbacks
The state budget (HB 96, signed June 30, 2025) and HB 186 phase out the Non-Business Credit entirely and raise the Owner-Occupancy Credit on this schedule:
- Tax year 2026: Non-Business Credit drops to 7.5%; Owner-Occupancy Credit rises to 5.70%
- Tax year 2027: 5.0% and 8.92%
- Tax year 2028: 2.5% and 12.15%
- Tax year 2029 and after: 0% and 15.38%
If you live in your home, the growing Owner-Occupancy Credit is designed to compensate you for losing the Non-Business Credit. If the property is held by an investor, LLC, or business, the shrinking Non-Business Credit is a net loss with nothing to offset it. By 2029, state rollback relief flows only to owner-occupants.
The Homestead Exemption continues separately for homeowners who are at least 65 or permanently and totally disabled, with an enhanced version for disabled veterans and certain surviving spouses.7Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing For tax year 2025 the standard exemption shields $29,000 of market value and the enhanced version shields $58,000. The income threshold for tax year 2026 is $38,600.8Ohio Department of Taxation. Homestead Income Threshold 2026
Changes to the Reappraisal Schedule
Because counties revalue on different years, a wave of reappraisals in a hot market produces sticker shock in one part of the state while neighboring counties stay flat. The Governor’s property tax working group recommended that the Department of Taxation rearrange the schedule to spread reassessments more evenly.9Office of the Governor of Ohio. Property Tax Working Group Report Some counties have already had their next reappraisal delayed as an administrative response.10The Statehouse News Bureau. Ohio Delays When Some Counties Will Next Appraise Properties Check with your county auditor to confirm when your property is next scheduled for a full reappraisal or triennial update.
If Your Property Is Still Overvalued: The Appeal
Reform laws address the system. If your individual property is valued too high, your remedy is a valuation complaint filed with your county Board of Revision.11Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5715.19
The deadline is March 31 of the year following the tax year you’re challenging, or the closing date for first-half tax collection, whichever is later. You can generally file only once per three-year valuation cycle, unless something material has changed since the lien date (property damage, or a recent arm’s-length sale below the auditor’s value).11Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5715.19
The hearing runs 15 to 30 minutes. The panel consists of the county auditor, county treasurer, and the president of the Board of County Commissioners (or their designees). You carry the burden of proving the auditor’s value is wrong, so bring evidence: a recent appraisal, comparable sales, documentation of damage or functional problems, or a purchase contract showing you paid less than the assessed value. The board issues a decision within a few weeks. You can appeal an unfavorable result to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals or your county’s Court of Common Pleas.
One warning. If you’re asking for a reduction of more than $50,000 in market value, your local school district usually receives a copy of your complaint and may send an attorney to cross-examine you. File anyway if your case is sound, but have your evidence ready.
Recommendations Not Yet Enacted
The Governor’s working group delivered 20 recommendations in its September 30, 2025 report.9Office of the Governor of Ohio. Property Tax Working Group Report Several made it into the four laws above. Others are still proposals:
- A Property Tax Deferral Program for homeowners aged 65 or older or disabled, who have owned and occupied the home for at least 10 years and meet the homestead income threshold.
- Closing the “LLC loophole,” so LLCs buying residential and agricultural property face the same conveyance fees and reassessment triggers as individual buyers.
- Limiting carryover balances, requiring taxing districts to justify reserves exceeding 100% of levy-funded expenses.
- Requiring county commissioners to review and approve or reject levies placed on the ballot by non-elected boards before voters see them.
- Plain-language ballot summaries, approved by the Secretary of State, explaining each levy’s purpose and dollar impact.
- Eliminating future use of substitute levies and renaming existing emergency and substitute levies as “fixed-sum levies” to reduce voter confusion.
Whether any of these become law depends on action in the current legislative session. For now, the four December 2025 bills are what will show up on your bill, with most effects first visible in tax year 2026 collections.