Campaign To Eliminate Ohio Property Tax Delayed Until 2027

Ohio voters will not decide this November whether to abolish property taxes across the state, but the campaign behind the proposed constitutional amendment says the effort is continuing toward a possible vote in 2027.

The Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes, also known as Ax Ohio Tax, decided not to submit its petitions before Ohio’s July 1 deadline. Campaign leaders said they had not collected the 620,000 signatures they wanted before attempting to qualify the proposal. The group did not publicly disclose its final signature count.

The legal requirement was lower than the campaign’s internal goal. To qualify a citizen proposed constitutional amendment for the 2026 ballot, organizers needed at least 413,487 valid signatures, representing 10 percent of the votes cast in Ohio’s 2022 governor’s race. The petitions also had to include a minimum number of valid signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. In each of those counties, the campaign needed signatures equal to at least 5 percent of the county’s 2022 vote for governor.

For example, Stark County’s 5 percent threshold was 6,696 valid signatures. Simply collecting 413,487 signatures statewide would not have been enough if the campaign failed to meet the individual threshold in at least 44 counties.

The campaign was seeking considerably more than the legal minimum because petition signatures are commonly rejected during verification. A signature may be ruled invalid when the signer is not properly registered, provides an address that does not match the voter registration record, signs more than once or submits incomplete information. Ohio also requires each petition sheet to contain signatures from only one county.

Organizers were therefore trying to create a cushion of more than 200,000 signatures. In April, the campaign publicly reported having collected approximately 305,000 signatures, leaving it short of both its preferred goal and the number it believed would safely produce 413,487 valid signatures after verification.

Technically, the petitions were not submitted and rejected by the Ohio Secretary of State. The campaign chose not to file them because organizers were not confident enough valid signatures would remain after county election officials completed their review.

Had the group submitted enough signatures to appear to meet the initial requirement, but then fallen short during verification, Ohio law would have provided a 10 day period to collect supplemental signatures. Campaign organizers decided that submitting the petitions carried too much risk. Because the petitions were not filed, they may continue using previously collected signatures as they work toward the November 2027 ballot.

Those older signatures are not guaranteed to remain valid. A person who moves, changes voter registration information or is no longer registered at the listed address may have a previously collected signature rejected when the petitions are eventually reviewed. Campaign leaders will therefore need to continue collecting new signatures while also accounting for older signatures that may no longer qualify.

The required statewide total will also change before a possible 2027 vote. Ohio’s Constitution bases the requirement on the number of votes cast in the most recent governor’s election. Because Ohio will elect a governor in November 2026, the signature requirement for a 2027 amendment will be recalculated using 2026 turnout rather than the 2022 election. The new total could rise or fall, and the required number from each of the 44 counties will also change.

Under Ohio’s current filing rules, petitions for the November 2, 2027 election would need to be submitted at least 125 days before Election Day, placing the expected deadline on June 30, 2027.

The proposed amendment is broader than a property tax reduction or temporary freeze. Its official text would prohibit the taxation of real property throughout Ohio, including land, crops, buildings, structures and permanent improvements. It would take effect on the first day of the year following voter approval. If approved in November 2027, the prohibition would therefore begin January 1, 2028.

An important note- The amendment itself does not establish a replacement source of revenue for schools, police and fire departments, libraries, townships, counties or other public services currently supported by property taxes.

For now, the proposal is not dead and has been delayed for at least one year. The campaign continues to advertise signing locations and says its organization is working toward placing the amendment before Ohio voters in November 2027.