A group of conservatives has pulled back on calling for followers not to help the effort to put an amendment abolishing property taxes before voters, because of social media posts from one of the amendment effort's leaders. But the group now said it will continue to assist with gathering signatures to put the issue before voters next year.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform has been circulating petitions to put the property tax abolition proposal before voters in November 2026. The group Ohio Conservatives PAC raised questions on its Facebook page about posts blasting President Trump, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and others from one of the property tax effort's leaders.
Brian Massie with Citizens for Property Tax Reform said the effort is nonpartisan and is not backed or supported by any political party.
“This is truly a grass-roots issue," Massie said. "I will welcome Republicans, Democrats, and independents to help us get the petition signatures that we need to get this on the ballot."
Ohio Conservatives PAC edited its previous Facebook post with an update that reads: "We were contacted today by the leader of the official ballot initiative committee to abolish Ohio's property tax and we'll be a member of the coalition to support this movement."
But Massie said Citizens for Property Tax Reform is finding some people are reluctant to sign petitions because they are afraid of the impact of abolishing property taxes on schools and local safety services.
"I'm not sure we should replace it dollar for dollar," Massie said.
"Do we need 611 school districts in the state of Ohio? In Lake County, the county that I live in, we have nine school districts. Why don't we think about a county-wide school district where we have one superintendent, one curriculum director?" Massie asked.
Massie said he's found voters are more willing to sign once he explains that the abolition proposal would require more accountability and efficiency of local services provided. But critics of the proposal have noted there's nothing in the amendment to explain how the dollars would be replaced, and some lawmakers have said they're very concerned about what would happen if the amendment gets to the ballot and succeeds.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform will have to gather about 440,000 valid petition signatures by July 2026 to put the issue on the statewide ballot next November.
