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Ohio voters have been screaming into the void for months: Where are the plans? Where are the policies? In a governor’s race dominated by campaign slogans and carefully managed vagueness, Democrat Amy Acton released a concrete set of proposals Tuesday on the state’s property tax crisis.
The Today in Ohio podcast crew applauded her and said they hope to see more.
“I think this is a great sign. This is what people want. And I think the candidates have been afraid to put stuff out there because the other side will criticize,” said host Chris Quinn. He also warned Republican Vivek Ramaswamy campaign to think twice before criticizing Acton’s plan without offering one of his own.
Host Leila Atassi broke Acton’s plan down into four pillars. First, she would expand existing property tax breaks for seniors and people with disabilities so more homeowners qualify for help. Second, she’s calling for a state-funded rebate program that would cushion the blow for homeowners whose bills spike dramatically after a reappraisal. Third, her plan would add stronger protections for homeowners who fall behind on taxes, making it harder for tax liens to be sold off without safeguards. And fourth — the one that gets at the root of the problem — Acton wants the state to shoulder a larger share of education costs, reducing the pressure on local school levies and, over time, on property tax bills themselves.
Atassi said that last pillar is the most necessary. The core tension, she explained, is that Ohio has spent years redirecting public education dollars toward private school vouchers — and reversing that trend would require a significant political shift.
Quinn suggested that an income test for private school vouchers could free up a substantial chunk of the roughly $1 billion currently flowing to those programs — money that could be reinvested in public schools and used to ease the property tax burden.
Is the plan perfect? The hosts acknowledged there are still questions about how Acton would pay for some of it. But that’s a debate worth having — and right now, it’s a debate only one candidate is willing to have.
“She has clearly thought some things through, more so than any other public official,” Quinn said.
For Ohio homeowners who have watched their tax bills climb while politicians hedged, Acton’s proposal i a starting point. And the fact that Acton offered up something concrete for the first time is a good sign, podcast hosts said. Will Ramaswamy follow her lead?
Listen to the discussion here.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.
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