2025-12-02

Briana Cooper

Pending Legislation

Several pieces of legislation have recently progressed through the Ohio General Assembly that could bring about changes that will impact commercial real estate. Below is a summary of those Bills, along with their potential implications for the commercial real estate industry.

House Bill 28 (passed the House and awaits Senate consideration)
Prohibits “replacement” property tax levies by local governments (i.e., when an existing levy is replaced with essentially the same purpose but with a higher rate).

Impact for commercial real estate: Reduction in the likelihood of surprise levy increases via “replacement levies” in certain local jurisdictions; should improve predictability of tax calculations in CRE financial modeling.

House Bill 335 (passed the House, progressing through Senate)
A broad property-tax relief and reform Bill aiming to provide up to $3.5 Billion in relief. Limits on how school districts can increase revenue from valuations, caps on unvoted millage growth, tax credits tied to “20-mill floor” for schools. 

This legislative audit of unvoted school district taxation growth would likely favorably impact many commercial real estate properties over the long term. 

Senate Bill 206 (progressing through Senate)
Authorizes a property‐tax reduction for certain owner-occupied homes by amending tax code. 

Potential for Unprecedented Change
Another initiative could lead to an unprecedented change in Ohio real property tax policy. Citing the ‘enormous strain that tax increases put on families,’ the Citizens for Property Tax Reform group is collecting signatures across the state to garner support to place a measure on the November 2026 ballot to repeal Ohio’s real property taxation system. If the group collects enough signatures, an amendment could be placed on the ballot for the 2026 general election to eliminate property taxes statewide. The resulting revenue loss would dramatically reduce a major funding source for local governments, schools, fire, and emergency systems, and could reconfigure our state and local tax system as we know it.

Other states and municipalities have gone down this road before. The truth is that tax reform presents a contentious issue no matter where you live, work, or operate a business.  Read this article from the Tax Foundation that illustrates the challenges and creative solutions for reforming real property taxation systems.