Property Tax Showdown: Ohio Mom Takes On Politicians
I’ve been covering Ohio housing for years, and every so often you meet a neighbor who turns into a movement. That’s exactly what happened when I sat down with Lizzie Margolius—mom, volunteer, and the Licking County lead for the petition to abolish property taxes in Ohio. Her story, and the avalanche of numbers behind it, explain why so many Ohio families feel like they’re stuck renting their homes from the government.
Why this fight matters to homeowners like us
We opened with a stat that still makes my jaw drop: the average Ohioan pays nearly $453,000 in taxes over a lifetime—$147,000 of that is just property tax. Let that sink in. No wonder people say they don’t truly own their homes; they’re paying a perpetual fee to keep living in them.
That’s also one of Axe Ohio Tax’s core moral arguments that Lizzie shared: if you can lose your home for falling behind on a tax bill, then you never really own it—and any tax that can make you homeless is immoral. Whether you agree or not, it’s a clear, gut-level framing of what’s at stake.
Meet the mom taking on the machine
Lizzie didn’t come out of the political class. She’s a Northeast Ohio native who moved back home for the Midwestern values and her kids’ childhood, and then—like a lot of parents—she started volunteering. One thing led to another, she met the Axe Ohio Tax team, and now she’s helping lead a statewide citizen effort. No one is getting paid; it’s volunteers across all 88 counties.
If you want proof this isn’t just online chatter, consider August at the Hartford Fair: over 2,000 petition signatures collected in a single burst. Ordinary people are showing up, signing, and telling their stories.
The next tax punch is already telegraphed
Here’s the kicker: if nothing changes, the County Auditors Association president warned that property taxes could jump another 25–30% by the next sexennial reappraisal. In Licking County, we’ve got a triennial next year—another hit even before that “big kahuna” sexennial. In plain English: Ohio effectively audits property values every three years, and the meter keeps ticking up.
I don’t know a single family whose wages are rising on that schedule.
Where do our property taxes actually go?
If you’ve ever wondered why your bills rise even when enrollment falls, you’re not imagining things. Public school spending has steadily increased—nearly doubling over 20 years—largely driven by salaries and benefits, while enrollment has declined. Proficiency in core subjects is also worryingly low. And here’s the connective tissue most voters don’t see: about 85% of your property tax goes to schools. If you’re frustrated with both taxes and outcomes, that’s why they feel linked.
On top of that, there are opaque practices like “double-dipping”—retiring and returning to the same role to collect both a pension and a paycheck—which adds up to serious money each year and fuels the feeling that taxpayers are footing bills without accountability.
The petition: what it says and how it works
Let’s clear up confusion. The ballot language aims to abolish property taxes on all real property—residential, commercial, agricultural, land, and improvements—and prohibit new property taxes in the future. It’s written to be effective the first day of the following year, which avoids the trap of having to redo signatures if timelines slip. Volunteers are collecting across the state; you can sign in any county as long as your signature goes on your home-county petition sheet.
Also important: by signing the petition, you’re not voting for the amendment—you’re saying you want it on the ballot so Ohioans can decide. If it makes the May or November ballot next year and passes, implementation would still begin January 1, 2027, giving legislators a full year to figure out transition details.
“But how will we fund things?”
We talked through this a lot. There are many revenue levers (consumption taxes, targeted fees, closing loopholes), and frankly, spending discipline has to be part of the conversation. Even without changing rates, broader population and business growth can lift sales-tax receipts—think of it like the “stadium math” politicians use, but applied to families and small businesses choosing Ohio for its lower fixed costs.
If your community wants to fund something specific, you can still vote for it directly—for instance, local income-based school taxes already exist in places like Johnstown. The point is to stop tying the tax to unrealized gains in a volatile housing market. No one knocks on your door to tax your 401(k) because the balance went up on paper—yet that’s how property taxes work today.
Why the political class keeps punting
I wish I could say there’s urgency at the Statehouse, but the pattern is…committees. Then more committees. And too often, nothing concrete comes out the other side. Meanwhile, the cost of doing nothing compounds—especially when Ohio is losing population and income relative to other states. That shrinking base means a heavier load on those who stay.
And to be blunt, campaign finance realities make it hard to close cost-driving loopholes. When the system rewards spending and growth of bureaucracy, taxpayers get crowded out. That’s why this has become a citizen-led effort.
What I took away from Lizzie
Three things stuck with me:
This is bottom-up. A mom with a spreadsheet and a spine is rallying neighbors, not lobbyists. Thousands of signatures at a county fair prove it.
The current trajectory is unsustainable. Even the auditors are warning of another 25–30% jump if nothing changes. That’s not a conspiracy theory; it’s an official forecast.
Ballot access is the immediate goal. You don’t have to agree on every replacement model to agree that Ohioans deserve a vote on whether our homes should be collateral for government growth. Petitions must be filed 90 days before the election, and if voters approve it next year, the change begins January 1, 2027.
How to plug in (and what’s next)
However you feel about property taxes, this is a conversation Ohio has to have in the open. I’m going to keep digging, interviewing, and putting real numbers in front of you. And I’ll keep giving everyday Ohioans—like Lizzie—the mic.
Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about slogans. It’s about whether families can afford to keep the front door keys to the homes they already bought.
