Petition title and summary of proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate property taxes in Ohio is accepted

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has accepted the petition title and summary of a proposed constitutional amendment, “Abolishment of Taxes on Real Property,” that seeks to add a Section 14 to Article XII of the Ohio Constitution.

The Attorney General’s Office received the petition on May 1. The office’s role in the petition process, as laid out in Ohio Revised Code 3519.01, is to determine whether the submitted language fairly and truthfully summarizes the proposed statute or constitutional amendment.

“Having carefully examined this submission, I conclude that the title and summary are fair and truthful statements of the proposed constitutional amendment,” said a response letter sent to the petitioners.

As the next step in the process, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine whether the proposal contains a single constitutional amendment or multiple constitutional amendments. 

If the board certifies the proposal, the petitioners must then collect signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. Those signatures must come from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and for each of those counties the number must equal at least 5% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

If sufficient signatures are verified by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment will be placed on the ballot in the next regular or general election that occurs subsequent to 125 days after the filing of such petition.