Miami Township Trustees talk property taxes
- Published: November 25, 2025
Miami Township Trustees spoke at their Monday, Nov. 17, meeting about statewide efforts to quell rising property taxes — including a citizen-led effort to abolish property taxes entirely.
Trustee Chair Chris Mucher and Trustee Marilan Moir, as well as other area trustees and residents, attended a Thursday, Nov. 6, information session with state Sen. Kyle Koehler (Springfield), state Rep. Levi Dean (Xenia) and Ohio Township Association Representative Kyle Brooks about current bills before the Ohio Senate that would, in part, limit the ways in which public school districts collect property tax.
The effort, state lawmakers say, is in service of putting a cap on rising property taxes; see the Nov. 14 YS News story “Bills stymie schools, leaders say” for more information on those bills.
Moir and Mucher said the group also discussed the effort from citizen-led group Citizens for Property Tax Reform, which began working this year to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would abolish all property taxes in the state. The group will need more than 413,000 petition signatures from voters in at least 44 counties to place the amendment on the ballot; News5Cleveland reported last month that the group has said it has collected more than 100,000 signatures.
According to the Ohio Township Association website’s section on “Township Laws,” the “principal source of local revenue [for Ohio townships] is property tax.” At this week’s trustees meeting Moir said Miami Township’s operations, including Miami Township Fire-Rescue, are funded by “probably 90% real estate tax.”
Statewide, property taxes generate around $20 billion in revenue for local municipalities, accounting for about 70% of all local tax revenue, according to the nonprofit research group Tax Foundation.
“We could, as citizens, vote to eliminate real estate tax, which boggles my mind, but the same citizens are not required to put something else in its place,” Moir said.
She added that, according to representatives at the Nov. 6 info session, should the proposed ballot initiative to abolish property tax in the state pass, state legislators would have “six weeks to throw something together to fill the gap, which would mostly include sales tax and income tax.”
Mucher said that if the state were to increase sales and income tax rates in the absence of property tax, both rates would need to increase significantly. The Tax Foundation estimates that, in order to make up the difference, Ohio’s state income tax — set to decline to a flat 2.75% next year — would need to increase to a statewide 12.59% flat tax, inclusive of existing state and municipal income taxes.
“All the representatives said [sales tax and income tax] are just a nonstarter,” Mucher said. “There really were no workable ideas.”
He added that he believes an increased sales tax would drive Ohioans to make large purchases out of state, partially nullifying the intended effect of a sales tax increase.
“They’ve got a real conundrum ahead,” he said.
In other Township business—
• The trustees voted to officially update the Township’s public records policy to reflect that the fiscal officer is the designated custodian of records, as established in a September meeting. The policy notes that no specific language is required to make a request for public records, but that requesters must “at least identify the records requested with sufficient clarity to allow the office to identify, retrieve and review the records.” The policy also notes that the Township may charge public records requestors for the actual cost of making physical copies, in accordance with Ohio law; the cost for paper copies is $0.15 per page.
• The trustees approved an official cybersecurity policy, as required by a new state law; that policy is confidential — also a requirement of Ohio law.
• Trustees approved the resignation of Miami Township Fire-Rescue’s medical director, Dr. Lynn Bailey; they also approved Dr. Alyssa Gans to serve as Bailey’s replacement in the position. Medical directors, who are required to be contracted by EMS departments in the state of Ohio, are physicians who serve as “critical liaison[s] between the local EMS agency, hospital administrators and medical staff, local public health and public safety agencies, and the layperson members of the community,” according to the Ohio Emergency Medical Services website.
• Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas updated the trustees on the continuing work of the Zoning Commission on the Township’s Zoning Resolution. He presented a draft of a new section on public cemeteries, noting that the resolution did not previously contain such a section; he also presented a draft of an amendment on off-street parking, loading and driveways. Lucas said final drafts will likely be presented in public hearings early next year. To view the text amendments currently in the drafting process, go to miamitownship.net/zoning-resolution. For more information on the Zoning Resolution update, see the Nov. 14 YS News story “Zoning changes ahead.”
• Trustees approved a resolution authorizing Lucas to assist with administrative tasks and enforcement associated with junk vehicles, as defined by ORC 505.871, within the unincorporated areas of Miami Township; earlier this month, the trustees approved Lucas to act in the same capacity with regard to vegetation, refuse and debris abatement.
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