Photo: Ohiohouse.gov
Local leaders sound alarm on HB 335, budget bill
- Published: June 19, 2025
The Village of Yellow Springs and YS Schools this week joined a host of other local governance bodies across the state in sounding the alarm about the effects of the recently introduced House Bill 335 and the soon-to-be-passed state budget. Local leaders are asking residents to make their voices heard to state legislators ahead of the budget bill’s expected passage on or around June 24.
HB 335, also known as the “Property Tax Relief NOW Act,” was introduced Wednesday, June 4, by Reps. Dave Thomas (R-Jefferson) and Bill Roemer (R-Richfield). Announced by its sponsors as a method to reduce property taxes for Ohioans, if passed, the bill would significantly cut local revenue through a variety of means, including by eliminating “inside mill” property taxes — that is, unvoted tax revenue — for all political subdivisions except townships.
At the same time, the Ohio Senate is currently in conference committee to complete deliberations on the budget bill, which the News reported last month includes cuts to public education funding and provisions that would put a limit on the amount of operating revenue school districts can carryover annually. Because HB 335’s sponsors announced the bill immediately following the Senate’s introduction of its amended budget, state advocacy groups and lobbyists, including the Ohio School Boards Association, believe the move indicates a possibility that budget negotiators are considering folding the key proposals of HB 335 into the finalized budget.
In a joint letter sent to legislators, the Village and YS Schools decried the provisions of both HB 335 and the budget bill, writing that they would “significantly undermine local financial stability and planning as well as have a detrimental effect on our ability to serve our residents and students.” (Click here to read the letter in full.)
The Village would stand to lose $455,244 annually if HB 335 eliminates inside millage, which the joint letter states would decrease its general operations fund and “likely put village services and public safety at risk.”
Village Council member Brian Housh, in speaking with the News this week, pointed out that the bill would also allow county budget commissions to reduce the millage of voter-approved levies at the commissions’ discretion, overriding the will of the voting populace.
“We’re supposed to be a home-rule state and have local control over addressing our [municipal budgets],” he said. “There aren’t many frills in our budget now, and even the small amounts we put toward commissions and things like the community gardens are important to economic development and the vibrancy of the village.”
For schools across the state, the effects of HB 335 would be dramatic, with an estimated $1.5 billion in public school revenue to be lost if inside millage is eliminated. According to the joint letter, YS Schools would lose $942,000 annually — the equivalent of 20% of the district’s teachers’ wages and benefits. The district anticipates a shortfall of $3.5 million within the next decade if the bill passes.
“On May 8 last month, we confirmed at our five-year forecast that we could stretch our funding until 2033 without going back to the ballot,” school board member Dorothee Bouquet told the News this week. “This is on track to make us break our promise by having to go back to the ballot.”
The Senate budget bill currently in committee would affect school district revenues by capping district operating revenue carryover at 50% annually. It would also prohibit school districts from proposing emergency levies, substitute levies, fixed sum levies and renewal levies with increased millage.
Though this version of the budget bill increases the carryover limit by 20% compared to a previous version, as the News reported in May, school districts across the state remain concerned that capping revenue carryover will discourage responsible saving of taxpayer funds and require districts to return to taxpayers for levy approval more often, while also limiting the kinds of levies districts can propose.
Considering both HB 335 and the budget bill, the joint letter from the Village and the school district states: “These legislative changes, taken individually, are deeply concerning. Taken together, they are devastating.”
Because the budget bill, including any provisions of HB 335 that may be incorporated into it, is expected to be finalized and delivered to Gov. Mike DeWine by June 24, Bouquet said time is of the essence for Ohioans to contact their representatives about both bills.
“We need everyone to join us in making noise and calling the three house representatives and senators that are on the conference committee this week, and then calling our local Representatives Kyle Kohler and Levi Dean,” Bouquet said.
Housh also expressed understanding for the financial difficulties that rising property values and property taxes place on voters, saying that municipalities are not opposed to “responsible policies that improve” property tax burdens.
“But punishing students and residents of all the different villages and cities — that’s not the way to do it,” he said.
Below is contact information for both local representatives and conference committee legislators:
- Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), chair, House Finance Committee; email: rep12@ohiohouse.gov; phone: (614) 466-1464;
- Rep. Michael Dovilla (R-Berea), vice chair, House Finance Committee; email: rep17@ohiohouse.gov; phone: (614) 466-4895;
- Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland), ranking member, House Finance Committee; email: Rep16@ohiohouse.gov; phone: (614) 466-3350;
- Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), chair, Senate Finance Committee; email: cirino@ohiosenate.gov; phone: (614) 644-7718;
- Sen. Brian Chavez (R-Marietta), vice chair, Senate Finance Committee; email: chavez@ohiosenate.gov; phone: (614) 466-8056;
- Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Akron); ranking member, Senate Finance Committee; email: hicks-hudson@ohiosenate.gov; phone: (614) 466-5204;
- Senator Sen. Kyle Koehler (R-Xenia): Koehler@ohiosenate.gov; phone: (614) 466-3780;
- Rep. Levi Dean (R-Xenia) rep71@ohiohouse.gov; phone: (614) 466-1470.
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