Letter: Ohio Republican tax cut proposal is a bad idea
Tax cuts! Everybody likes the idea. But we need to pay attention to what the Ohio GOP is currently proposing.
Their plan would drop the state income tax rate for everybody to a flat rate between 2% and 3%, a windfall for those with high incomes. So how would they make up for the lost revenue?
They plan to make drastic cuts in the money the state currently gives to cities and localities, to pay primarily for schools but also for parks and libraries. Under current Ohio law, if such revenue for schools goes down, homeowner property taxes automatically rise. So a middle class family would receive perhaps a few hundred dollars in savings on state income tax while seeing local property taxes jump by $1,000 or quite a bit more. (Interestingly, business and industrial property taxes would stay the same.)
Seniors living on Social Security, who currently pay no state income tax, and low-income workers would see no savings at all.
The argument from the speaker of the Statehouse is that property taxes are locally voted, so this would be fair. But how would any future levy possibly pass?
School levies already can be difficult, as those without children may see no value in the tax. Everyone will say, "Didn't our property taxes just go up a lot?" without realizing that the schools' total budget remained the same, and the levy was necessary to keep up with inflation or to make improvements.
Schools would be faced with trying to pass new levies against heavy opposition or enduring serious cuts. For 30 years, the Ohio Supreme Court has said Ohio relies too much on property taxes to fund schools, and this would just make it worse. The only ones benefiting would be the wealthy.
Our representative to Columbus, Scott Wiggam, lives right here in Wooster and needs to hear from us. This tax plan is a very bad idea.
Constance B. Bouchard, Wooster
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Letter: Ohio Republican tax cut proposal is a bad idea
