Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Ballot Petitions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Worcester officials warn two Ohio ballot petitions could sharply cut local revenue, expand liability
Summary
City officials briefed council on two certified constitutional amendment petitions now gathering signatures across Ohio: one would eliminate qualified immunity for public employees, the other would abolish property taxes. Officials said both would have large fiscal and operational impacts on local government if adopted.
Mayor (speaker for communications) briefed Worcester City Council on two statewide ballot petitions that recently cleared the Ohio Attorney General's form review and are now circulating for signatures.
The mayor said one petition would end the doctrine of qualified immunity for government employees and "would expose public school teachers, coaches, and administrators, city ... every one of our Worcester City elected officials" to greater civil liability. The second petition would ban property taxes, a change officials said would remove a major revenue source for local services and schools.
City staff described the signature threshold and geographic requirements for placing an amendment on Ohio's ballot: proponents must collect roughly 413,000 valid signatures (about 10% of the prior governor's vote) from across the state, with enough signatures from at least half of Ohio's counties, each meeting a 5% county-level threshold. Both petitions completed the attorney general's review in recent months; staff said one was certified in April and the other on May 9.
Joel (staff member) briefed council on the local revenue stakes. "For us, this last year it's $3,400,000.0 is the inside millage that we get," he said, referring to the city portion of property-tax revenue that would be affected if the property-tax amendment passed. City staff warned the petitions make no provision for replacing lost property-tax revenue and noted that higher liability exposure could increase insurance costs or make some coverages unavailable for local governments.
Council members and staff framed the discussion as informational. No formal action was taken; the mayor and staff urged residents to research petitions before signing so they understand potential local consequences.
Ending: Council did not take a vote on this item; staff said they will continue to monitor developments at the statehouse and provide updates in future memos.
