Senate Bill 66 divides education and taxpayer groups over property-tax formula changes and the 20-mill floor

Senate Bill 66 drew extended testimony from school finance groups, taxpayer advocates and business coalitions at a Ways and Means Committee hearing, centering on whether the bill restores protections against unvoted tax increases or would retroactively and substantially reduce local school revenue.

Katie Johnson, representing the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), told the committee the bill "fundamentally alters the 20 mil floor calculation" and warned it raises constitutional and fiscal concerns for districts and taxpayers. Johnson explained Ohio’s property-tax and school-funding framework and said the 20-mill floor—intended to prevent a district's combined real-property millage from falling below 20 effective mills—has been part of school funding for decades. She said SB 66 would expand the floor calculation to include income taxes, emergency levies, substitute levies and inside millage, which OASBO believes conflicts with…