House committee advances property-tax inflation cap with $360 million school backfill

The Ohio House Ways and Means Committee voted to favorably report House Bill 186 on a bipartisan 11-1 vote after accepting amendments that set an inflation cap on unvoted property-tax growth starting in tax year 2026 and provide a temporary state backfill for affected school districts.

The measure, as amended, places an inflation-based cap on second-half property-tax bills beginning in 2026. Committee members said the bill will not take money from current-year school accounts and is not retroactive. Vice Chair Representative Thomas, who presented the amendment, said the state will backfill the difference for schools until their next revaluation “to the tune of roughly $360,000,000 from the sales tax holiday fund.”

Why it matters: The amendment’s backfill is intended to give school districts time to adjust budgets between revaluations while implementing a policy that would prevent unvoted property-tax increases above inflation moving forward. Committee members described the change as a middle path between fully protecting past unvoted increases and leaving schools immediately exposed to revenue losses.

Key provisions and debate - Inflation cap timing: The cap on year-over-year unvoted property-tax growth takes effect in 2026 on second-half bills, according to committee discussion. Committee leaders repeatedly stated the measure is not retroactive.

- School backfill: Vice Chair Representative Thomas explained that the state will use remaining balances in the sales-tax holiday fund to backfill schools’ revenue losses until each district’s next county revaluation. Thomas said the amount dedicated for that purpose is “roughly $360,000,000.”

- Targeting amendment tabled: Representative Troy offered an amendment to limit the bill’s credit to owner-occupied and agricultural property, excluding vacation homes, out-of-state-owned property and rental properties. The committee voted to lay that amendment on the table by roll call, 8 to 4. Representative Thomas moved to table the amendment; the chair then called the roll. The committee’s chairs and members later accepted the other technical and harmonizing changes.

Quotes from the hearing “First, no retroactivity in this bill,” said Representative Thomas, the vice chair of the committee, as he explained the timing of the cap and the state backfill. “We are using state dollars, but they are taxpayer dollars, and we should be very frugal and very conservative with how we are using those taxpayer dollars.”

“I just want to say this is the right thing to do that to hold our schools harmless,” said Representative Richardson during floor discussion before the final vote.

Representative Troy, the ranking member, urged additional future consideration: “If we agree that it is finally time for the state to put some skin in the game, then why not commit the additional $100,000,000 necessary to truly hold our kids harmless… Is this something that you … would be willing to work with us on in the future?”

Formal actions and outcome - Motion to amend HB 186 with amendment L_136_0063 (-10) (mover: Vice Chair Representative Thomas). The committee accepted the amendment by unanimous consent after discussion.

- Motion to table the amendment offered by Representative Troy (targeting credit to owner-occupied and agricultural property) (mover: Representative Thomas): laid on the table by roll call vote, 8 yes, 4 no; outcome: tabled. (Roll-call names for that vote are recorded in the committee transcript.)

- Motion to favorably report HB 186 and re-refer to Rules and Reference (mover: Vice Chair Representative Thomas): passed by roll call, 11 yes, 1 no; outcome: favorably reported and recommended for referral.

Implementation notes and next steps Committee leaders asked the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) to harmonize and engross the accepted amendments and substitute language into a single bill packet before further House consideration. Members were invited to add cosponsor names on the report prior to sign-off.

Clarifying details - Backfill amount: Committee discussion identified approximately $360,000,000 from the sales-tax holiday fund to backfill affected school revenue until each district’s next revaluation. - Effective year: The cap begins in 2026 on second-half bills; committee members stated explicitly the bill is not retroactive to prior years.

Speakers - Chairman: Chairman Romer (Chair, Ohio House Ways and Means Committee) — government - Representative Thomas (Vice Chair, Ohio House Ways and Means Committee) — government - Representative Troy (Ranking Member, Ohio House Ways and Means Committee) — government - Representative Richardson (Member, Ohio House Ways and Means Committee) — government - Representative Hoops (joint sponsor, mentioned) — government

Authorities - type: other; name/description: Sales tax holiday fund; referenced_by: ["backfill for school districts"]

Actions [{"kind":"motion","identifiers":{},"motion":"Amend HB 186 with L_136_0063 (-10)","mover":"Representative Thomas","second":"not specified","vote_record":[],"tally":{"yes":null,"no":null,"abstain":0},"legal_threshold":{},"outcome":"accepted","notes":"Amendment implements cap and state backfill; accepted by committee."},{"kind":"motion","identifiers":{},"motion":"Table amendment offered by Representative Troy to limit credit to owner-occupied and agricultural property","mover":"Representative Thomas","second":"not specified","vote_record":[{"member":"Chairman Romer","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Thomas","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Ranking Member Troy","vote":"no"},{"member":"Representative Glick","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Daniels","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Glassburn","vote":"no"},{"member":"Representative Lear","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Richardson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Rogers","vote":"no"},{"member":"Representative Santucci","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Seegrest","vote":"no"},{"member":"Representative Thomas","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":8,"no":4,"abstain":0},"legal_threshold":{},"outcome":"tabled","notes":"Roll call recorded in transcript."},{"kind":"motion","identifiers":{},"motion":"Favorably report HB 186 and refer to Rules and Reference","mover":"Representative Thomas","second":"not specified","vote_record":[{"member":"Chairman Romer","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Thomas","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Ranking Member Troy","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Glick","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Daniels","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Glassburn","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Lear","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Richardson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Rogers","vote":"no"},{"member":"Representative Santucci","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Seegrest","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Representative Thomas","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":11,"no":1,"abstain":0},"legal_threshold":{},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Committee asked LSC to harmonize accepted amendments."}]

Discussion_decision {"discussion_points":["Whether the credit/cap should apply to owner-occupied only or to all property classes","How to fund school district backfill and for how long","Timing and non-retroactivity of the inflation cap"],"directions":["LSC to harmonize and engross accepted amendments"],"decisions":["Committee favorably reported HB 186 to Rules and Reference (11-1)","Amendment to restrict credit to owner-occupied and agricultural property tabled (8-4)"]}

Clarifying_details [{"category":"backfill amount","detail":"state backfill for schools until next revaluation","value":360000000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Representative Thomas"},{"category":"effective_year","detail":"inflation cap starts in 2026 on second-half bills","value":"2026","units":"year","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Representative Thomas"}]

Proper_names [{"name":"Ohio House Ways and Means Committee","type":"other"},{"name":"House Bill 186","type":"other"},{"name":"Sales tax holiday fund","type":"other"},{"name":"Legislative Service Commission","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance {"geographies":["Statewide (Ohio)"],"funding_sources":["Sales tax holiday fund"],"impact_groups":["school districts","students","property taxpayers"]}

meeting_context {"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":6,"duration_minutes":40,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2025-03-01","note":"Amendments accepted and bill favorably reported to Rules"}]}

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