Auditors and Business Groups Urge Senate to Back Bill Capping School Inside-Millage at Inflation

Christopher Galloway, Lake County Auditor and second vice president of the County Auditors Association of Ohio, told the Senate Local Government Committee the group supports substitute House Bill 186 because it "eliminates the single largest unvoted tax increase in Ohio history" and caps allowable school-district property-tax increases at the rate of inflation rather than at appraisal-driven value growth. Galloway said the bill would immediately affect the roughly 483 school districts at the 20-mill floor and, through retroactivity provisions, would provide property-tax relief in 2026 for homeowners most affected by recent valuation spikes.