Ohio
Property tax elimination effort gains momentum in Ohio as auditors propose alternatives
CINCINNATI — A grassroots group and Ohio House lawmakers are pushing to overhaul the state’s property tax system, which many homeowners say has become increasingly burdensome. However, county auditors are warning that eliminating property taxes without a clear alternative could jeopardize essential local services.
For homeowners like Beth Blackmarr, who works with Citizens for Property Tax Reform based in Cuyahoga County, the current system has become unsustainable.
“It just got to be too much,” Blackmarr told WCPO. “We can’t have senior citizens pushed out of their homes that are paid for that they’ve been in for thirty and forty years, and they can’t afford the property tax on them.”
This citizens’ group is working to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would eliminate property taxes in Ohio. They need to collect more than 413,000 valid signatures across at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
While state lawmakers have introduced House Bill 335, which aims to limit how much money local governments and school districts can receive from rising property values, Blackmarr said the group took action after seeing legislative efforts stall repeatedly.
“They had 40 bills last year, none of which made it across the finish line for one reason or another,” Blackmarr said. “And so, at the beginning of this year, we said if they’re not going to do anything, I guess we’re going to have to do something for ourselves.”
County auditors, who are on the front lines of the property tax system, believe there are better solutions than outright doing away with property taxes. Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix expressed concerns about the potential consequences.
WATCH: County auditors’ alternative solutions to eliminating property tax or House Bill 335 below
Property tax elimination effort gains momentum in Ohio as auditors propose alternatives
“I just wouldn’t want to live in a community that didn’t have local government funding, and that’s what we’re risking if we do eliminate local property taxes,” Nix said. “But at the same time, we are totally empathetic; we are the ones receiving the calls from our taxpayers who can’t afford their tax bills.”
The County Auditors’ Association of Ohio has proposed alternative solutions, including creating what they call a “menu of targeted tax relief,” increasing property tax exemptions for seniors and eliminating the state-imposed cap on tax rate reductions.
Blackmarr said that while public education is constitutionally guaranteed, the funding mechanism needs to change if it continues to burden homeowners.
“Public school is guaranteed to us by the Constitution; we just have to get another way to pay for it that’s not so heavily dependent upon homeowners,” she said.
Nix urged lawmakers to carefully consider the auditors’ proposals.
“These are very complicated issues — the funding, all the agencies, the calculations, the 20-mill floor. I just hope that they will strongly consider our proposals,” Nix said.
If the ballot measure succeeds and voters choose to eliminate property taxes without an alternative solution from state lawmakers, sales and income taxes would likely increase to make up for the lost revenue.
CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school.
Now, a national nonprofit is working to change that by expanding access to books and promoting early literacy across the state.
Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school. (WKRC file)
Nedra Smith has seen the difference firsthand. Her two young daughters receive books through the program at their pediatrician visits at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“They love to read now,” Smith said. “We’ll randomly be out and they’ll see a book and want to read a book.”
Reach Out and Read partners with pediatricians to give children books during regular checkups and encourage parents to read aloud with them. The program has been part of Cincinnati Children’s for more than a decade.
“They typically come in and tell us they got new books,” Smith said. “They typically ask me to read the book right then and there.”
Program leaders say early literacy is increasingly being recognized as an important part of a child’s overall health and development.
“Initially, literacy may not have been in the forefront or seen as a health benefit,” said Kristy High, program manager for Reach Out and Read. “Well-child checks focus on shots, nutrition, and those things; but now we want to focus on those main benefits for the development and milestones when it comes to learning.”
The organization is now working to expand its reach statewide, with a goal of serving children in all 88 Ohio counties.
“We know that those first five years of life are the most critical for brain development,” said Steven Lake, executive director of Reach Out and Read Ohio. “If we can intervene as early as possible, essentially, we reach out at birth; we know we can have the greatest impact.”
Smith encourages other parents to participate in the program and read to their children.
“It’s fun,” Smith said. “It’s actually fun to see them light up, and I think they’ll pass that on to their own kids as well.”
Reach Out and Read also partners with providers in Kentucky and Indiana. You can find a participating provider near you on the organization’s website.
If you are a doctor looking to participate in the program, click here.
The Ohio Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Pick 3
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 8-6-2
Evening: 7-0-5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 4
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 9-4-7-0
Evening: 0-6-1-8
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 1-7-3-7-4
Evening: 9-0-8-8-0
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Rolling Cash 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 7:05 p.m.
16-19-33-36-38
Check Rolling Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Millionaire for Life
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 11:15 p.m.
01-03-20-35-46, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Enquirer digital news director. You can send feedback using this form.
Ryan Day will have some very familiar competition in the Big 10 soon.
The son of the Ohio State football coach, R.J. Day, announced his commitment to Northwestern for the Class of 2027 on Sunday.
Northwestern plays in the same conference as Ohio State and the schools will face each other.
R.J. Day, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback from — not surprisingly — Columbus, Ohio, has started for three years at St. Francis DeSales HS as he heads towards his senior season.
According to reports, the younger Day had other offers from Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati and South Florida, as well as others.
Northwestern has eight quarterbacks on head coach David Braun’s roster.
And the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats is Chip Kelly, who served in the same role for Ryan Day at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the title in 2024.
Kelly, the former head coach at UCLA and Oregon, was also the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire when Ryan Day was the team captain from 1998-2001.
Most recently, Kelly was the OC with the Las Vegas Raiders before he took the job with Northwestern.
“It’s really surreal when you think about the relationships that we’ve had with those two as a family over the years,” R.J. Day told ESPN earlier this month. “Coach Kelly coached my dad in college, so that adds another layer to it.”
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