Speaker 1: Let's continue now. About two or three weeks ago, the
Speaker 1: governor vetoed some of the measures of public education here
Speaker 1: in the state of Ohio, and I think one of
Speaker 1: the vetos was over turned. The others not a man
Speaker 1: with his finger on the pulls of what's happening in
Speaker 1: New Richmond, the home of the Lions, and also Columbus
Speaker 1: is state Representative Adam Bird. And Adam Bird welcome again
Speaker 1: to the Bill Cunningham Show. As we sit here at
Speaker 1: two twelve pm Eastern time. What happened this morning? If anything?
Speaker 2: Thank you, Bill. I am still in Columbus. We met
Speaker 2: at eleven am a special session called by the Speaker
Speaker 2: to consider a couple of property tax issues. You described
Speaker 2: them just a second ago at school funding issues. I
Speaker 2: think they're more properly described as property taxes. And as
Speaker 2: you know, Bill, the property tax payer all over Ohio
Speaker 2: is crying out for help. And that's what this was
Speaker 2: about today, was to bring some property tax really to
Speaker 2: to uh to own homeowners.
Speaker 1: And what happened, goes media reporting, is that one of
Speaker 1: the three was overturned, the emergency levees. The other two
Speaker 1: not what was overturned.
Speaker 2: There you go, So the one. The one that was
Speaker 2: overturned was the part about no new replacement property taxes,
Speaker 2: no new emergency levees, no new substitute levees. And if
Speaker 2: you're going to put an expense levee on the ballot,
Speaker 2: you cannot have carryover balance and access of one hundred
Speaker 2: percent of your expenses. So this is uh, this is
Speaker 2: a you know, an effort. There's so many different property
Speaker 2: tax levies asks that are out there that that schools
Speaker 2: and townships and villages and so forth can ask for,
Speaker 2: and we're limiting the number of types of property taxes
Speaker 2: that you can ask for in the future.
Speaker 1: So if someone claims we have an emergency levee, the
Speaker 1: the eers emergency levees are out.
Speaker 2: That's right, emergency cannot use an emergency anymore. You can't
Speaker 2: use a substitute levee anymore, you can't use a replacement levy.
Speaker 2: Now I would preface also that will it by reminding
Speaker 2: you that that has to go through both chambers, and
Speaker 2: since the budget built always originates in the House, the
Speaker 2: House has to go first. We've overturned that today and
Speaker 2: so now the Senate will get together in the next
Speaker 2: couple of weeks and consider the same thing.
Speaker 1: I would thank you and the House are not going
Speaker 1: to involve yourself in some purative act. You would have
Speaker 1: to have an understanding that the Senate's going to follow
Speaker 1: the lead of the House. Is that correct?
Speaker 2: I think so yeah. And you know, everybody knows who
Speaker 2: their state senators are in southwestern Ohio, and I do
Speaker 2: believe they'll be considering it. I think they'll will side
Speaker 2: on the They will come down on the side of
Speaker 2: property tax payers and will decide to override the governor's veto.
Speaker 2: And you know, people are crying out on this issue.
Speaker 2: There's more left to do. Really, there is way more
Speaker 2: to do on property taxes, and we got to get
Speaker 2: to that and have some substantial conversations about property taxes.
Speaker 2: But for today, we have taken the first small bite
Speaker 2: of the apple.
Speaker 1: Well, the other thing is the Columbus dispatches reporting that
Speaker 1: the House that means you punted overriding vetos and two
Speaker 1: other proposals that would allow county budget commissions to lower
Speaker 1: voter approve levies and secondly, change the formula known as
Speaker 1: the twenty mil floor, which guarantees a certain amount of
Speaker 1: moneys for districts. Did you punt on those other two issues.
Speaker 2: We did, Willie, and so they're still on the table.
Speaker 2: We're still going to consider them in the future. But
Speaker 2: and you accurately described both of those vetos. One would
Speaker 2: give the County Budget Commission the authority to reduce unnecessary
Speaker 2: excessive property tax collection, and then the other one was
Speaker 2: changing the twenty mili floor calculation. We're still going to
Speaker 2: consider that. But we wanted to get moving on this,
Speaker 2: and we could only get sixty two House Republicans in
Speaker 2: Columbus today. Three of them were unable to be there,
Speaker 2: and and then we had a couple of no votes.
Speaker 2: So we have to be careful about making sure that
Speaker 2: we can get sixty votes in the seats ready to vote.
Speaker 2: And it takes a three fifths vote to overcome a
Speaker 2: governor veto, and that means we've got to have sixty
Speaker 2: out of ninety nine House members.
Speaker 1: I would assume therefore the other two did not come
Speaker 1: up because of the Speaker, Matt Hoffman, who may come
Speaker 1: on with me tomorrow, didn't have the votes. Is that
Speaker 1: fair to say?
Speaker 2: I think it's fair to say. Or we want to
Speaker 2: have abundance of caution. We'll make sure that we've got
Speaker 2: them later on when we can get a couple of
Speaker 2: more House Republicans in Columbus, and we just an abundance
Speaker 2: of caution. We knew we could get the one. We'll
Speaker 2: come back and get the other ones later perhaps. But
Speaker 2: you know, right, like I said, there's that threshold of
Speaker 2: sixty out of ninety nine that have to vote for this,
Speaker 2: and there were several three Republicans that couldn't make it
Speaker 2: to Columbus today, and we'll get the other ones hopefully
Speaker 2: picked up later on. I wouldn't say that they're they're
Speaker 2: off the table, but punting them and dealing with them later.
Speaker 2: And by the way, Willie, remember the governor had sixty
Speaker 2: seven line item vetos. We only doubt we're only talking
Speaker 2: about three of them today. There's a lot more of
Speaker 2: them that House Republicans would like to override his veto on.
Speaker 2: So we've got a lot of work to cope, and
Speaker 2: the Constitution allows us to do that for the next
Speaker 2: year and a half. Anytime during the General Assembly, we
Speaker 2: can override the governor's veto.
Speaker 1: Did you pick this one in leadership because you knew
Speaker 1: you had the votes and this does not. But on
Speaker 1: the other hand, Adam Bird of New Richmond. This doesn't
Speaker 1: reduce property taxes presently, but it may reduce it in
Speaker 1: the future. But by overriding this particular veto, it doesn't
Speaker 1: change present property taxes at all. Is that is that accurate?
Speaker 2: You got it though. It's not a big step, but
Speaker 2: it is a first step, and it's a first small
Speaker 2: bite at the apple, and there's more less to do.
Speaker 2: It does not reduce your property taxes yet, but it
Speaker 2: will change and perhaps keep them from increasing in the future.
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean that a political subdivision like a village, township, school, whatever,
Speaker 2: they can't ask for new moneys in the future, but
Speaker 2: we're limiting the types of levees that they can ask
Speaker 2: for and makes we want to be transparent. That's what
Speaker 2: this is about. Transparency with voters. And you know, we
Speaker 2: can come pick up these other line night and veto's
Speaker 2: later in the General Assembly and maybe as early as
Speaker 2: this coming fall.
Speaker 1: Why not do them all together in September? You're not
Speaker 1: going to meete again, I guess until after Labor Day.
Speaker 1: You want to wait and do all three together.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the plan on that really is because
Speaker 2: a bill does not become long until ninety days after
Speaker 2: it has the required signatures on it. And so you know,
Speaker 2: if we get this done, we've got it done today.
Speaker 2: If the Senate comes back and gets this done at
Speaker 2: the end of July or beginning of August, that the
Speaker 2: ninety day window would start August, September, October, and then
Speaker 2: that give you November and December to make sure that
Speaker 2: it was in place for the January twenty six fiscal year.
Speaker 2: So that's why we come back and do those now,
Speaker 2: and hopefully we'll get some more property tax issues in
Speaker 2: the future. It's pretty important. And you know there's another
Speaker 2: there's several house builds that we're considering that would really
Speaker 2: limit property tax growth. One of them is House Bill
Speaker 2: one eighty six, which would limit property tax increases to
Speaker 2: the rate of inflation. And I think property tax payers
Speaker 2: would greatly appreciate that, especially light Willie. You and I
Speaker 2: talked before about the abolition of property tax movement that's
Speaker 2: coming in Ohio.
Speaker 1: If that happens, all hell breaks loose. So the goal,
Speaker 1: I think of Matt Hoffman and others the Governor included
Speaker 1: is to try to slow down the momentum for the
Speaker 1: six hundred thousand signatures because if that thing gets on
Speaker 1: the ballot, I guess it won't be on this November,
Speaker 1: maybe in May or November of next year, all hell's
Speaker 1: going to break loose because the voters of Ohio will
Speaker 1: vote to eliminate the property tax in which you got
Speaker 1: a problem.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you're reading of the situation is that
Speaker 2: on Willy it didn't get the requisite signatures, didn't make
Speaker 2: it for the November twenty five ballot, But they've got
Speaker 2: another three hundred and sixty five days to collect signatures.
Speaker 2: There may be a wealthy benefactor at some point that
Speaker 2: chips in and tries to help with the signature collection
Speaker 2: to try to get it on the ballot in November
Speaker 2: twenty six. And my reading of that really is is
Speaker 2: similar to yours that if that gets on the ballot,
Speaker 2: that there will be a lot of taxpayers that say, yes,
Speaker 2: I want to eliminate my property taxes. And when that happened,
Speaker 2: we're going to have to find a way to transition
Speaker 2: some of these services to another form of tax if.
Speaker 2: I don't know that the state of Ohio would pick
Speaker 2: up that bill, but we would allow local entities to
Speaker 2: increase their income tax or increase their sales tax to
Speaker 2: cover that difference.
Speaker 1: And that would be difficult. I've spoken to some township
Speaker 1: officials who currently don't have the power to enact an
Speaker 1: income tax. One of the glories of living in a township,
Speaker 1: as you may know, is there's no township income tax.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I moved to a township is
Speaker 1: because I wouldn't have to pay two percent income tax.
Speaker 1: The idea of residents in a township voting for the
Speaker 1: first time ever in Ohio to have an income tax
Speaker 1: would be an into fadda. That would be a problem.
Speaker 2: Well you know, okay, so yeah, people don't like income taxes,
Speaker 2: but they don't like property taxes either, Bill, and so
Speaker 2: you know, there's got to be a transition because there
Speaker 2: are some necessary services that your county provides, that your
Speaker 2: township provides, what's your village is to provide, and inner cities,
Speaker 2: and so it would if left up to the local entity,
Speaker 2: the local voter can decide if they want those services
Speaker 2: or to what extent they want those services. How much
Speaker 2: are they willing to provide because most people, especially I
Speaker 2: would say in a place by Campbelton County, they're paying
Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe close to ten thousand dollars a
Speaker 2: year on their proper be taxes more and more, you know,
Speaker 2: more more, Yeah, So you know it's it's transitioning, Ohio.
Speaker 2: If that's what's required, if that's what the voters demand
Speaker 2: come November twenty six, then we've got to find a
Speaker 2: way to transition from a property tax to something else. Well.
Speaker 1: The fairest tax is a sales tax. It's paid for
Speaker 1: by Kentuckians and Hoosiers as well as Buckeyes. We get
Speaker 1: the benefit of them using Hamilton Counties roads and bridges.
Speaker 1: They pay the sales tax plus. As an American, you
Speaker 1: decide whether to pay it or not. I decide it
Speaker 1: may be a difficulty to buy a car that you
Speaker 1: can get one in Covington as well as in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Of course you have to register it here. Maybe people
Speaker 1: become more residents of other states. But I would decide
Speaker 1: whether to pay a sales tax based upon my volition
Speaker 1: to buy an item. When it comes to income taxes
Speaker 1: or real estate taxes, I really don't have control over
Speaker 1: that because I have to live somewhere. And as far
Speaker 1: as income taxes, very fortunate to have a nice income,
Speaker 1: but I pay tax on that I don't mind paying taxes,
Speaker 1: which are rents paid to live in the greatest country
Speaker 1: in the world. That's fine with me. In fact, when
Speaker 1: it comes to the property tax, I'm very likely to
Speaker 1: vote no. I do not want to get rid of
Speaker 1: the property tax because it is a tax. What we
Speaker 1: need is reform of the property tax, not the elimination
Speaker 1: because it would mean the only way to get money
Speaker 1: then would be income taxes or grossly increased sales taxes.
Speaker 1: Either you or maybe Matt Huffman told me that if
Speaker 1: you had to have a sales tax to take the
Speaker 1: place of the property tax, it'd be twenty percent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if it's going to be that
Speaker 2: much or not. I would depend upon that local government
Speaker 2: how much they're spending, and it would depend on how
Speaker 2: much the local board, whether it's commissioner, city council, whatever,
Speaker 2: would decide to put on the ballot. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: the sales tax is another stool legg in the stool,
Speaker 2: and other other states are doing a lot more sales
Speaker 2: tax than Ohio is, and so it would be up
Speaker 2: to the taxpayer to decide if they want to abolish
Speaker 2: property taxes. In November twenty six and it makes it.
Speaker 2: And then how to replace that would be up to
Speaker 2: the local governing.
Speaker 1: But it'd be difficult to pass in a township income taxes.
Speaker 1: That would be impossible. That would be a fool's errand
Speaker 1: and so I would hope that the property taxes actually
Speaker 1: on the ballot, numerous organizations would come together and say,
Speaker 1: this is the impact of your vote. All of us
Speaker 1: want to pay as low taxes as possible, but damn it,
Speaker 1: we need schools, we need police, we need fire, we
Speaker 1: need road repair, we need the basics of government. In Ohio,
Speaker 1: it's handled at a low cost compared to other states.
Speaker 1: And I just hope that the voters understand if you
Speaker 1: eliminate property taxes, the schools need a new funding mechanism.
Speaker 1: And I can't imagine the city of Maderra, for example,
Speaker 1: which I think is a one or one and a
Speaker 1: half percent income to go to a four percent income tax,
Speaker 1: or to go to a county wide twenty percent eighteen
Speaker 1: percent sales tax would be confiscatory. But I will see
Speaker 1: what happens down the road. You're predicting you're going to
Speaker 1: vote again and on these other two proposals to limit it,
Speaker 1: and then We'll see what happens, you know, Adam Bird
Speaker 1: of New Richmond. I always say we get the government
Speaker 1: we deserve, and at times that concerns me greatly. But
Speaker 1: Adam Bird, good luck to you. We'll see what happens
Speaker 1: down the road. Thanks for reporting this to the American people.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Bill, it's an honor to be with you again
Speaker 2: and again. We're what we did today trying to protect
Speaker 2: the rights and the values of property tax payers who
Speaker 2: we are hearing from in great numbers. And yes, you
Speaker 2: make some great points. So we've got to make sure
Speaker 2: that we're funding government of all kinds. We want to
Speaker 2: have the services that we have and finding the fairst
Speaker 2: way to pay for those with all of the different
Speaker 2: people that would be benefited by That's that's where we've
Speaker 2: got to go. We've got a lot of work to
Speaker 2: do on This is State Rep.
Speaker 1: Auten Bird, thanks for coming on this afternoon, and God
Speaker 1: bless you and God bless America.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 1: God let's continue with more. There you gave it. You know,
Speaker 1: it's one thing to live in the city of Madeira
Speaker 1: and to pay large, high property taxes for schools that
Speaker 1: are functional, sometimes in the top five in the state
Speaker 1: of Ohio. Madeira schools. All right, You pay a lot
Speaker 1: of money and you get a lot of result. To
Speaker 1: live in the city of Cincinnati and pay higher real
Speaker 1: estate taxes than in the city of Madeira and not
Speaker 1: be able to send your kids to the schools that
Speaker 1: you pay for because they're so bad. That's another issue.
Speaker 1: Let's continue with more. We never stop. We simply continue.
Speaker 1: The river keeps on rolling on news radio seven hundred
Speaker 1: ww