Imagine paying 20% sales tax on everything you buy in Ohio.
That's not a hypothetical. It's a warning from the state's own governor.
Governor Mike DeWine says a proposed constitutional amendment to ban property taxes in Ohio could create a $24 billion budget hole — forcing dramatically raised sales taxes or quadrupled income taxes to fill the gap.
"Sales tax could go up to 17, 18, 19, 20% on products that you buy," DeWine warned. "So, it would be absolutely devastating." Savant Labs
And yet — thousands of Ohioans are actively trying to make it happen.
The movement isn't coming from fringe activists. It's coming from homeowners who have watched their property tax bills explode.
Record-breaking housing price increases in recent years have led to property tax spikes across the state. "The ever-increasing property taxes truly are pricing people out of their homes," said Brian Massie, who is helping lead the Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes. "The people in the state of Ohio have had enough." TaxJar
The group — also known as Ax Ohio Tax — is currently in the signature-gathering phase. They need a minimum of 413,487 valid signatures from 44 of Ohio's 88 counties by July 1 to make the November ballot. The Sales Tax People
As of their most recent public announcement, the group has collected approximately 305,000 signatures — meaning they are short, the deadline is weeks away, and most observers believe they will not make the November 2026 ballot.
But the debate they've ignited? That's not going away.
Here's why both Democrats and Republicans in Ohio's legislature oppose this — despite representing very different constituencies.
Property taxes generate about $24 billion each year for local governments across Ohio. To put that in perspective, that's equal to the total revenue from Ohio's state income and sales taxes combined.
That money funds:
The amendment doesn't specify how that revenue would be replaced — it leaves that entirely to the legislature. And that's exactly what has state officials alarmed.
Ohio's current combined sales tax rates range from 6.5% to 8% depending on the county. Cuyahoga County currently holds the highest rate in the state at 8%. Quizlet
Now consider what replacing $24 billion annually through the sales tax alone would require.
A state Office of Budget and Management analysis estimates the replacement sales tax rates would need to reach 15–18% range, with DeWine's own public statements putting the ceiling at 20%.
That would make Ohio's sales tax the highest in the country — by a massive margin. The current national leader, Louisiana, sits at a combined rate of around 9.5%.
A Tax Foundation analysis suggests that if Ohio eliminated property taxes and replaced them with income taxes instead, the statewide rate could average around 12.6% — climbing above 13% in some counties, with extreme estimates as high as 27%.
Every replacement option is painful. The only question is who bears the pain.
This is where the debate gets philosophically serious.
Property taxes, for all their flaws, are tied to asset values. Owners of more valuable properties pay more. They're imperfect — rising home values can spike bills for long-term residents on fixed incomes — but they have some relationship to wealth.
Sales taxes are different. Policymakers caution that shifting the burden away from property taxes could disproportionately affect households with low or middle incomes, since everyone pays the same rate regardless of how much they earn.
The group Ohioans to Protect Public Services — a coalition of over 65 groups including local elected officials, businesses, trade groups, and unions representing first responders and teachers — called the proposal "reckless," warning it would only create chaos and trigger big increases in sales and income taxes alongside drastic reductions in local services.
Supporters counter that property ownership feeling like "renting from the government" is itself a form of injustice — and that forcing a reckoning is the only way to compel meaningful reform from a legislature that has repeatedly failed to act.
It's worth noting that Ohio's governor and legislature didn't ignore the property tax crisis. They tried to address it.
In December 2025, Governor DeWine signed five bills overhauling Ohio's property tax system — projected to deliver more than $3 billion in savings for Ohio property owners over the next three years by limiting how much future increases in property values can trigger automatic tax hikes. Quaderno
The reforms included capping automatic tax increases tied to reappraisals, expanding the owner-occupancy tax credit for homeowners, and giving counties greater oversight over tax rates.
For the amendment's supporters, it wasn't enough. For the governor, it was a responsible middle ground that avoided blowing up $24 billion in public services.
That disagreement is what's driving the signature campaign — and what will continue to drive it even if the amendment misses the 2026 ballot.
Even if this amendment doesn't make the November 2026 ballot — which now looks likely — businesses in Ohio should understand what's at stake.
The property tax revolt isn't over. Ohio voters will elect a new governor in November 2026, since DeWine is term-limited, meaning discussions about tax relief will continue through the campaign season and beyond. A future legislature, under pressure from a sustained grassroots movement, could pursue property tax elimination or dramatic reduction through legislative channels rather than a ballot initiative. AccurateTax
If sales taxes eventually rise to compensate — even partially — the compliance implications are significant. Rate increases require POS system updates, filing recalculations, and customer-facing price adjustments. Businesses that sell across multiple Ohio jurisdictions already manage different local rates. A statewide rate jump would affect every single transaction.
The time to understand your Ohio sales tax exposure is before rates change — not after.
Operating a business in Ohio and want to make sure your sales tax setup is ready for whatever the legislature does next? Book a free consultation with our team at sales.tax. We'll review your current obligations and help you build a compliance strategy that holds up no matter what the ballot brings.