On a sunny and cold Saturday afternoon in late January, car after car packed the Hungarian Reformed Church’s parking lot on Cleveland’s West Side. More than 200 people filed into the church to direct their concerns – not at God, but at Columbus for failure to provide property tax relief.
Dozens of people crowded the entrance and hallways as they made their way into the church for a presentation by Citizens for Property Tax Reform. The room buzzed with conversation as volunteers ran around pulling out more chairs to accommodate the crowd, nearly four times the size they’d expected. Most were seniors. Around the room, snippets of overheard conversations revealed anxiety about property tax increases.
During the presentation, one of the organizers of the meeting held up his property tax bill for 2025. Perhaps homeowners should protest taxes like at the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he said.
“Maybe we oughtta take all these down to the county administration building, stand outside and light it on fire or throw it in the lake?” he said with a smile. “I’m open to ideas, but I’d like to do something dramatic with these envelopes.”
The crowd cheered.
‘Show us some good faith’
As part of last year’s state-mandated land appraisal process, property values in Cuyahoga County went up on average 32%. In some cities, such as East Cleveland and Mayfield Heights, values doubled.
In the fall, the county announced a program to help seniors who are already tax delinquent. County officials have said there is little else they can do. Real change can only be made at the state level.
Since 2023, lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills aimed at property tax relief. None of the bills have been put forward for a vote.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform (CPTR) presents another option: a resident-led effort to force the state’s hand.
“We’re just not confident the state is going to do anything for us,” said Keith Davey, leader of CPTR. Since launching the group in 2024, Davey said he gets calls all the time from homeowners, often crying, who have no idea how they are going to pay their higher tax bills.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Davey said. “These poor people have lived all their lives and worked so hard.
“We’re begging [legislators] to do something. Show us some good faith.”
‘We the people are the ones speaking’
Davey retired from a 30-year career in the waste and recycling industry in 2019. A year later, he started Lakewood Express to transport seniors to medical appointments, the grocery store and similar errands.
“Many of my passengers were faced with the tragic decision of having to sell their homes and move into an apartment. It was heartbreaking,” said Davey, a resident and homeowner in Lakewood.
In 2021 and 2022, Davey made two unsuccessful attempts at public office — Lakewood City Council and the Ohio House of Representatives — on a property tax reform platform. He told Signal Cleveland that he sought state office after learning that “the state legislature is directly responsible for the lack of meaningful reform to the current property tax system.”
He decided to try something different in 2024: a non-partisan, grassroots effort. He founded Citizens for Property Tax Reform with a website and a few friends to help get the word out. Although it took time for the movement to pick up steam, the group is now regularly flooded with calls, according to Davey.
Kyle Kutz joined the effort after hearing a radio ad for a CPTR event in September. Kutz, who has no political experience, is retired and owns his North Olmsted home. After the county increased his property value, his taxes went up by more than $1,000.
Over the last few months, Kutz has helped lead the charge getting the word out, not just to homeowners, but to media outlets and public officials, too.
“We want them to listen to what we want rather than what they think is right,” Kutz told Signal Cleveland. “We the people are the ones speaking.”
Kutz said he was extremely happy with the turnout at Hungarian Reformed Church on Jan. 25. In addition to the unexpectedly large turnout, the group finally succeeded in getting media and some public officials to come out and listen to the community’s cries for help.
“They were here to listen, and that’s what we want,” Kutz said.
‘It’s a slow process’
Citizens for Property Tax Reform’s focus is immediate relief for seniors and others on fixed incomes. It has four key recommendations:
- Lock in pre-COVID property taxes for all current Ohio homeowners
- Full property tax exemption for homeowners over 65
- Temporary property tax exemptions to homeowners who can demonstrate economic hardship
- A fixed tax rate based on the home’s purchase date, plus a full property tax exemption after 20-year owner occupancy or until age 65
The group is also working with attorneys to draft ballot language for an amendment to the state constitution. Once the language is finalized, the next step is to gather 1,000 signatures on a petition to send to the Ohio Attorney General.
“It is a slow process, but we need to make sure we get it right,” Davey said.
In response to an inquiry from Signal Cleveland, Gov. Mike DeWine said he expects the statehouse to “work on a solution” in 2025.
In January, the legislature’s bipartisan but Republican-led Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform released 21 recommendations. But two Democratic members of the committee, Reps. Bride Rose Sweeney of Westlake and Daniel Troy of Willowick, called its report “a missed opportunity to build consensus” that “leaves us where we started in the first place, and that is with no agreed upon, collectively reasoned path on which to proceed.”
So far this year, state legislators have introduced nearly two dozen property tax bills. Some include expanding the Homestead Exemption or tweaking the state’s unconstitutional practice of using property taxes to fund schools. Other bills – such as Senate Bill 81 – would freeze property taxes for certain owner-occupied homes.
Although a few of the bills have had a first hearing, it could be a while before any make it to a vote.
In the meantime, Citizens for Property Tax Reform intends to keep beating the drum. The group is ready to “do a road show” anywhere in the state, Davey said.
“[The Ohio Statehouse is] gonna push this off the same way they’ve been pushing it off for years,” Davey said. “So we gotta take it to the people. We gotta start that today.”
Citizens for Property Tax Reform is recruiting volunteers and plans to host its next event in Garfield Heights tonight, Monday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at St. Monica Church (13623 Rockside Road).
If you’d like more information, visit their website or find them on Facebook. You can also reach Davey directly at (440) 320-6019.
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