Cutting Ohio farmers' tax bills may hike what others pay

Roger Baker farms more than 1,000 acres in northeastern Ohio’s Wayne County, the heart of Ohio’s dairy-producing region, and he and other Ohio farmers are reeling from the skyrocketing tax bills they’ve received in recent years.

“It’s stretching everybody,” Baker said, noting that his annual tax bill went up $9,000 or $10,000 in the past few years, about a 250 percent increase.

Enter state lawmakers, who for months have been considering ways to address the issue. The Ohio House and Senate have taken slightly different approaches, in a budget bill amendment and a standalone bill passed by the respective chambers, and a compromise solution is possible in coming weeks.

In the meantime, both farmers and school districts are watching closely to see how that final version will affect them. If farmers are winners, school districts expect to lose money, which they say will put a greater burden on residential taxpayers.

Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170515/cutting-ohio-farmers-tax-bills-may-hike-what-others-pay