Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute testified (see full text below or download a PDF) before the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 331, which ensures that village governments that are unable to provide core services to their residents are held accountable. The bill also makes it easier for village residents to vote on whether to dissolve their local government. 

In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted the policy recommendations Buckeye has outlined to make local governments more efficient and less expensive, “including ground-up consolidation and innovative ways to eliminate state mandates on local governments, strategically use state financial assistance, and responsibly share local revenues and resources.”

The policies in House Bill 331 advance these commonsense reforms by establishing a “process to determine whether Ohio villages meet the needs of their taxpaying constituents.” Through a process that assesses whether core services—such as public safety and road maintenance—are provided in each village and whether at least one candidate is running for each elected village position, county budget commissioners will initiate a review that will protect village taxpayers and give village voters a greater say in whether to dissolve their local government. The bill also ensures that if village residents vote to dissolve their government, the local township will assume responsibility for providing government services. 

Lawson pointed out that the House Bill 331 process “replaces the time-consuming, cumbersome task of gathering enough community signatures to even hold a vote” and gives village residents “the last word in how much and what kind of government they want.”

# # #

Making it Easier for Disillusioned Voters to Dissolve Their Local Gov’t

Interested Party Testimony
Ohio House Government Oversight Committee
Ohio House Bill 331

Greg R. Lawson, Research Fellow
The Buckeye Institute
May 7, 2024

As Prepared for Delivery

Chair Peterson, Vice Chair Thomas, Ranking Member Humphrey, and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding Ohio House Bill 331.

My name is Greg R. Lawson. I am the research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.

House Bill 331 takes an excellent first step toward unknotting Ohio’s complex local government system.

Local government officials are often our friends, neighbors, and respected community members. And that makes them responsive to constituents in ways that state and federal officials are not. Unfortunately, Ohio’s local government structure has devolved into a complex, byzantine tax pyramid that supports overpriced, redundant government services. More than 650 Ohio municipalities levy income taxes, earning Ohio the 12th highest local tax burden as a percentage of income in the country, and disproportionately hurting small businesses that must then file tax returns in dozens of jurisdictions across the state. Local tax compliance compounds the burden of local tax liability.

The Buckeye Institute has recommended local government reforms, including ground-up consolidation and innovative ways to eliminate state mandates on local governments, strategically use state financial assistance, and responsibly share local revenues and resources. House Bill 331 advances the ball by creating a standard, automatic process to determine whether Ohio villages meet the needs of their taxpaying constituents. The bill requires county budget commissions to assess the core services such as public safety and road maintenance provided in each village and also to determine whether at least one candidate appeared on the ballot for each elected village position. A village not meeting these standards will be barred from imposing additional tax liabilities and its dissolution will be presented to voters on the next general election ballot.

Should residents vote to dissolve their village, the services it provided would be assumed by the underlying township. And residents may choose not to dissolve a village, of course, but House Bill 331’s standard, automatic evaluation and ballot process replaces the time-consuming, cumbersome task of gathering enough community signatures to even hold a vote. 

Constituents must have the last word in how much and what kind of government they want, and House Bill 331 makes it easier for them to have it.

Thank you for your time and attention. I would be happy to answer any questions that the Committee might have.

# # #