Next to some of the oldest graves at Melscheimer Cemetery in Stark County sits a quaint, red one-room schoolhouse.
On a recent sunny morning, Pike Township Trustee Doug Baum visited the historic structure.
“If we would have torn the schoolhouse down, there would have been a small revolution in this area,” Baum joked.
The Melscheimer Schoolhouse served students of all ages for about 60 years, beginning in the late 1880s. It deteriorated over time before community members helped raise funds to restore it in recent years, Baum said.
In this community of about 3,000 residents on county's southern edge, this old schoolhouse is an iconic landmark, he said.
“Pike proud,” Baum said, ringing the school bell.
Township officials are responsible for maintaining this building, as well as 11 cemeteries and 37 miles of roads, he said.
Pike Township – like all of Ohio’s 1,300 townships – gets most of its operating funds through property taxes, Baum said. The township’s emergency services and volunteer fire department are funded entirely by property tax, through levies approved by voters, he said.
The call to abolish property taxes has Baum and leaders of other townships raising concerns.
“It’d be one thing if we have potholes. We don't mow cemeteries. We let the grass grow along the road,” Baum said, “But the fire and EMS? And the question to the strongest supporters of abolishing [property tax] - who's putting fuel in the fire truck next month?”
Most concerning to Baum, he said, is the question of how townships could replace the significant funding they’d lose.
Unlike cities, townships don’t have the authority to impose income or sales tax.
“It would next to shut us down with employees, salt, road maintenance,” Baum said. “We would have some money, but we have a difficult time with the levies that we have.”
The township also gets funding from grants and the state's local government fund, but the state legislature has reduced that amount over the years, Baum added.
Losing property tax means losing local control, leaders say
Other townships across the state – big and small – share similar concerns.
In Plain Township, one of Stark County’s largest townships with more than 50,000 residents, property tax accounts for about 40% of the budget, said administrator Lisa Campbell.
Losing it would mean cuts to first responders, roads and parks, Campbell said.
“Eliminating property taxes would have severe consequences, not just for Plain Township, but for all townships, because it is the primary source of funding for our essential local services,” Campbell said.
Property tax revenue funds the township’s contract with the Stark County Sheriff’s Office specifically for deputies to patrol the area, she added.
“Without that, we wouldn’t have our own police force,” she said.
Campbell shares Baum’s concern about the lack of answers for how townships would replace the funding.
“It would be up to our legislators on how we would be funded,” Campbell said. “That's a loss of local control. That's the loss of our residents determining that at the ballot box and instead it's coming federally or through the state.”
Eliminating property taxes would lead to deteriorating roads, cuts to safety services and the loss of historic cemeteries and landmarks, according to the Ohio Township Association, an organization representing the state’s townships.
Campbell worries small townships – like Pike – would not survive without property tax funds.
Preserving small-town government
Both Campbell and Baum agree that taxes have gotten too high – but hope reform is considered first before outright eliminating them.
“I get the frustration, but I really don't think our residents want to lose that local control to determine the level of services that they're receiving,” Campbell said.
Pike Township residents have consistently approved levies for roads and safety services, Baum said. Abolishing property tax would take away funding voters have previously supported.
“To take that away, that they've already passed, it's kind of hurts you a little bit to see more of a sledgehammer than a discussion,” Baum added. “It seems like we have a perfect little family here. Very few complaints. [We] quietly do the job of a small government, and we're very proud of it.”
Outside the schoolhouse at Melscheimer Cemetery, Baum spotted Fred Diss, a longtime resident of neighboring Canton Township, located just south of the city of Canton.
Diss was heading out after visiting his wife’s grave.
“This place is wonderful. They take good care of it, they mow it, they treat you good,” he said.
Diss loves living in a township because of the efficient services and close community, he said.
“It was so nice that Doug Baum called me one time and said they wouldn’t be able to push the snow out of this road here. He said he hated that because he knows I come here every day to visit my wife,” Diss said. “That’s what small town neighborhoods do. They take care of the people in the area.”
Baum worries that small-town care won’t be possible anymore if they were to lose their funding from property tax.
“I honestly don't know what we'll do. To be honest with you, I don't what the next day would bring,” Baum said. “We'll be here. We'll be trying.”
Organizers of the movement to abolish property taxes didn’t gather enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot this fall – but the debate is far from over, as groups say they plan to continue canvassing for next year.