CLEVELAND — Ohio State Rep. Tom Patton told 3News Thursday that a special property tax break for residents of the Village of Hunting Valley, which was shot down by Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year, is worthy of more discussion.
“There is a segment of people that feel very strongly about this,” said Patton, who represented Hunting Valley for eight years when he was a state senator.
“There needs to be a discussion," he said.
Hunting Valley, which has about 700 residents, is one of Ohio’s wealthiest communities.
The average household income is a half-million dollars and the typical home costs $1.3 million, according to Census figures.
Hunting Valley Finance Director Brian Coughlin and Chagrin Falls State Sen. Matt Dolan have argued the village is carrying an unfair burden for the Orange School District, which gets its money from property taxes and includes Hunting Valley, Orange Village, Pepper Pike, Woodmere and Moreland Hills, as well as portions of Bedford Heights, Solon and Warrensville Heights.
Coughlin told cleveland.com earlier this year that “Hunting Valley has been subjected to an inequitable, unintended tax burden without precedent anywhere in Ohio.” He also said that only about 30 students from Hunting Valley attend the Orange schools. He said when calculating a cost-per-pupil through that lens, residents spend $212,000 per student to educate. Patton, who said there is no legislative action on the issue at the moment, cited the same figure in an interview with 3News.
“I think this is just a singularly unique” community, Patton said.
Coughlin and the Hunting Valley mayor did not return calls for comment.
Earlier this year, the village hired a well-connected lobbyist to push a provision into the most recent two-year budget bill that would have cut property taxes for village residents. Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed it because he said capping school property tax for just Hunting Valley residents was fundamentally unfair to other communities with high-property values.
Hunting Valley residents will vote next month on a property tax increase to pay for road improvements. Patton said residents will then likely talk more about the tax break related to the schools.
The Orange School District has said it would have lost $5.8 million under the provision. Hunting Valley said the cost was closer to $3.2 million and that the Orange schools could absorb the loss.
Orange Treasurer Todd Puster did not return a call about Patton’s comments.