COLUMBUS, Ohio — Election Day is less than two weeks away and if you're voting in the City of Columbus, you'll see several bond issues on your ballot. But will they increase your property taxes?
The five bond issues on the ballot would be for capital improvement projects.
David Gobey, who lives in Eastmoor, went to the Franklin County Auditor's website and found that if the five bond issues pass, his property taxes would go up by close to a $1,000 next year.
10TV reached out to Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano to ask what this would mean for taxes and if neighbors could be seeing a higher bill.
Stinziano says the passing of the bonds could mean a higher bill based on your home's value, but the City of Columbus has committed to making sure that doesn't happen.
“That’s what the voters are agreeing if it passes, that they’re agreeing to pay the benefit of the bargain, but the bonds are structured in the way the city has paid off bonds and has never gone to the voter to pay off,” said Stinziano.
In an email to neighbors from Mayor Andrew Ginther's office, it reads that the bond package "will not increase property taxes or impose any new tax. What it will do is give our city access to the financing we need."
The city says the bonds are repaid by using a quarter of every income tax dollar and some of the utility bills. They say since 1956, the city has never imposed a property tax to repay bonds.