Chillicothe City Council was set to consider a 12 percent cut to the city’s property tax rate on Monday, November 9, a move city leaders say is meant to soften a steep increase in state-driven property tax bills across Ross County, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian.
The proposal grew out of Councilman Jeff Creed’s Finance Committee, which voted earlier this fall to move the reduction ordinance forward to the full council. Creed told Newsradio 92.7 WBEX that the city took the same step last year, cutting its property tax rate by 15 percent when state property taxes rose.
This year’s reduction is aimed at tax bills due in 2027. Creed told WBEX the 12 percent city cut would still leave most homeowners paying slightly more than last year — roughly $5 to $10 — because the city is working against a state-side increase of about 29 to 30 percent across Ross County.
The Ross County Commissioners have made a similar reduction on the county side, Creed told WBEX, as local governments across the region look for ways to buffer residents from reappraisal-driven jumps in their tax bills.
The tax discussion comes in a tight season for Chillicothe’s finances. Voters on November 3 rejected a 0.2 percent municipal income tax for street paving and repairs for the second time in 2026, leaving the city’s income tax rate at 1.8 percent and street funding an open question for council.
Unlike the income tax, which required a vote of the people, the property tax rate reduction is council’s own decision. A vote to adopt the ordinance would set the city’s reduced rate in place ahead of the 2027 billing cycle.
What happens next rests with the full council: if members approve the Finance Committee’s recommendation, Chillicothe property owners will see the 12 percent city-rate cut reflected in their 2027 bills, even as the larger state-driven increase keeps most bills slightly higher than a year ago.