A March 6 Property Tax Summit at Kent’s American Legion, which was promoted as an educational event on property taxes, was in fact a conservative rally to eliminate property taxes and defund public schools.
The event was sponsored by Project Promise, a Portage County political nonprofit that states “true homeownership is an illusion” on its website, because property owners can lose their homes to foreclosure when they fail to pay their property taxes.
Headlining the event were activists Brian Massie and Leonard Gilbert, as well as Village of Timberlake Mayor John Marra, all of whom are associated with the Lake County-based nonprofit Lobbyists for Citizens. Organizers showed a video by Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy and referenced the Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump administration initiative led by Elon Musk.
Marra spoke to the audience of some 250 people about fixing up his home, only to see his property taxes increase by 84%. He said school boards lie about levies not raising taxes because after revaluations kick in, they do.
“They threaten us into voting for it, or guilt us. We can’t do anything about it. Where’s the money going? We need a DOGE for the school districts,” he said to crowd applause.
Marra insisted that revaluation figures are manipulated to ensure that school districts are flush. Totally eliminating property taxes would keep dollars in the hands of taxpayers, not in bloated school district accounts, he said.
Gilbert spoke from what he called a “Biblical perspective,” calling America an “ungodly, uneducated nation with an impotent church.”
Invoking the prophet Ezekiel, he said “a tax that leaves a citizen homeless is immoral and ungodly to the core.”
(Nowhere in Ezekiel are words that call any kind of taxes immoral and ungodly to the core.. In the original Hebrew, Ezekiel Ch. 45: 8-9, The prophet admonishes princes to stop oppressing people and give the Children of Israel land according to their tribes. In Ch. 46:18 princes are ordered to give their sons their inheritances out of their possessions, lest the Children of Israel be thrust out and scattered.)
Since people can lose their homes to foreclosure when they don’t pay their property taxes, Gilbert said that violates the eighth commandment ‘You shall not steal.’ He also invoked the ninth and tenth commandments as justifications against property taxes.
Gilbert also condemned free education for all children in public schools, saying they exist to indoctrinate children. He called public schools “common schools” that reflect “a Communist, anti-Christian religion.”
“You know how common schools stay alive? They take your property. If the government owns it, you don’t. The property tax needs to go, end of story,” he said to audience applause.
Every community doesn’t need its own shiny firetruck, he insisted, and families should help each other instead of expecting help from the government; the government will find a way to fund what is truly essential.
So that everyone has “skin in the game,” Gilbert called for a flat tax that would require the government to “operate lean like they should be.”
Lobbyists for Citizens is drafting a constitutional amendment to eliminate all property taxes, and fully expects to gather the required 600,000 signatures needed to place the initiative before voters.
“We can’t rely on the government to fix all of our problems. We have to do that ourselves,” he concluded.
Massie accused state officials of largely ignoring him when he exposes their “lies, deceptions and betrayals,” and said seniors shouldn’t have to move into apartments because they can’t afford their property taxes.
If people knew how much money various political entities actually have, they would never vote for levies, Massie said.
Saying he supported President Donald Trump but “didn’t vote for a king,” Massie alleged that the government’s priority is to protect itself and grow, and politicians only want to get re-elected. There are no checks and balances to protect the interest of the average citizen, he added.
“What has happened with this revaluation is it’s a huge money grab. My concern is even if we eliminate the property taxes, nothing will change because no one is controlling the spending aspect of it,” he said.
Unless people consistently engage with their local and state legislators, nothing will change, he said.
“If you vote for any more property taxes, you’re funding your own demise. You’ve been warned,” Massie concluded.
Local politicians were then invited to the front to field questions. Answering questions on a range of topics were Portage County commissioners Mike Tinlin, Jill Crawford and Sabrina Christian-Bennett; Portage County Auditor Matt Kelly; Portage County Treasurer John Kennedy, 65th District State Rep. Dave Thomas and 72nd District State Rep. Heidi Workman.
To audience applause, Workman opened up her cell phone to share a video of gubernatorial candidate Ramaswamy saying property tax reform is critical. (Project Promise’s website includes a headline that Ramaswamy spoke at the event and a screenshot of the cellphone footage.)
Kennedy and Kelly, who have been championing property tax reform for years, said they believe they have the attention of state lawmakers.
“We know this issue is top. Our seniors need a break,” Kennedy said while cautioning that eliminating property taxes would eliminate critical programs and services. Good schools attract people to certain communities, he said.
“What do we value, and what kind of money are we going to allocate to what we value the most?” he asked, suggesting that proceeds from Ohio’s so-called sin tax could be used to fund needed infrastructure instead of a stadium for the Cleveland Browns.
Even as he recognized that Portage County’s top officials are on the right side of the issues, Kelly said state lawmakers pay more attention to groups like Project Promise than to individuals or a local politician or two.
“Keep voicing your opinion, your frustration. Be involved in the process,” he said.
The government relies on taxes, but “no one should be taxed out of their home,” Christian-Bennett said. “This is not the America I know and love.”
Pushing back at comments about irresponsible, spendthrift governments, Tinlin said he and his colleagues are frugal. He voiced displeasure at taxes being levied and increased while veterans are not being helped.
Workman said she would sign a petition for the proposed constitutional amendment if it included “funded alternatives” for things people actually want, like zoos and police and fire services.
“We can come together on this. This is a nonpartisan issue, but we have to balance the budget and that’s a big part of this, as well,” she said.
Project Promise does not present itself as an overtly Republican organization. Citing recent revaluations that increased county property owners’ investments by an average of 33%, its website states that “property taxes are levied based on speculative property valuations rather than actual market transactions.” The inflated assessments may never translate into actual gains, the website states.
Project Promise was founded in June 2021 by a group of Portage County citizens who believe all change begins at the local level. Its members support expanding qualifications for state’s Homestead Exemption property tax, exploring property tax deferral programs for elderly homeowners and reviewing Ohio’s public school funding mechanism.
March 6’s event was emceed by Project Promise Event Chairperson Elayne Cross, whose website presents her as an active Republican who served as vice-chair of the Portage County Republican Central Committee in 2016. In 2024, she lost her bid to become the Republican representative to Congress for the 14th district.
Project Promise’s next meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. March 19 at 214 New Milford Road, Ravenna, where the organization rents an office from Christian-Bennett. Though space is limited, the public is invited to attend.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Project Promise rents an office from Bennett Title Agency. The article has been corrected to state that the office space is owned by Sabrina Christian-Bennett.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.