A Bill That Could Change Everything for a Township Near You

Vol. III, No. 281 - House Bill 592 Could Give Townships The Power to Become Their Own Cities or Villages

House Bill 592 was introduced last November by Representatives David Thomas (R-Jefferson) and Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) in the Ohio House of Representatives. Right now, it is working its way through the House’s Committee process. The bill makes two important changes to how townships in Ohio can become incorporated municipalities — meaning they can officially become a city or village under Ohio law.​

The first change lowers the population bar for a township to pursue city-level incorporation. Under current law, a township needs at least 25,000 people to qualify. This bill drops that number to 5,000, which immediately puts several Miami County townships within reach. The second change removes what has long been a powerful roadblock: right now, any city or village within three miles can block a township from incorporating simply by saying no — or by not responding at all, which under current law counts as a rejection. This bill eliminates that veto entirely.​

A proposed amendment goes even further. It would allow a township’s board of trustees — by unanimous vote — to place an incorporation question directly on the ballot, so that voters in the township decide for themselves whether they want to become a village or city. No petitions requiring signatures from more than half the electorate. No approval needed from neighboring communities. Just the trustees making a decision, and then the voters having their say.​

And of course, this law comes with the backdrop of a real threat to the financial viability of townships across the entire state. Ohio’s voters are in the middle of a serious conversation about eliminating property taxes as peitioners are gathering signatures for a potential ballot measure to elminated property taxes across Ohio.

For cities and villages, that would hurt — but they have other tools. Cities and villages can levy an income tax. They have more ways to raise money. Townships do not.​

Townships in Ohio can only collect property taxes. They cannot levy an income tax. They cannot collect a sales tax. Property taxes are the only revenue stream they have to pay for roads, fire protection, and basic services.

If Ohio voters eliminate property taxes, townships face a brutal choice. They can merge with a neighboring city or village — and lose their identity, their local control, and their voice in the process — or they can incorporate as a new village or city, which would allow them to levy an income tax and become financially self-sufficient.

This is not a hypothetical. It is a very real scenario that township trustees and residents should be talking about today.

For some townships in Miami County, like Concord and Bethel Township this potential legislation could sit in the exact the position this bill was designed to address. Both communities have grown. Both sit adjacent to larger municipalities that could someday push for annexation. Annexation is when a city or village absorbs neighboring unincorporated land — often without the full consent of the people who live near there. It has happened across Ohio for decades. Communities grow, cities expand their borders, and township residents wake up one day dealing with city issues, paying city taxes, follwing city rules, and limited say in how it happened.​

Incorporation gives township residents a chance to get ahead of that. Under HB 592’s proposed amendment, the trustees of a township of at least 5,000 people could pass a unanimous resolution and put a simple question directly to voters: Do you want to be your own village or city? If a majority says yes, the process moves forward. If they say no, the community waits at least three years before the question can be raised again.​

If a township wanted to incorporate under the amended version of HB 592, the path is straightforward. The board of township trustees votes unanimously to place the question on the ballot. The board of elections then schedules the incorporation question for the next primary or general election — at least 90 days after the trustees certify their resolution. Voters go to the polls and answer one question: are you for incorporation, or against it? If a majority votes yes, the township officially becomes a village or city and the legal process of transferring township assets and responsibilities moves forward. The whole thing rests on the trustees having the courage to call the question and the voters having the information they need to answer it wisely.​

House Bill 592 is not just a procedural tweak to state law. It is a tool that could protect the long-term survival and independence of small communities in Miami County and across Ohio. The threat is real: if property tax reform strips townships of their only revenue source, communities that haven’t incorporated will be left with nothing — no income tax authority, no financial safety net, and no leverage against annexation.

The communities that will fare best will be the ones that saw it coming and acted before someone else made the decision for them.

This bill hasn’t passed yet. But it is moving. And whether you live in a larger township here in Miami County, this is the time to pay attention to House Bill 592.

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