Future of Ohio villages threatened under new Ohio law

This is the front of the North Hampton Village Offices, 250 W. Clark St. The local mayor's court is in session twice a month. ED RICHTER/STAFF

This is the front of the North Hampton Village Offices, 250 W. Clark St. The local mayor's court is in session twice a month. ED RICHTER/STAFF

Hundreds of Ohio villages like New Lebanon or Harveysburg will have to prove their worth under a new law passed by the General Assembly.

Ohio House Bill 331, which passed with bipartisan approval Wednesday, creates an automatic process to regularly review and potentially dissolve villages.

The bill, carried by local Reps. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., and Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, sets up a once-a-decade county audit for villages to determine whether that village provides at least five out of 10 essential services to its residents and produces at least one candidate for the village’s elected positions of government.

The water tower stands on the west side of the village of New Lebanon Ohio. The village council recently put 5 village leaders on leave. Jim Noelker/Staff

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Under H.B. 331, villages that fail the audit will be subject to a vote among its residents to dissolve the village’s government.

Young told this outlet that the bill is aimed at decreasing the number of taxing jurisdictions, and therefore the amount of different property taxes Ohioans pay, in the state of Ohio.

“We have too many taxing jurisdictions in this state,” Young said. “We have a spending problem in this state, in (Montgomery) county, and it’s got to stop.”

The bill grew out of repeated efforts in 2023 and 2024 to dissolve the 195-year-old Warren County village of Harveysburg that village voters rejected both years.

The village of New Lebanon is located in western Montgomery County and has20 ballot items to consider this November. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

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Credit: JIM NOELKER

Ohio has hundreds of small villages that could fall subject to such audits.

In addition to Harveysburg (pop. 554), southwest Ohio is dotted with tiny villages that could face such audits. This includes the village of Jacksonburg in Butler County (pop. 55); Clifton in Greene County (pop. 131); Ludlow Falls in Miami County (pop. 175); and Catawba in Clark County (pop. 245).

The bill now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature.

The Warren County Board of Elections recently rejected a protest by a Harveysburg Village Council member against the current village mayor who is running for one of the two council seats up in the November 2023 general election. The elections board ruled that state law allows a person to live outside the jurisdiction while his fire-damaged home is being rebuilt. The fire happened last year but Mayor Richard Verga has continued on council in his current post.  ED RICHTER/STAFF

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