Housing: property tax on subdivided lots
What they say
His campaign says that after a five-year push he passed the Affordable Homebuilding and Housing Act, blocking property tax increases on subdivided lots until the home is built or the lot sold.
“After a five-year push, Merrin pushed through the Affordable Homebuilding & Housing Act, which blocks property tax increases on subdivided lots until the home is built or lot is sold.”
What the record shows
He filed for it twice and neither bill passed. H.B. 371 of the 132nd General Assembly, "Exempt increased value of subdivided land until building starts", was reported by the Ways and Means Committee and went no further; H.B. 149 of the 133rd, "Enact Affordable Homebuilding and Housing Act", never left introduction. Revised Code section 5709.51, the section his bill would have created, instead carries rules on extending tax-increment exemptions and does not mention subdivided land.
Why there is no assessment here
The outcome cannot be located in the record at all, which is not the same as showing the claim to be wrong. Searching the complete bill lists of the 133rd, 134th, 135th and 136th General Assemblies for a short title naming homebuilding, subdivided land, platting, residential development or a housing act returns his own unpassed bill and nothing else. What no sponsorship or title search can rule out is a provision folded into a budget without a name of its own, which is how several of his other claims did reach law. So the record neither shows this happening nor shows that it did not.
Limit: Ohio's bill lists and the Revised Code settle who sponsored what and which act amended a section. Neither shows language added by amendment inside a larger bill, which is the one route this claim could have taken.