LibGuides: Tax Law Research : Federal and Ohio: Ohio Constitution

Introduction

As at the Federal level, the Ohio Constitution provides the ultimate boundaries of what can and cannot be taxed in Ohio. Also see the Constitution tab of the Ohio Primary Law Research Guide. Article XII of the Ohio Constitution is entitled Finance and Taxation and consists of 13 sections.

Current Copies of the Ohio Constitution

Unannotated versions:

Ohio Constitution
from the Ohio General Assembly's website
Ohio Constitution
PDF version from the Ohio Secretary of State's office.

Annotated versions contain short descriptions of cases on each section of the constitution, as well as references to secondary sources.

Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code Annotated
Call Number: KFO 30 .A24
(first volume). Available to be checked out if you are a Central Ohio attorney with a Franklin County Law Library card.
Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated
Call Number: KFO 30 .P3 Reserve
(appendix volume). Page's is available on Lexis Advance.

Tax Cases Construing the Ohio Constitution

The Ohio Supreme Court is "taxed" with construing the Ohio Constitution. Here are a few sample decisions of that Court which analyzed the tax sections of the Ohio Constitution.

State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio Supreme Court Issues Decision Holding the Ohio General Assembly’s Constitutional Powers Do Not Trump Worthington’s Constitutional Power to Levy Taxes
2013 Article from the Vorys Law Firm highlighting the interplay and potential conflicts of Ohio Constitution sections that deal with tax law and municipal home rule.
Gesler v. Worthington Income Tax Bd. of Appeals, 2013-Ohio-4986.
This is the case referenced above.
Ohio School District Forced to Return $5.5 Million in Illegal Taxes to Taxpayers
From the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law. After a five-plus year legal battle concluded with an Ohio Court denying all of its objections, the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District Board of Education late yesterday finally conceded that it must return the $5.5 million that it illegally assessed taxpayers after raising taxes without a public vote in 2010.
Sanborn v. Hamilton Cty. Budget Comm., 2014-Ohio-5218.
This is the case referenced above.