Ohio Bill 540 Targets Large Conservation Landholdings, Sparking Adams County Debate

House Bill 540 in the Ohio General Assembly emerged as a flashpoint for Adams County residents and officials after testimony focused attention on a conservation organization that controls more than 20,000 acres in the county. The bill, introduced in the 136th General Assembly, would alter the long-standing property tax exemption for certain nonprofit conservation landowners and could change how local schools, emergency services and infrastructure are funded.

The original version of the bill proposed a payment-in-lieu requirement for 501(c)(3) nonprofits primarily focused on conservation that own or control more than 15,000 acres in a single county. That payment would have equaled 2.5% of the unimproved taxable value of the land. The bill was later amended; the most recent version limits the exemption itself by making 2.5% of the unimproved land value taxable beginning with tax year 2026, while leaving improvements fully exempt.

Adams County Commissioner Jason Hayslip testified in support of the legislation, arguing the change would restore fairness for local taxpayers who fund schools, emergency services and infrastructure while large tax-exempt holdings remove property from the tax base. That argument resonated in rural parts of Ohio where land taken off the tax rolls can skew per-acre tax burdens for remaining property owners and complicate county budgeting.

Local taxing authorities could see material shifts if HB 540 becomes law. School districts, fire and emergency services, and county infrastructure budgets depend heavily on the county tax base. Making 2.5% of unimproved land value taxable on very large conservation holdings could increase assessed taxable value and produce new revenue streams for those entities. At the same time, conservation organizations and land managers warn that changes to nonprofit exemptions could affect land protection strategies, easement arrangements and long-term stewardship plans.

The debate in Adams County reflects a broader statewide conversation about how to balance conservation goals with local fiscal responsibility. Lawmakers sponsoring the bill framed it as a narrow fix aimed at the largest single-county landholdings, while opponents across Ohio have raised concerns about unintended consequences for conservation work that protects waterways, habitat and public access. The bill’s focus on unimproved value and its exemption for improvements attempts to thread a middle ground: taxing raw acreage without penalizing investments such as visitor facilities or maintained structures.

For Adams County residents, the immediate questions are practical: whether county revenue projections will change, how property tax burdens might shift, and whether conservation practices on affected tracts will be altered. County commissioners and local leaders will continue to monitor legislative action in Columbus and assess budgetary impacts ahead of the 2026 tax year implementation timeline. The coming weeks of committee work and floor debate will determine whether HB 540 becomes law and how Adams County balances land stewardship with ledger balancing.