Seal of Ohio Ohio

Ohio has a statutory limit on general fund expenditures under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 107, Sections 032-035, and Chapter 131, Sections 55-60. Chapter 107 Sections 032-035 limits establishes a base year at FY 2007 and advises that the general fund in the governor’s budget not exceed the general fund revenue for FY 2007 multiplied by either 3.5% or inflation plus population growth, whichever is greater. Chapter 131, Sections 55-60 apply the same rules as Chapter 107, Sections 032-035  to the general fund appropriations limit in the legislature. This was modified in 2009 to allow the limitation to be raised to adjust for non-general fund appropriations that are switched into the general fund. This TEL can be overridden temporarily by a declaration of emergency or overridden permanently by a 2/3 legislative supermajority vote.

 
The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.
  • Year Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending
    1992 34,170,833,120
    1993 40,187,559,920
    1994 42,787,244,380
    1995 43,224,101,580
    1996 44,387,669,890
    1997 46,811,844,150
    1998 50,355,557,280
    1999 51,246,011,700
    2000 53,467,269,260
    2001 56,857,714,400
    2002 59,711,831,130
    2003 59,405,418,440
    2004 59,395,454,030
    2005 60,281,037,390
    2006 61,610,878,760
    2007 60,425,883,360
    2008 61,304,871,880
    2009 60,463,070,850
    2010 55,631,730,330
    2011 57,220,845,250
    2012 54,965,026,110
    2013 55,271,969,050
    2014 57,561,380,370
    2015 60,946,730,860
    2016 64,886,312,890
    2017 64,608,786,050
    2018 62,052,076,780
    2019 51,240,417,650
    2020 52,099,708,760
    2021 49,892,379,800
    2022 51,867,000,000
*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars.