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Curcio v. Hufford

For media inquiries, please contact:
Lisa Gates, vice president of communications
(614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org


Resolution to the Case

On February 14, 2024, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in Schaad v. Alder that the state did not violate the due process clause “by directing that an Ohio citizen pay taxes to the municipality where the employee’s principal place of work was located rather than to the subdivision of the state where the employee actually worked.”

This ruling mooted the refund claims of the plaintiffs in Curcio v. Hufford.


Background of the Case

Key Question in the Case: Is it constitutional for the work of employees—who were forced to work from home during Ohio’s stay-at-home order—to be deemed to have been performed in a different city than it actually was performed for the purpose of taxation?

Joel Curcio and Summer Curcio of Maumee, Ohio, and Chris Ackerman of Walbridge, Ohio work in Lucas County. Starting in March 2020, all three worked from their homes due to Ohio’s stay-at-home order, but the cities of Oregon and Toledo continued to tax them under Ohio’s pandemic tax law—House Bill 197—which absurdly deemed all work performed at their homes during 2020 to have been performed in their higher-taxed office locations. 

The Buckeye Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of the three Ohioans challenging Ohio’s pandemic tax law, which violates the due process requirements of the United States and Ohio constitutions.


Facts of the Case

Current Status
Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals issued its ruling on December 29, 2022.

Originally Filed
March 11, 2021

Original Court
Lucas County Court of Common Pleas

Plaintiffs
Joel Curcio and Summer Curcio of Maumee, Ohio
Chris Ackerman of Walbridge, Ohio

Lawyers
Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer, The Buckeye Institute
Jay R. Carson, senior litigator, The Buckeye Institute

Related Cases
Buckeye v. Kilgore
Schaad v. Alder
Curcio v. Hufford
Kresevic v. Chittok
Denison v. Kilgore
 


Timeline of the Case

December 29, 2022
Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals issues its ruling.

June 2, 2022
The Buckeye Institute files its reply brief in response to merit briefs filed by Kathleen Hufford and John Zawista in their official capacities. 

March 16, 2022
The Buckeye Institute files its appeal with Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals.

January 10, 2022
The Buckeye Institute filed its notice of appeal.

December 16, 2021
Lucas County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lori L. Olender grants the city’s motion to dismiss.

March 11, 2021
The Buckeye Institute files a lawsuit calling for the court to declare unconstitutional an Ohio law allowing the cities of Toledo and Oregon to tax income from workers who do not live in, and were prohibited from working within, the city’s jurisdiction during Ohio’s stay-at-home order.