Property tax bills, letter on solar concerns discussed at county commission meeting

Highland County Auditor Alex Butler provided a brief update on property tax bills for 2026 during Highland County commissioners’ Wednesday, Feb. 11 meeting.

Butler began by announcing that the first-half bills, which are generally due in February, will be due March 13 this year following some delays.

“Tax bills will go out in the mail [Feb. 12], so taxpayers will have approximately a month to receive those and pay those,” Butler said. 

In response to a question from commission president Terry Britton on the reason for the delay, Butler said it was due to his office’s “real estate software conversion internally,” which “took them more time to calculate” and verify the numbers.

Butler also spoke about the impact of recent property tax reform laws on this year’s tax bills. 

“The owner occupancy credit is currently around 2.5 percent,” Butler said. “Over the next four years, that's going to incrementally increase and land at around 15 percent. Also, the unvoted increases in property tax are going to be capped at a rate of inflation. That's also retroactive back to values before our last reappraisal.”

According to Nick Ciolli of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, House Bill 335 “created an inflationary cap on the growth of inside millage. Under current law, when a property undergoes a reappraisal or an update, the portion of their tax bill attributable to inside millage increases at the same rate as the property’s value increases. Under the bill, the tax bill increase attributable to inside millage will be limited to the percentage change in the GDP Deflator since the county last underwent a reappraisal or an update. The cap applies to all entities that receive inside millage.

“House Bill 186 creates a similar inflationary cap to HB 335 but applies it to the school district 20-mill floor. … The bill also eliminates the 10-percent non-business credit for all property not used in agricultural activities. At the same time, the 2.5-percent owner occupancy credit would be increased. Both changes are phased in over four years.”

Because the legislation was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine in late December, it will not take effect until between the first-half and second-half bills, so Butler said property owners can expect to see changes on their second bills. However, because the laws have not taken effect yet, the auditor’s office has not been able to calculate the second-half bills yet, Butler said.

“When we're able to do that, I will post the new tax amounts on the auditor’s website,” he said. “I would encourage taxpayers to only pay the first half. There's nothing wrong with paying the full year, but if there is a balance left — which there should be, if people pay the full year — that will just be credited to their tax bill for next year.

“If people only want to pay the first half and wait and see what the second half will be with those adjustments, those reforms I just discussed, I would encourage people to do that.”

Butler added that he wanted “to thank and congratulate my colleagues in the CAAO, County Auditors Association of Ohio, for their advocacy to get these reforms across the finish line and provide property tax relief for the homeowners of not only Highland County, but across the state of Ohio.”

Commissioner David Daniels asked how the treasurer’s office’s “difficulty in getting pennies,” due to the government stopping production, would impact tax payments his year.

“Most tax bills come in, and they are not even dollars,” Daniels said. “What happens when we can’t make change?”

Butler pointed out that this is an issue for all local offices and that he and other auditors would like “to statutorily deal with” the problem.

“We would like to see the ability for the auditors and treasuries to round,” Butler said. 

In other discussion:

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to issue a letter calling for solar oversight reform to state leaders, one week after a discussion with Liberty Township trustees.

Liberty Township trustees and residents met with commissioners at their Feb. 4 meeting to discuss the trustees’ recently passed resolution in opposition to solar development. Trustee Ron Ward asked if commissioners would be willing to write a letter to state legislators to further discuss Daniels’ statement that “anything that goes into the grid ought to be put in with Power Siting Board oversight,” instead of the OPSB only basing it off of project size.

“We told them that we would write to the governor, write to the members of the General Assembly, and ask them to make a correction in their rule process through the Ohio Power Siting Board that would include any commercial power operation where power is going directly into the grid to have power siting oversight over those projects,” Daniels said. “This letter is just asking them, by legislative authority, to change the Power Siting Board rules to include those projects.”

The letter was issued to U.S. Rep. David Taylor, Governor Mike DeWine, State Sen. Shane Wilkin and State Rep. Bob Peterson, with copies also emailed to Public Utilities Commission of Ohio personnel.

In the letter, commissioners asked their representatives to “consider sponsor legislation that would require all commercial electric generation projects interconnected to the power grid — regardless of size — to be subject to OPSB review and approval.

“Counties that are not zoned have very few tools available to address projects under the 50-megawatt threshold,” commissioners wrote. “Across Ohio, counties are increasingly seeing multiple 49.9-megawatt projects proposed in close proximity, effectively circumventing OPSB oversight. Counties like Highland simply do not have the resources, expertise or regulatory authority to provide the level of technical review and oversight that the OPSB is designed to perform for electric generating facilities.”

• At 9:15 a.m., commissioners conducted a bid opening for the Highco courtyard project. 

As previously reported, commissioners voted last May to submit an application from Highco for Community Development Block Grant funding. The proposal is for an outdoor space for an autism center courtyard, with swings and other equipment, according to CDBG coordinator Mary Remsing.

The county received a bid from Midwest Building and Supply in the amount of $212,000 and one from Dance Excavating in the amount of $144,265. Doug Karnes of McCarty Associates said he would review the proposals and make a recommendation.

Commissioners also made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A $54,000 fund payment request from Mechanical Construction for ongoing work at the Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant.

• A $1,685 estimate to replace the old sheriff’s office door at the Highland County Courthouse. Commissioner Brad Roades said the door had been “hanging off its hinges” and leads down to the boiler room for the courthouse.

• A resolution to grant authorization for listed “then and now” purchase orders and authorizing the county auditor to issue warrants for their payment.

• A resolution for the Sheriff declaring a single-man Genie 1WP Lift as no longer needed by the county and obsolete, pursuant to ORC 307-12(A)(1). Therefore, the board declared the listed item to be surplus property and no longer needed by the
county.

• A request from the Board of DD to create the following line item within the 2100 Board of DD fund: Community Access Trailer. Also requested is an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds in the amount of $75,000.

• A request from Probation for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the 2625 TCAP FY24-25 fund in the amount of $46.54.

• A request from the Sheriff for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the 2320 Sheriff K9 Donation fund in the amount of $1,200.

• A request from Sheriff declaring a list of items as no longer needed by the County and obsolete, ORC 307-12(A)(1); therefore, the board declared the listed items to be surplus property and no longer needed by the county.

• A 63-month copier lease agreement with Canon for the tax map office.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 26 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.