'Pretty significant increases:' Highland County property tax reappraisals reviewed

Highland County Auditor Alex Butler shared statistics and information on the county’s 2024 property tax appraisals during Highland County commissioners’ Wednesday, Aug. 28 meeting.

As previously reported, under state law, counties must undergo a reappraisal of all parcels every six years, as well as a triennial update in between these major appraisals.

According to Butler, a “tentative abstract” of new property values has been submitted to the Ohio Department of Taxation and approved. Anyone owning property in the county can check their new valuation at highlandcountyauditor.org.

“Those values are posted on the county auditor's website for the public to review,” Butler said. “They can log on and search their address, their name or parcel number, pull up their property, and they can see what their value was for tax year ’23 and then what we have tentatively been approved for tax year ’24.”

According to Butler, average increases in value for each category include:

• Residential property, a 30-percent increase;

• Agriculture property, a 36-percent increase;

• Commercial property, a 43-percent increase; and

• Industrial property, a 27-percent increase.

The auditor explained how they arrived at these figures.

“We work with our appraisal team throughout the year,” Butler said. “We do a very extensive review of all the property in the county. We do what's called a desktop review, so we're looking at aerial imagery. We are also sending appraisers out to have eyes on every property, to individually review property characteristics, condition of properties, and we analyze the last three years of sales data.

“There are many, many factors that go into how we arrive at these new values, but we're mandated by the state to do this every six years.”

Property owners who would like to meet with appraisers and/or share information that could potentially impact their property value may schedule an appointment during an “informal hearing period” Sept. 9-20, Butler said.

“The public can come in, if they disagree with their property value, to review that with our appraisers and get a little more in-depth look at their particular property, or inform us if there's something about their property that we're unaware of,” Butler said. “For example — because we don't go inside homes — maybe the outside of the home looks like it's in great condition, but the inside is vacant and totally trashed. We would not know that from looking at aerial imagery or looking from the outside, but that would be a characteristic of the home that would certainly affect the value that we would need to know.”

Butler said he “would encourage the public to look online, look at their value,” and if they “disagree with that value,” they can comment during that period of Sept. 9-20.

“They can stop in, walk in or call ahead,” Butler said. “I would encourage them to call ahead and make an appointment, because we'll have a team of appraisers here to review those properties.”

The auditor’s office can be reached by calling (937) 393-1915.

While the property values can be reviewed, Butler emphasized that they cannot estimate the cost of property taxes for next year because at this time, the rate is unknown.

“We don't get the tax rate until the December time frame, and that depends on a couple different things,” Butler said. “For example, in the county, there are 54 unique taxing districts, so your taxing district may have a levy on the ballot this fall. There are two countywide levies on the ballot this fall [for Children Services and the Health Department], so depending how the election turns out will determine what the tax rate is.

“Also, we still need to get the reduction factors from the state after we settle on the final abstract, and that's when the state will calculate the reduction factors for tax year ’24. I understand people are eager to know how this will affect their taxes, or what their taxes will be, but we are not able to calculate that without the tax rate for tax year ’24.”

Beyond the informal hearing period, Highland County Commissioner David Daniels pointed out that complaints can be reviewed by the Board of Revision in the future.

“The board of revision is to contest property for a previous tax year, a previous value,” Butler said. “This informal period is for the tentative value, which is not final yet. It has not been approved in a final abstract yet. If you want to contest your value, and we decide to adjust that value, that will be reflected in your tax bill that you get next year.

“Once that window of time closes and you file with the Board of Revision, it's a public, formal hearing, legal proceeding, and it comes with more strings attached, so to speak. I would encourage anyone, if they're able to make it, to catch us during that two-week period.”

Daniels agreed, saying “Now’s the time to make your case if you’ve got it,” but added that the Board of Revision is available as “one last-ditch effort” if needed.

“These are some pretty significant increases,” Daniels said.

Commissioner Brad Roades asked how the local averages compare to trends across the state.

“Our numbers are pretty consistent with what I have seen in other counties across the state,” Butler said. “Not every county is updating every six years. It's staggered.

“There were some other counties in other parts of the state, north of Columbus, and their numbers are very similar to ours. We’re not an outlier. This is pretty consistent with what we've seen, and the biggest driver of this has been the rising cost of building, construction costs and sales data. Much of this is data-driven, so it's hard to argue with the numbers, looking at the last three years of sales data. We know where the real estate market has been the last five-plus years, and that has done a lot to increase the values of property.”

Butler encouraged the community to reach out with any questions or concerns.

“We appreciate and respect the public, and understand that at a jump in value like this is not something that happens often,” Butler said. “If they want to call in or stop in, we're here to answer questions and help explain what the process is.”

For more from Wednesday’s meeting, go to https://highlandcountypress.com/news/broadband-solar-projects-discussed….

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