Highland County Auditor Alex Butler presented statistics and information regarding the county’s 2024 property tax assessments during the Highland County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, August 28.

As previously reported, state law requires counties to reassess all parcels every six years and update them every three years between those comprehensive assessments.

Butler said a “preliminary summary” of the new property values ​​has been submitted to the Ohio Department of Taxation and approved. Anyone who owns property in the county can check their new assessment at highlandcountyauditor.org.

“These values ​​will be posted on the County Auditor’s website for the public to view,” Butler said. “They can log in and search for their address, name or parcel number, pull up their property and see what their value was in tax year 2023 and what we’ve been tentatively approved for tax year 2024.”

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

• Residential real estate: an increase of 30 percent;

• Agricultural real estate, an increase of 36 percent;

• Commercial real estate, an increase of 43 percent; and

• Industrial property, an increase of 27 percent.

The auditor explained how he arrived at these figures.

“We work with our appraisal team year-round,” Butler said. “We do a very comprehensive review of all the properties in the county. We do what we call a desktop review, where we look at aerial photographs. We also send appraisers out to look at each property, review the properties’ characteristics and condition individually, and analyze the last three years of sales data.”

“There are many, many factors that contribute to how we arrive at these new values, but we are required by the state to do this every six years.”

Property owners who wish to meet with appraisers and/or exchange information that could potentially impact the value of their property can schedule an appointment during an “informal hearing period” from Sept. 9-20, Butler said.

“The public can come in if they don’t agree with the value of their property to discuss that with our appraisers and take a little closer look at their particular property, or let us know if there’s something about their property that we’re not aware of,” Butler said. “For example – because we don’t go inside the homes – the home may look in great shape from the outside, but inside it’s empty and completely trashed. We wouldn’t know that by looking at aerial photos or looking at it from the outside, but that would be a feature 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, check their value,” and if they “disagree with that value,” they could comment during that period, September 9-20.

“You can walk in, drop in or call ahead,” Butler said. “I would recommend calling ahead and making an appointment because we have a team of appraisers here to look at these properties.”

The Auditor’s Office can be reached at (937) 393-1915.

Although property values ​​can be checked, Butler stressed that the amount of property taxes for next year cannot be estimated because the amount is currently unknown.

“We don’t get the tax rate until December, and that depends on a few different things,” Butler said. “For example, there are 54 different taxing districts in the county, 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’s services and the health department), so the outcome of the election depends on what the tax rate is.

“We also still need to get the reduction factors from the state after we agree on the final summary, and then the state will calculate the reduction factors for the 2024 tax year. I understand that people want to know how this will affect their taxes or what their taxes will be, but without the tax rate for the 2024 tax year, we can’t calculate that.”

Beyond the informal hearing period, Highland County Commissioner David Daniels noted that complaints may be reviewed by the Board of Auditors in the future.

“The revision board is designed to challenge property for a prior tax year, a prior value,” Butler said. “This informal period is for the provisional value, which is not yet final. It has not yet been approved in a final summary. If you want to challenge your value and we decide to adjust that value, that will be reflected in your tax bill that you receive next year.”

“After that deadline and filing with the Board of Revision, it’s a public, formal hearing, a court proceeding, and it’s got more strings attached, so to speak. I would encourage anyone who can get through to reach us during that two-week period.”

Daniels agreed, saying, “Now is the time to make your case if you can make it,” but added that the Board of Auditors was available as a “last resort” if needed.

“These are pretty significant increases,” Daniels said.

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

“Our numbers are pretty consistent with what I’ve seen in other counties in the state,” Butler said. “Not every county updates every six years. It’s staggered.”

“There were other counties in other parts of the state north of Columbus, and their numbers are very similar to ours. We’re not an outlier. That’s pretty consistent with what we’ve seen, and the biggest reason for that has been the rising cost of construction, building costs and sales numbers. A lot of that is data-driven, so it’s hard to argue the numbers when you look at the sales numbers for the last three years. We know what the real estate market has been like for the last five years and more, and that’s done a lot to drive up real estate values.”

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

“We value and respect the public and understand that a jump in value like this doesn’t happen often,” Butler said. “If they want to call or stop by, we’re here to answer questions and help explain the process.”

For more information about Wednesday’s meeting, visit highlandcountypress.com.

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