Real Estate Taxes and Rates

* Administration of Special Assessments
* Preparation of General Tax List
* Administration of Tax Refunds and Abatements

REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL AND ASSESSMENT

The State of Ohio has more than 5.5 million separate parcels of real property. It is the duty of the Auditor to see that every parcel of land and the buildings thereon are fairly and uniformly appraised and assessed for tax purposes. A general reappraisal is mandated by Ohio law every six years with an update at the three year midpoint. The office maintains a detailed record of the appraisal on each parcel in the county. These records are open for public inspection. For taxation purposes, you are assessed at 35% of fair market value.

Under law, the County Auditor cannot raise or lower property taxes. Tax rates are determined by the budgetary requests of each governmental unit, as authorized by the vote of the people, and are computed in strict accordance with procedures required by the Division of Tax Equalization, Ohio Department of Taxation.

Annually, the Auditor prepares the General Tax List. Your tax bill is based on the tax rate multiplied by your valuation on this tax list. This is your proportional share of the cost of operating your local government including schools, townships, villages and the county.

Ohio law limits the amount of taxation without a vote of the people to what is known as the "10 mill limitation" ($10.00 per $1,000 of assessed valuation). Any additional real estate taxes for any purpose must be voted by county residents. Your "tax rate" is an accumulation of all these levies and bond issues.

PERSONAL PROPERTY

The County Auditor, as an agent for the Ohio Department of Taxation, is responsible for administering the Tangible Personal Property Tax laws.

Generally speaking, anyone in business in Ohio is subject to tangible personal property tax on equipment, furniture, fixtures and inventory used in business.

The Tangible Personal Property Tax is distributed back to the local taxing districts in the same manner as real estate taxes.

Personal property is assessed from tax returns which are required to be filed. The Tax Commissioner is responsible for administering the Personal Property Tax laws; the County Auditor serves as a deputy for the Tax Commissioner in this capacity.