Some county auditors oppose proposed Ohio Homeowners Relief Act

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Home values across Ohio are skyrocketing year over year and that has some lawmakers looking to lessen that impact when it comes time to pay your property taxes.

But, some county auditors, like Warren County Auditor Matt Nolan, said the measure offers too little, too late as a temporary solution to a bigger problem.

“I think 88 auditors want less property taxes, I don’t think there’s any opposition to that,” Nolan said. “It’s how you do it and doing it the right way.”

He said proposed Ohio House Bill 187 is the “wrong” way. The measure is now being considered in the Ohio Senate after passing the House.

“This is kind of the ‘throw some spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks’ approach,” Nolan said.

If it passes, the Homeowners Relief Act would take an average of three years of property values to calculate the tax someone owes, instead of just one year. The hope is to dull the sharp spike some counties are seeing in their 2023 tax rates.

Nolan said that would create a stressful situation in the counties finishing up their current appraisal cycle, including some of the biggest in the state, like Franklin, Cuyahoga and Hamilton.

“Tax bills go out in six weeks in some places,” he said. “There’s no way to get this all done without creating a complete mess in the process.”

He said the Ohio County Auditors Association is against the bill and what exactly the “mess” entails partly depends on the timing of when it takes effect, if approved by lawmakers. The measure could force auditors to quickly recalculate the rates they’ve already determined, or if bills have already been issued, it may mean property owners could still pay a higher rate on their first bill next year and then have a decreased bill for the second.

A lot of work, Nolan said, for little reward.

“In truth, it doesn’t really lower people’s values much, which means not much relief for taxpayers at all,” he said.

But State Rep. Adam Bird disagrees.

“I know because of the current status of inflation in Ohio, some might call it ‘Biden inflation,’ that we have a serous problem,” Bird said.

He said he co-sponsored the legislation because of what’s happening in his backyard.

“When you look at property valuations in the state of Ohio, Clermont County is No. 1 with an increase of 43%, if we use a one-year average,” Bird said.

He said the bill would affect 2023 taxes, if it’s passed, and said there’s a plan for auditors to make adjustments to implement the change. The three-year average value would be used to determine taxes through 2025. The bill could also freeze property tax values for seniors.

“We still gotta be careful that we’re still not pricing grandma and grandpa out of the home they’ve lived in all their life,” Bird said.

Greg Lawson, a research fellow with The Buckeye Institute, agreed that there’s an issue with tax structures in the state.

“This legislation does kind of smooth out a lot of the big spikes, which is what I think a lot of people are worried about,” he said. “Especially seniors on fixed incomes. This is a big deal.”

It’s a band-aid for the short term, he said, with hops this inspires lawmakers to consider a long-term solution to stop rising taxes.

“This isn’t something you can just flip a switch and change, but it’s the kind of stuff that if you don’t get underneath the hood and look at the details, you’re not gonna solve the problem,” Lawson said.