State 'running out of time' in efforts to stem tax hike from historic property value increases
Sep. 13—A proposal unveiled Tuesday to freeze property tax increases for eligible Ohio seniors is one of several efforts backed by Butler County state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., to stem the tax impact of tax increases from soaring taxable property values.
Hall said another effort, House Bill 187, may be voted out of the House Ways and Means Committee next week but it'll be a rush to make changes in time to impact tax bills before they go out next year.
"We're running out of time," he said.
HB187 would alter how county auditors assess property values in an effort to alleviate property valuation increases and the tax increases that would follow.
The bill had its 4th hearing Tuesday and was amended twice. The first amendment, supported by the Ohio Farm Bureau, takes farmland into consideration. In Ohio, farmland is taxed using a complicated formula known as the Current Agriculture Use Value, which values farmland based on its potential yield in a given tax year. Farmland that is able to produce more crop is taxed higher than farmland judged to have less potential.
According to the Ohio Farm Bureau, farmers are peering at drastic increases to their tax burden during this triennial cycle. Evan Callicoat, director of state policy at the bureau, told the House Ways and Means Committee that looping farmland in HB187 and requiring auditors to average out each property's CAUV values, not actual taxes charged, over the past three years will help alleviate farmer's tax burden.
"We have sustained higher crop prices in recent years, however our inputs costs and other factors have increased just as much, if not more, and are not as quick to come down to a point that would match where the market is currently," Callicoat said.
The amended bill still sits in the Ways and Means Committee. Some county auditors have testified in support of the bill, including Nancy Nix of Butler County and George Kaitsa of Delaware County, but the Ohio County Auditors Association cautioned the state not to mess with the property value appraisal process. Matt Nolan, auditor for Warren County, testified against the bill on behalf of the County Auditors Association of Ohio in late July. Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith has also expressed misgivings.
Hall believes that if HB187 were to be signed into law before the November elections, it would go into effect before the expected valuation increases are actually set in stone, thus providing relief for property owners in local counties before taxes are due in February.
Hall is involved in three proposed bills to address property taxes. Already passed was the Homestead Exemption expansion, which gives more low-income Ohioans and disabled veterans property tax relief by shaving off tens of thousands of dollars of taxable property value. The bill was folded into the budget, which passed earlier this summer.
