Summit property values may jump 34%. What will this mean for your taxes?

Home values across Ohio are rapidly rising, and that means county auditors are bracing for what they describe as historic increases in people's property values.

"This has been a central Ohio problem for years," Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano said. "Now, it is something that is happening across the state."

Summit County's property values will jump 34% in the current triennial update, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation, which also reports a 38% increase in Wayne County and similar numbers in 11 other counties. Summit County residents also saw home values jump 14% during the 2020 full reappraisal.

The most recent sales data from Realtor.com shows a median price of $190,000 in Summit County, a 27% increase from last year.

Summit County real estate: View our updated market report on Data Central

Butler County near Cincinnati is projecting a 42% increase this year.

That doesn't translate to a corresponding increase in property taxes. But the hit to some property tax bills could be, as Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix put it, "catastrophic" for those on fixed incomes.

How Ohio calculates your property values

In Ohio, county auditors must reappraise all real estate parcels every six years and update their values every three. The big difference between those two is that the three-year update relies entirely on home sale data, while the reappraisal is more comprehensive.

Summit County is scheduled this year for a three-year update following historic valuation increases from the sexennial reappraisal in 2020. Counties have to use data provided by Ohio's Tax Commissioner — even if they don't want to.

Butler County tried to use a combination of years during its last update, but it lost that court battle. And that means that Butler County's estimate of a 24% increase for 2024 is being replaced with the state's estimate of 42%.

Summit County tried the same approach as Butler, but also was forced to used the state's methodology.

Not every home will see the same increase in property taxes. It depends on where you live and what specific levies have passed for your schools, first responders and libraries.

Many property taxes capped

In Akron, the last reappraisal disproportionately lifted the values of cheaper homes. But levies collect roughly the same amount each year until voters say otherwise, so any change in property values means some homeowners will pay more and others will pay less.

The reason is House Bill 920 passed in 1976, which requires Ohio to adjust millage rates to ensure a levy never collects a penny more than when voters approved it.

Instead, the only way to raise more tax revenue would be to pass an additional levy or a replacement levy, which uses current property values instead of values frozen in time by HB 920.

But Ohio's property taxes are complicated.

A small portion of levies called "inside millage" does collect more with higher values. The Ohio Constitution allows local taxing authorities like schools, townships and cities to tax these 10 mills, which are equal to 1% of the total property value in each community, without voter consent.

If a tax bill goes way up, though, it's not likely because of an across-the-board increase in valuations but because of a new levy or the value of a single property rising substantially higher than the values of other properties in that taxing district.

For example, a Beacon Journal analysis in 2021 found that while homes that jumped in value from the $100,000 range to the $150,000 range received about a $750 increase on their property tax bills, homes worth more than $250,000 saw much lower percent increases in valuation. A significant portion of luxury homeowners ended up paying less.

Each year before March 31, county boards of revisions take complaints from taxpayers who say their properties are valued too high. After the 2020 reappraisal, a record 4,662 Summit County property owners complained. And 90% won their cases, reducing the collective value of their property by nearly $100 million, which pushed the taxes on that $100 million onto their neighbors who didn't complain.

What lawmakers want to do

The issue has caught the attention of Ohio's state legislators.

"I don't like to use the word fight, but we have to do something to address this," Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Township, said.

That's why he introduced legislation with Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, to change how Ohio's Tax Commissioner calculates increases in property values.

Their bill will remove the tax commissioner's discretion to set those property valuation increases and require the department to use three years' worth of home sale data.

"This is about helping out people on fixed incomes," Hall added. "People that need this most. We are in some high inflationary times right now. This is just us fighting for people back home."

ODT released a statement saying the department was "happy to collaborate on any legislative proposal," but "we must carefully consider how that proposal would impact counties, schools, and other levying authorities."

House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, told reporters he's well aware of the larger issues surrounding how Ohio calculates its property taxes and wants to have that bigger conversation.

"It's a very important topic. It's one that we've been talking about here in the House for months," Stephens said. "And there's not an easy solution."

Akron Beacon Journal reporter Doug Livingston contributed to this article. Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Historic increases in Ohio property valuations spur state legislation