American Idol 2012 finale
News hounds (5/24/12)
Fenwick vs. Felicity
Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > December > 11
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Board of Revision approves lowered property values
Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds is lowering taxable property values on 15,148 parcels by an average 11 percent.
He said this is in addition to any changes property owners already were expecting after this year’s reappraisal.
Reynolds presented the final results of this year’s countywide property value reappraisal to the county Board of Revision Thursday night, Dec. 11.
Reynolds said his office has taken a second look in recent weeks at home sales in areas with high foreclosure rates.
The auditor’s office can’t use sheriff’s sales when appraising property, but “enough of those happening within an area may affect other sales,” said Louis Caldwell, a manager with the firm that did this year’s reappraisal, Tyler Technologies.
In Hamilton, they found roughly 7,454 parcels valued too high and lowered values a total $54 million. Building values in parts of the second ward alone dropped an average 30 percent, officials said.
In Middletown, 7,694 parcels were reduced to the tune of roughly $43 million. Officials said most of these homes were in the older, western part of the city.
“This was not a glossed-over blanket amount,” Caldwell said. “It was thoroughly researched.”
Hamilton and Middletown have total tax bases of about $2 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, so these last-minute reductions are a very small percent of the total, Reynolds said.
Reynolds provided this information when pressed by the other two members of the Board of Revision, county Commissioner Donald Dixon and Treasurer Nancy Nix.
Before this, the three argued over the role of the board and what powers it has. Dixon advocated for the board to meet this year — it’s unclear whether it has in the past, though it’s required by state law — after many including Reynolds said that this year’s values are too high in a collapsed housing market.
Officials said these reductions will bring taxes down slightly for some residents.
“It won’t be a huge number (tax decrease), but they’re closer to being accurate,” Dixon said.
This was the first and last chance for the board to review the appraisal before it goes to the Ohio Department of Taxation.
Assistant county Prosecutor Dan Ferguson said local government leaders now will consider whether to contest the appraisal on behalf of homeowners next year and try to lower values further.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: County Auditor
Sheriff says he will uphold law
Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones was both criticized and praised for directing his staff this to not throw anyone out on the cold streets if they have nowhere else to go.
Amid concerns that the sheriff was acting above the law, Jones said he will serve court-ordered evictions, but he will work with the courts to find housing for the evicted.
This follows a letter to Ohio’s governor Tuesday, Dec. 9, saying robbing someone of shelter during winter could be a “death penalty” and he will refuse to serve an order if tenants have nowhere to go.
This concerned landlords that the sheriff was going to let people stay in their homes rent-free, and Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis told a local radio station that a sheriff should go to jail if he refused to serve an eviction order.
“He has no plan to willfully violate a court order and go to jail himself,” said Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Sgt. Monte Mayer. “He is trying to make sure it’s done in the best interest of all parties.”
“People need to pay their rent, they need to pay their mortgage, if they can’t, they will be served with these papers,” he said.
Of the more 500 eviction orders the sheriff received this year, Mayer said less than 50 resulted in “set outs,” where a deputy physically oversees the removal of someone and their property from a home.
And the majority of these have someone to stay with, Mayer said. “What he’s looking at is the rare cases, of people who have no family around anywhere,” Mayer said.
As for where these people would go, Mayer said the sheriff’s office will work with the court within the timeframe allotted in the eviction order to find a place for them to stay.
Bob Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association said he applauds Jones as long as he works within the law.
“I think it’s good that sheriff Jones is being cognizant of people’s needs but being cognizant of his role as sheriff,” Cornwell said.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County Sheriff's Department
Board of Revision meets tonight
The Butler County Board of Revision will meet today, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. to discuss this year’s taxable property value reappraisal. It appears county Commissioner Donald Dixon will be appointed to that board this morning; Dixon has been a strong advocate of lowering property values countywide.
Auditor Roger Reynolds, who has also criticized the appraisals (though they were done by his office) also sits on the board, along with Treasurer Nancy Nix.
The meeting is at the County Administrative Center, 130 High Street in Hamilton, and is open to the public.
Here is more background on this issue.
What do you hope to see come out of this meeting?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: County Auditor
