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HAMILTON — Both the state and his political opponent each took at least partial credit for Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds' plan to reappraise property values in 2009.

Reynolds announced the plan Thursday, Oct. 2, saying it followed the state's rejection of his request to extend this year's appraisals to include 2008 sales. Many have criticized this year's appraisal for raising taxable values in a year sale values on homes are dropping.

Shelly Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Taxation's tax equalization division, said she proposed the idea to Reynolds earlier this week.

"It's the auditor's right and the auditor's duty to value the market at market value," she said.

Democrat Jack Zettler, who is challenging the Republican incumbent for the seat this year, also took credit for spurring the move.

"Finally our interim county auditor has reacted to the numerous statements and articles by our campaign, as well as the hundreds — if not thousands — of statements by the county homeowners about his unfair property values," he said.

"His promise seems to be, 'I raised your property tax values in 2008 despite the fact that your real property values are decreasing. But trust me, elect me and I'll correct it next year,'" Zettler said.

Reynolds said he has worked to lower values since taking office, even hosting  several town hall meetings and offering homeowners a chance to lower their property values by contesting them personally.

"As soon as I came in office, I've been working hard to get these values down," he said.

Wilson said she hasn't seen Reynolds' request to extend the appraisal, though she did talk to him this week and told him an extension is unlikely. She also said it's unrealistic for Reynolds to go into the appraisal next year with his mind made up that all values will go down.

"Being an appraiser is not to be results oriented," she said.

Wilson also cautioned that decreasing property values won't significantly decrease taxes, and that this could lead to a sharper spike in values when the market rebounds.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.