Last week, he sent the tax commissioner revised numbers with an average 14% increase after he reexamined some areas where the tax commissioners thought his numbers were “soft.” If the tax commissioner rejects those numbers, he may seek a legislative fix or a lawsuit.
“We are looking at all options, I am not going to go with excessively high values,” Reynolds said. “I am not assessing excessively high values on property owners during a pandemic when there is a huge question mark on what the real estate market is going to do.”
Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeffrey McClain’s office said Ohio law drove its decisions to call for “real property to be values at its true value in money for the purposes of taxation.”
“While we understand Mr. Reynolds' concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the economy, no information has been offered to demonstrate it has affected housing values, which leaves the (tax commissioner’s office) with no choice but to discharge its duty under the law,” the department said in a statement.
Under state law, property in all counties is reappraised every six years, and property values are updated every third year. Butler County is among 13 required to reappraise this year. Reynolds said the state’s policy seems to have shifted this year.
“What we’re seeing with other counties, the state’s taking what seems to be a much harder line this year,” Reynolds said. “Requiring a significantly larger increase than we’ve seen in the past and really just focusing on one good year of sales, where in the past we’ve normally averaged three years together.”
Reynolds faced a similar dilemma during the Great Recession. He was forced to reappraise properties in 2008. He was able to go back in 2009 and adjust the numbers to more realistic levels. He said this is not one of the options he is considering.
Generally, increased property values do not translate to higher tax bills unless a jurisdiction alters an existing levy or asks voters to approve a new levy. Reynolds said school districts also have a way to switch around funds to take advantage of higher property values.
West Chester Twp. taxpayers would be impacted by the reassessment, it is the only governmental jurisdiction seeking new levy dollars this year. The trustees are asking voters to approve new 2-mill levies each for the fire and police departments.
County Commissioner T.C. Rogers, who is in the real estate business, was shocked to hear about the 20% hike.
“If we reassessed all the property tax in the state of Ohio at 20% we would have an exodus,” Rogers said. “I think that Roger’s assessments, because his operation is in-house and he has a better knowledge of the true appraisals (than the state)”
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