Treasurer Mike McNamara told the Journal-News about 165,000 property tax bills totaling $739.4 million — including delinquent taxes, rollbacks and special assessments — will be sent out by month’s end and payments are due Feb. 26.
Property taxes are paid in arears, so the bills reflect taxes accrued in 2025. There shouldn’t be any drastic increases since values didn’t change, but the county commissioners, state lawmakers and other entities took actions that will impact the bottom line.
The total amount of taxes billed by McNamara’s office since 2020 shows a 25% increase; some people saw huge hikes, others nothing. The average increase from the last value adjustment in 2023 was 37% and that is why officials have tried to enact tax relief.
No HB 186 tax credits yet
House Bill 186 is the biggest measure lawmakers passed, but because it took so long to enact, tax credits included in the provisions won’t take effect until the second half bills. The bill caps future increases at the inflation rate and gives a credit to homeowners who were hit with the bloated bills following recent value adjustments.
They are applying it statewide in school districts that are at the 20-mill floor, where value increases produced huge tax windfalls throughout the mandated property reappraisal schedule over the past few years. Ohio law says once a school district’s total current expense millage is reduced to 20 mills, it cannot be reduced any further, so tax revenues grow as property values increase.
Residents in eight of the county’s 10 school districts that were on the 20-mill floor during the 2023 revaluation — the Fairfield and Lakota schools were not — will get the credits. Nix said they can’t calculate the credits until they get more guidance from the state.
Ensuring accuracy
Some county treasurers are advising taxpayers not to pay their entire tax bill upfront because of the second-half credits. McNamara has a different philosophy, since the credits haven’t yet been calculated.
“Our responsibility as treasurer is to deal in facts, not forecasts. At this time, no state-mandated adjustments have occurred, so we are not advising taxpayers to change how or when they pay their property taxes,” he said. “If a taxpayer pays their full bill now and a reduction is later issued, the account will be adjusted and any excess will be refunded. Until then, the best course is to rely on what we know — not what might happen."
What is certain is the county commissioners rolled back half their inside millage, or roughly $12.5 million, which will save taxpayers roughly $100 per $100,000 of home value. However, voters also approved two countywide levies over the past two years — for the Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board and Elderly Services — that combined will increase taxes by roughly $38 per $100,000 of value. The net outcome is a $62 per $100,000 savings for everyone.
Residents in the MidPointe Library System — with locations in Middletown, Monroe, Trenton and Liberty and West Chester townships — will pay an additional $12 per $100,000 and Milford Twp. residents $22 more per $100,000 because new levies passed last year.
Another state law change gave county commissioners the authority to essentially double the state-funded Homestead exemptions and 2.5% owner-occupancy credits for eligible property owners using local dollars.
The commissioners here only deployed the “piggyback” Homestead exemption portion of the new law, which will save homeowners who qualify for the benefit — around 18,000 taxpayers — around $7.7 million collectively.
HB 186 also increases the 2.5% owner occupancy credit to 15.38% over four years by phasing out the 10% non-business credit that applies to one-two-and three-family dwellings. Agricultural properties are held harmless. This provision begins with tax year 2026 so taxpayers won’t see the relief until 2027.
When fully phased in Nix’s office estimates the tax savings will be roughly $213 per $100,000.
While taxpayers will get a breather this year from value driven increases, the county is in the throes of the sexennial reassessment when all properties are examined and values adjusted as necessary. Nix said she’ll know in March how much values will increase but she is projecting 13% to 25%.
She said the moves the legislature finally made — officials here have been pleading for state tax relief action since 2023 — will help.
“It will benefit the taxpayers because we’re in the 2026 revaluation meaning in 2027 there would be tax hikes,” Nix said. “But with this property tax reform being enacted they won’t be near as steep as they would have been.”
Property owners can contest their values — not their taxes — if they believe the auditor’s numbers are incorrect by appealing to the Board of Revision. The deadline is March 31, but property owners can only appeal once during a three-year appraisal period. Forms are on Nix’s website and can be filed electronically.
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