Deadline to Save on Your Real Property Taxes Approaching – It’s time to check if your property tax valuation is inflated.

Property owners and certain tenants may challenge the taxable value of their property for the 2021 tax year by filing a real property tax valuation complaint before March 31, 2022 to reduce their property taxes. For the first time, Ohio law allows certain commercial and industrial tenants, in addition to property owners, to file the valuation complaint if the tenant is responsible for property taxes (e.g., triple-net-lease tenants) and obtains the property owner’s consent. S.B. 57. For the 2021 tax year, the property is valued as of January 1, 2021 (i.e., the tax lien date).

There are several reasons why one’s property value could be inflated, as property values in Ohio are reappraised or updated by the county every three years, values are automatically adjusted when property is transferred (even if the sale price includes nontaxable personal or intangible property), or the property has been historically overvalued. Although some sectors of the real estate market have been strong through the pandemic, we have noticed that these perceived market gains seem to have been applied uniformly to all types of real estate resulting in unwarranted increases to value in many circumstances.

If you wish to contest your property’s value, taxpayers should start working with their attorney now to ensure the relevant information is available to obtain the most favorable result. This often includes retaining an appraiser to support the reduced valuation. However, there can be other methods for supporting a lower valuation even without obtaining an appraisal, especially if the property was recently transferred.

Property owners and tenants should not miss this opportunity to review their property tax valuations. Further, taxes can be challenged in situations where COVID-19 specifically affected property values, such as those industries hit hard by the pandemic, even if a valuation complaint had been filed in the previous three-year valuation period. In Northeast Ohio for 2021, Sandusky County properties were reappraised, while Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Portage and Stark County values were updated. 

The Attorneys at Buckingham. Doolittle, and Burroughs, LLC, are eager to help taxpayers take advantage of this real property tax savings opportunity. If you want to pursue this opportunity or have questions about the process, please do not hesitate to contact us.