Sunday, January 18, 2009

Owners Slammed by Huge Property Tax Bills

Rising rate and assessments combine for double whammy.
Property owners throughout southwest Ohio are experiencing sticker shock upon opening their latest property tax bills. The dramatic increase in property tax bills is attributable to both an increase in property valuations and an increase in tax rates. A chart showing the increase in commercial property tax rates in the Cincinnati Public School District is below.

This graph shows the growth in commercial/industrial property tax rates in Hamilton County/Cincinnati Public School District over 25 years, from a rate of 49 mills to more than 76 today. If these trends hold for the coming 25 years, our children will pay tax rates of more than 92 mills in 2034.
Overall, Hamilton County experienced an increase in property values for both residential and commercial property. Some areas experienced dramatic increases. For example, Auditor assessments in Oakley increased by 16 to 17 percent. At the same time, many areas of the County experienced significant increases in rates of taxation. Property tax rates in the Cincinnati Public School District went up a total of 14%, despite significantly reduced enrollment. This is due to the massive CPS tax increase that passed in March.

The combined effect of these two factors meant, for example, that many Oakley property owners experienced increases of more than 30% from their prior tax bills.

COAST attorneys are hosting a series of property tax reduction seminars in January and February. Details are here.

2 comments:

  1. My valuation went down, but I still pay higher taxes due to all the levies. Where does it end?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark,

    "It's for the children".

    ReplyDelete

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