2023 COUNTY PROPERTY REAPPRAISAL
All property owners in Knox County will soon receive a letter from the county auditor indicating the new appraised value of their property, and the next logical question most of us will as is “What does this mean for my property taxes?”. The answer is: When a property is reassessed (likely upward) you MAY or MAY NOT see an increase in your tax bill. Property taxes in Ohio are complicated.
Property taxes are calculated based on the underlying value of the property (35% of appraised market value). Since property values change over time, Ohio has a process in place to periodically reappraise every property. This is done by each county auditor every six years (along with a more simplified “update” every three years) and is mostly based on recent sales. Knox County, like other parts of Ohio, has experienced historic property value increases based on many different factors, including the local economy, population growth, lack of housing, etc.
A main item of note is there is NOT a one-to-one relationship between property value increases and taxes. Danville Schools will NOT see a large spike in taxes collected. That is because Ohio enacted a law in the 1970s that protects homeowners from a rise in taxes simply due to an increase in property value. It’s called House Bill 920, and it works by reducing what is called the ‘effective millage’, or tax rate, so that when multiplied by the higher property value, the owner pays roughly the same amount as they did the year before, all other factors being equal. The School District also collects, in total, roughly the same amount as it did the year before the reappraisal.
Now, to complicate matters more……not all areas and properties are reappraised and impacted the same. It’s all about how each property compares to the average increase. If a property is reappraised higher than the average, that owner could pay more taxes whereas a property that is reappraised lower than average could experience a tax decrease. The School District receives roughly the same in total. The process is rooted in fairness and protection for all property owners and why it’s often called ‘equalization’.
Muddying the waters even more……there is a small portion of the tax rate, called ‘inside mills’ that does grow with reappraisal. It is the first 10 mills (Danville’s share is 4.10 mills) and represents around 10% of this past year’s total mills for our District.
Taxes in Ohio are complicated, and it is natural to be concerned when experiencing historic reappraisals. However, in Danville Schools, assuming your property goes up about what the average is (37%), your school property taxes should only increase slightly due to inside mills. There are other county-wide tax levies (not Danville Local School levies) that have been renewed, added, or replaced, that could still cause your taxes, overall, to increase.
Go to www.knoxcountyauditor.org for more information on the reappraisal process.