Late in August, 2011 the Franklin County Auditor's office sent out to homeowners its 2011 appraisal of property values. Home owners in Franklin County, Ohio have been anxiously awaiting the release of their 2011 home appraisals since July. So many heard the gloom and doom about property values and have been waiting to see how this reported decline will impact their property taxes for the coming year and beyond.
There is good and bad news. The good news is that the Auditor's Office reports that these new values will be used to calculate property tax assessments for the 2011 tax year. Hopefully, this means that if your property's value went down, so will your property taxes.
The bad news for those 14,000 home owners (such as myself) that filed a claim with the Board of Revision and had their property taxes reduced last year is that the County Auditor set aside these revisions when considering current property values. For example, if your home was originally worth $100,000 and you were able to get its appraised value lowered to $80,000 through the Board of Revisions, that value was not used as a starting point for determining 2011 values. Those of us that had our property taxes reduced in 2010 will have to start all over and file another claim with the Board of Revision should the Auditor's office decide to use the new appraisal values.
The County Auditor has set aside dates in September for homeowner to attend value review sessions to ask questions, present evidence and discuss the results of the reappraisal. You should bring any information such as a recent property appraisal done in the past year by a certified Ohio appraiser. Those who had their home refinanced my already have a copy. Or a recent form or final purchase agreement may also be presented. A realtor can also provide a report of comparable properties that sold in the past 2-3 years that were not short sales, foreclosures, or other types of distressed properties to support the your home's value.
Property owners with questions can attend any of the remaining Franklin County value reviews. sessions at locations throughout Franklin County. Walk-in times are from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Locations can be found at www.franklincountyauditor.com or you can tweet www.twitter.com/FC_Auditor.
It’s worth your time and energy to attend one of these value reviews to talk with a counselor. The Auditor's office also has extended phone hours M-F from 8:00am through 9:00pm. They can be reached by phone at 614-525-4663 through Oct. 3 to discuss these appraisals.
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