Local Real Estate Taxes – Avoid Overpaying
February 9, 2009
If you own real estate in Butler, Clermont, Greene or Montgomery County, you may have recently received an unwelcomed increase in your real estate taxes. State law requires that every 6 years the County Auditor conduct a reappraisal of each parcel of real property. This occurred in 2008 for each of the listed counties. Since real estate taxes are paid in arrears, the first tax bill based on the reappraisal were sent out this month, and many property owners are astounded by the extent of the increase.
We are all well aware of the depressed real estate market nationally and locally. Residential and commercial properties which are on the market are taking longer to sell and the sales prices are disappointing for many sellers. At the same time, finding lenders to refinance properties is increasingly difficult, and many property owners are finding that their equity has in fact been reduced over the past few years. With this dynamic, receiving increases in real estate taxes is, for many, an unwelcomed hardship. The good news is that there is a straightforward and relatively expedient way to effect a reduction in your real estate taxes to the extent your property has been over valued.
Property owners can file a Complaint Against the Valuation of Real Property ("RE Complaint") with an appointed body in their County known as the Board of Revisions ("BOR"). This body is comprised of a separate representative of the offices of the County Treasurer, the County Auditor and the County Commissioners. In most years, the BORs in the larger counties in Ohio each hear hundreds of cases. With the 2008 revaluation in each of the listed counties combined with the economic downturn, we are expecting the number of RE Complaints to increase substantially in these counties.
The BOR hearings are run very efficiently. Although there are certain formalities that must be followed, the hearings are not nearly as procedurally intricate as a judicial hearing, and taxpayers are given a fair opportunity to make their case. The key to success is to have good evidence and present it in an orderly and convincing fashion. Typically, the best evidence is a recent arms length sale. If that has not occurred, we recommend that an appraisal be performed with the appraiser being the key witness at the hearing.
With good evidence, we generally believe we are at an advantage in the hearing. Most counties hire a mass appraisal firm upon which their valuation is based. This usually means that, by the time of the hearing, we have much more specific evidence as to the subject property than the County has seen. Indeed, in recent years, Taft has successfully represented dozens of real estate taxpayers in Ohio and received decisions which have saved clients anywhere from many thousands of dollars a year to well over a $100,000 per year in real estate taxes.
If you believe your real estate taxes are too high, we would be happy to meet with you and discuss the process of filing an appeal with the BOR in your county. To schedule a meeting, please call Dave Reed in our Dayton office at (937) 641-1724 or via e-mail at reed@taftlaw.com. Dave has practiced in real estate law for over 17 years and handles many real estate tax valuation appeals each year.
We are all well aware of the depressed real estate market nationally and locally. Residential and commercial properties which are on the market are taking longer to sell and the sales prices are disappointing for many sellers. At the same time, finding lenders to refinance properties is increasingly difficult, and many property owners are finding that their equity has in fact been reduced over the past few years. With this dynamic, receiving increases in real estate taxes is, for many, an unwelcomed hardship. The good news is that there is a straightforward and relatively expedient way to effect a reduction in your real estate taxes to the extent your property has been over valued.
Property owners can file a Complaint Against the Valuation of Real Property ("RE Complaint") with an appointed body in their County known as the Board of Revisions ("BOR"). This body is comprised of a separate representative of the offices of the County Treasurer, the County Auditor and the County Commissioners. In most years, the BORs in the larger counties in Ohio each hear hundreds of cases. With the 2008 revaluation in each of the listed counties combined with the economic downturn, we are expecting the number of RE Complaints to increase substantially in these counties.
The BOR hearings are run very efficiently. Although there are certain formalities that must be followed, the hearings are not nearly as procedurally intricate as a judicial hearing, and taxpayers are given a fair opportunity to make their case. The key to success is to have good evidence and present it in an orderly and convincing fashion. Typically, the best evidence is a recent arms length sale. If that has not occurred, we recommend that an appraisal be performed with the appraiser being the key witness at the hearing.
With good evidence, we generally believe we are at an advantage in the hearing. Most counties hire a mass appraisal firm upon which their valuation is based. This usually means that, by the time of the hearing, we have much more specific evidence as to the subject property than the County has seen. Indeed, in recent years, Taft has successfully represented dozens of real estate taxpayers in Ohio and received decisions which have saved clients anywhere from many thousands of dollars a year to well over a $100,000 per year in real estate taxes.
If you believe your real estate taxes are too high, we would be happy to meet with you and discuss the process of filing an appeal with the BOR in your county. To schedule a meeting, please call Dave Reed in our Dayton office at (937) 641-1724 or via e-mail at reed@taftlaw.com. Dave has practiced in real estate law for over 17 years and handles many real estate tax valuation appeals each year.
