Residents get property tax primer

Fort Recovery property owners recently noticed changes to their real estate tax bills.

Village representatives decided to host a public meeting to learn more about how tax amounts are determined.

Fort Recovery residents, Mercer County officials and others joined Saturday for a town hall meeting to discuss real estate taxes.

Fort Recovery Mayor Dave Kaup explained he received his real estate tax bill for the 18 parcels of land he owns about six weeks ago. Changes to his bill varied anywhere from decreasing 4% to increasing 30%, depending on the parcel.

He noted concerns about getting village levies to pass in the future, such as renewal levies for water or wastewater amenities.

“I’m concerned about that, you know, obviously that’s what keeps the town going,” he said. “I just felt like we were getting taxed to the point where people were getting fed up.”

Mercer County auditor Randy Grapner explained property assessment and taxes are intertwined.

“The Department of Taxation gives us the rules,” he said. “The rules are created by the state legislature. They come down to us. We appraise the properties, and then that goes out to the assessment process.”

The county has contracted with Findlay’s Vision Government Solutions, which works with more than 40 counties in Ohio, of Findlay since the early 1990s.  It aids the county with crunching the numbers.

Grapner also pointed out his department recently completed a revaluation of the real estate and real property in Mercer County. 

New values are set every six years per Ohio law, with updates set for every three years in between revaluations.

Kaup asked where Fort Recovery’s real estate tax rates rank in cost to property owners as compared to taxing districts across Ohio.

According to the Ohio Department of Taxation’s website, real estate taxes are paid on the assessed value, which is 35% of the property’s appraised or market value. The assessed value of the property multiplied by the effective tax rate of voted levies equals the amount owed. (That’s prior to taking out tax deductions, such as non-business property, owner-occupied homes or homestead reductions.)

Mercer County has 46 taxing districts, with Fort Recovery’s districts located in Gibson, Granville, Recovery and Washington townships.

“The effective rate in each of those areas could be different,” noted Mercer County treasurer Dave Wolters.

Pointing to variances across the county’s taxing districts, he said it would be difficult to compare with other taxing districts in Ohio. He pointed to demographical differences — rural, farm ground compared to residential or corporation areas — as other influential factors.

Grapner assured community members that funds from increases to property tax bills stay within the county. 

Tax dollars are divided between taxing entities, noted Wolters. Fort Recovery Local Schools receives approximately 57% of those dollars. 

Tony Stahl, superintendent of Fort Recovery schools, explained the school district has five levies, with three dating back to as far as the late 1970s and early ’80s. (One of those levies is set to expire in 2032.)

Fort Recovery Local Schools receives the lowest percentage of real estate taxes in the county. According to Wolters, other school districts receive the following percentages: Parkway – 65.69%; St. Henry – 67.75%; Coldwater – 70.74%; Marion Local – 71.9%; and Celina – 76.73%.

Wolters noted that as the community grows, tax valuations may increase and subsequently millage rates — $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value — for schools would decrease. However, per Ohio law, tax reduction factors cannot cause a school district’s effective current expense millage rate to fall below 20 mills.

Answering a question from a community member, Wolters explained property taxes for 2023 to be paid in 2024 are projected to come in at $65 million, a $13 million increase from the previous year for Mercer County. Taking the 20-mill floor for schools into account, Wolters said, that would come out to roughly $8 million more for schools in 2024.

Other factors, such as inflation and rising costs of housing, property and land, have also impacted real estate taxes. Community member Jared Ebbing noted a housing shortage in Fort Recovery.

“The market value is being driven up, not just inflation, but artificially, because people want to live in this little slice of normal we call Mercer County,” he said. “That’s good that people want to come back to the area … but with the housing shortage that we have in every single community, how’s a young person going to come back here to buy a house or build a house?”

Echoing Kaup’s thoughts from earlier in the meeting, local resident Matt Minor also noted potential future levies considering property tax rates.

“God help you on anything that hits the ballot that could further improve this village because I’m here to tell you, nobody’s voting for it,” he said.

Mercer County Commissioner Dave Buschur, Wolters and Grapner all advocated for reaching out to state senators, representatives and other officials to see changes with tax rates.

Various data related to property tax bills for Mercer County residents, including valuations and a breakdown of how much each levy accounts for in each property owner’s bills, is available by visiting auditor.mercercountyohio.gov. The website can be used to search for properties by address, parcel or name of property owner.

For those with disputes about the county’s valuations for their property, complaint forms are available on the website. There is no charge for an appeal, but it must be submitted to the auditor’s office before March 31.