Little-known law used to give tornado victims tax extensions

A provision in the Ohio code never before used in Montgomery County is helping 70 property owners who had extensive tornado damage delay for a year tax payments due last summer.

“We’ve certainly never done this before in Montgomery County and, to my knowledge, it’s never been done in the state,” said Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith. “We are breaking new ground here in dealing with these types of disasters.”

While the owners who suffered damage from Memorial Day twisters and applied for a special program will be required like everyone else to pay property taxes due next month, they won’t be penalized for not making payments due last July, said Russ Joseph, Montgomery County treasurer. The second-half payments due last summer will now be due July 17.

“People were dealing with the aftermath of the tornadoes and for a lot of folks they were waiting on the insurance checks or dealing with sealing up their homes,” Joseph said. “The last thing we wanted them to worry about was paying their taxes when they really needed those funds to get their property back in shape.”

The county’s Board of Revision, which includes Joseph, Keith and Montgomery County Commission President Judy Dodge, approved the action Tuesday.

Ohio law allows the measure if 25% or more of a property’s assessed value is lost to fire, flood or tornado, Joseph said.

Of the owners who applied for and were granted the extension, 28 are in Harrison Twp., 23 in Trotwood, 15 from Dayton and two each are in Brookville and Clayton.

Nearly $164,000 in taxes were included in the extension. The 70 properties experienced more than $3.6 million in damage from the tornadoes, according to the county auditor’s damage assessment report.

“Our schools and libraries and parks, all of our community services depend on our tax dollars we bring in, but we also feel a responsibility for us to help struggling property owners who are affected by the tornadoes,” Joseph said.

More than 1,200 property owners who were victims of the Memorial Day tornadoes received tax relief through the Damaged Property Deduction, a program administered by the auditor’s office.

The county experienced $46 million in total property damage from the tornadoes, which will result in a $1.7 million loss of revenue to school districts and other local governments, according to the auditor’s office.

The due date for first-half property taxes for all property owners is Feb. 14. Property owners should receive a tax bill in the mail by the end of this week.

Tax bills can be paid in a variety of ways: online at www.MCTreasurer.org, by mailing a check to the treasurer’s office, or in-person at the Montgomery County Administration Building, 451 W. Third St, Dayton.

Property owners who are still waiting for insurance checks or struggling to pay bills can contact the office to set up a payment plan to avoid additional interest and penalties, Joseph said.