County to resume tax dispute hearings
Property owners were given extra time to appeal values this year.
Cases will be heard again next week by The Montgomery County Board of Revision after COVID-19 halted the process in March.
The Montgomery County Board of Revision will resume hearing property value disputes next week after the process was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The hearings will resume Monday. And property owners now have until Aug. 24 to contest the value of properties as they existed at the first of the year, said Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith. The extension was included in a coronavirus relief package passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
“Since this emergency began, Ohioans have rightfully made the safety of their families their top priority,” Keith said. “Thanks to the extension, they can wait to take care of other matters, such as filing a property value appeal.”
The Board of Revision received more than 960 appeal forms before the original March 31 deadline and another 40 since, according to the auditor’s office. The board completed 90 hearings before it was put on hold by the pandemic.
Hearings typically take place in-person, but the Board of Revision will conduct this year’s appeal hearings via the Zoom video conferencing platform, in which a party can also join by telephone, Keith said.
“The health of our families is my top priority right now, too. That’s why all of this year’s hearings will be conducted on Zoom,” Keith said.
Board of Revision staff will be
contacting property owners to reschedule hearings cancelled between March and June.
The Zoom platform will allow property owners to participate in their hearings by video conference or by telephone. In addition, property owners can submit evidence online through Keith’s new Evidence Portal on www.mc-bor.org.
The Board of Revision can only consider the conditions that existed on Jan. 1 and doesn’t have the authority to weigh property values based on the current real estate market, according to the auditor’s office.
Property owners were given the extra time to appeal values this year through the Ohio General Assembly’s COVID-19 emergency relief bill signed into law at the end of March.
Last year, the Board of Revision received 1,448 complaints. Nearly half, or 47% resulted in no change. Of the total filings, 36% resulted in decreases. But the remaining 17% of cases that saw increases accounted for a net gain of $38.5 million in county property tax valuation.
The 2019 gain was primarily due to school districts contesting the values of commercial and industrial properties, according to the auditor’s office. School districts are also able to file appeals through the Aug. 24 extension this year.
During the 2019 process, the value of commercial and industrial property grew $40.2 million and certain adjustments to exempt properties added another $4.1 million in value, according to auditor’s office records. Residential property values declined $5.8 million following appeals last year brought by owners.
The Board of Revision is a governing body that is responsible for conducting hearings to determine the fair market value of property. The quasi-judicial board, comprised of representatives from the Montgomery County Commission, county treasurer, and county auditor, allows property owners to challenge their taxable property value by sharing property information directly with the county.
The appeal form and additional information about the Board of Revision is available at Montgomery County property owners will have an extra month to pay their next property tax bills. Last month, Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeffrey McClain approved the county’s request to extend the property tax due date from July 17 to Aug. 14 due to the hardship the pandemic put on residents and the county offices that calculate and collect taxes.
Contact this reporter at 937225-2442 or Chris.Stewart@ coxinc.com.