The Findings

Since that time, the housing market has grown at a rate we've honestly never seen before. Home prices reached record highs throughout our state and nationally. You and I should not be surprised to see significant increases in residential values when your 2024 tax bill comes due. Again, in some counties such as Warren, this all happened a year ago.

The Montgomery County Auditor's Office submitted and approved a 34% average home value increase. Note: a 34% value increase does NOT mean a 34% tax increase. It's only the "effective rate". Values and corresponding taxes are not the same. For most of the county, the actual tax impact increase most of you found when you opened your notice was 4-6%. This approach to property taxes was created by design. Property owners are protected from large increases in their taxes every time there is a large increase in property valuations. Most simply put, when your home's value goes up, the effective tax rate goes down to keep things generally balanced. Truth is, the increase in actual taxes usually amounts to less than the inflation over the triennial cycle.

Here's the math: Assessed Value x Effective Tax Rate = My Yearly Property Tax $$

So, on average, for every $100,000 of a home's value, you will see about a $104 annual increase in your property taxes, due to a 34% increase in value.

So What Are My Options?

Well, you can either just pay your new property tax amount for the next three years, or as Auditor Karl Keith said, if you truly believe your property's assessed value is incorrect and higher than it should be, there is a process to Appeal with the Board of Revision (all counties have this). The BOR is responsible for conducting hearings to determine the Fair Market Value of property. Property owners who disagree with the valuation of their property can appeal to the BOR. To Initiate a property value appeal, the filing period is January 1 through April 1 of 2024. The country website will direct you in more detail as to how you can apply and schedule your hearing, in which you'll be given the opportunity to present any records or evidence to support changing your present valuation. 

A word of caution–please keep in mind for those desiring to challenge the new valuation of their property with the BOR: the Board can raise your property value even more if the then-current valuation does not reflect the present market.

Bottom Line: 

Whichever county you live in, feel free to contact me with any questions about your current or future tax valuations and I'll be happy to help. Always hoping that you "love where you live"!

Blessings, 

Jon

Off the Charts! 
A Conversation with Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith

So the County Auditor sent you that letter telling you that your triennial property valuation is going up, waaaay up! This is something I've been hearing a lot lately from my Montgomery County clients, as I did last year for those in Warren County. With the generally understood increase in overall property values in recent years, this is always on the minds of homeowners. So I thought I would provide some clarity and perspective on how this might affect you, and what your options are.

I had the privilege last week to sit with Karl Keith, Montgomery County Auditor, for a fascinating presentation on how it all works, and the likely impact for you depending on where you live. I'll try to make it quick, while giving some tangible information you might not know. While I am focusing on Montgomery County in this edition, this can help make sense, whichever county you live in the Dayton area. (All of you who live in Warren County have already had a year of adjusting :)

The Process of the Triennial Tax Valuation 

The Auditor's Office is required by the State to complete a triennial value update in 2023 based on sales since the last one in 2020. The Auditor works to match your property's value to its fair market price–basically, what your home could be sold for in the open market. To do so, the Office will adjust property values by analyzing recent property sales in each neighborhood. After they completed this work, homeowners were mailed notices of the tentative new values this past summer.