How to Reduce Your Property Taxes in Franklin County Ohio
Foreclosures Has Been Predicted to Reach 7 MILLION in the Coming Months.
At the time of writing this article the number of bank owned foreclosures has been predicted to reach 7 million in the coming months. There is a third wave of foreclosures coming through the pipeline soon, a lot of prime mortgages are becoming subprime as a new wave of foreclosures begins to hit. This high volume of foreclosures could be possibly dragging your property value down even further than it already is.
As your property value declines you reach a point where the county will be overtaxing you. The county will not voluntarily reduce your property taxes. Ohio Law states that the property values established by the County Auditor are presumed to be correct. It is the complaining party’s responsibility to prove the Auditor’s values are incorrect. Don’t depend on the government to reduce your taxes for you.
This is well worth the time and can save you BIG in the long run. I view it as a mini retirement or annuity going forward: If you have a $175,000 home and save 20%, that’s $35,000. You were paying about $2000 per year in property taxes and would save 20%, $400 bucks per yr. Doesn’t sound like much but when you add that up for the next 10yrs that’s $4000 and will be reduced forever, the saving is infinite. Let me stretch your mind even more: Imagine if you had 10 investment properties and saved $400 per property that’s $40,000! Well worth the time and I’m sure you can put some food on the table with the savings.
Get an Appraisal – The 1st step if you think your being over taxed it to pay for an appraisal. That may cost several hundred bucks but could be well worth it in the long run. You could also get a local real estate agents opinion of value before paying for an appraisal to make sure you are possibly being over taxed.
Obtain a DTE Form 1 – This is the Complaint Against the Valuation of Real Property that gives the Board of Revision the complaining party’s opinion of a property’ s estimated fair market value as of the January 1 tax lien date. This form must be filled out and received by the county no later than March 31st of the following tax year. I would also send in the appraisal with this form, you might get lucky and not have to go to a hearing.
Hearing Notice- After the complaint form is filed, the Board of Revision will schedule a hearing date. The Board of Revision will send you a notice in the mail to the address you provided on the complaint form.
Attend Hearing- A typical Board of Revision hearing usually lasts about 15-20 minutes. It is fairly informal and nothing to be intimidated by. You will want to bring your appraiser with you as a witness when presenting evidence of the property’ s market value.
Board’s Decision- You will not get a decision from the board on the day of the hearing. After the hearing, the complaining party receives a certified letter from the Board of Revision containing its decision.
To Your Success,
Allen Faires
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