State officials considered one Lawrence County property tax appeal at a hearing last week, and will likely consider several more next summer.

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

State officials considered one Lawrence County property tax appeal at a hearing last week, and will likely consider several more next summer.

Local authorities are still waiting on decisions, said Chris Kline, deputy county auditor.

The complaints stem from the every-six-year reassessment of the county’s 52,000 listed properties conducted in 1998.

Several taxpayers filed state appeals, complaining that the state-required re-evaluation of what their property is worth came in too high.

Those new property values came from Cole, Layer and Trumble, a Dayton firm hired by the state in 1997. Bills issued in 1999 for 1998 taxes reflected the new values, generating several hundred complaints only weeks after bills were mailed.

The auditor’s office worked through many complaints by correcting paperwork errors and then scheduled local tax board hearings to hear other complaints, Kline said.

Those two weeks of hearings reduced the complaints even further but others appealed to the state, he said.

"Several withdrew appeals to the state after the state requested more information," he added.

Several more state appeals were worked out over the phone, then county officials had to travel to Columbus last week for one of the last, Kline said.

"We anticipated it being worse than it was," he said. "But people have started getting used to the idea that this happens every six years."

Kline said the appeals were not out of the ordinary, and pose no threat to county, school district or other government revenues.

There are other complaints still pending, however. Several taxpayers filed state appeals this year to complain of high assessment in 1998, Kline said.

"Their state tax hearing won’t be until next summer," he said. "They’re always a year behind."

If complaining taxpayers win their appeal, the county will use the new property value to bill taxes. And the complaining party will receive a refund, Kline said.

Meanwhile, the complaining taxpayers must continue paying on their 1998 assessed value.