Lorain County property owners to owe nearly $34 million in additional taxes

Lorain County homeowners will pay a total of nearly $34 million more in property taxes than they did last year due to rising property values and a quirk of state tax law. During a news conference in his office Friday, Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass said that the increase in total property tax revenue was the largest he had ever seen. Property values in Lorain County increased by 31 percent on average in the Auditor's Office's six-year reappraisals. Snodgrass said that bump was mirrored across most of Ohio and much of the U.S. In 2024, the total property tax value owed by Lorain County homeowners increased by $33,980,296; in 2023, the total increased by just $390,000. "I can't believe that number," Snodgrass said. "We've triple checked, we've quadruple checked to make sure it's right. It's right." While the increase in taxes is due to the rise in property value, Snodgrass said it is more complicated, as the massive bump in taxes is caused by a state law meant to limit the tax burden on residents with rising property values. Ohio's property tax system is designed with a safeguard to protect homeowners from being drowned in taxes as their property value rises, but in Lorain County that intended safeguard actually caused a dramatic boost in property taxes. In Ohio, local governments can charge residents up to 10 mills, units the state uses to determine property taxes, as a part of an unvoted property tax known as inside millage. Any additional taxes the government wants to levy must be passed at the ballot box and designed to raise a certain amount of money, which is converted to mills for tax purposes. As property values rise, the state applies what is known as a reduction factor to the millage, ensuring that rising property values don't create taxes beyond the dollar value the levy was approved for. An additional state law requires that school districts are funded with at least 20 mills per year, known as the 20-mill floor, and intended to guarantee the schools are adequately funded. In 2024 in Lorain County, property rates increased dramatically while millage was reduced by the reduction factor, dropping most districts in the county below 20 mills of funding. According to state law, the difference in the district's total millage must be made up by taxing the district's property owners. The end result is that many property owners in the county are paying between 9 percent and 30 percent more in taxes, mostly to their local school district. "Taxpayers are going to pay $34 million more because of the 20-mill floor adjustment that the state has," Snodgrass said. "Last year it was about $390,000. I saw this number, it's just mind boggling. Again, we expected rates to go down because the values went up and they did, but they would've gone down even further had it not been for this adjustment. And the taxpayers would've gotten greater relief and not have to pay this." Snodgrass said the tax system in place and the 20-mill floor are set not by local school districts or his office, but by the state of Ohio. "This is a phenomenon that really reared its head in Lorain County this time around," Snodgrass said. "We've always had this to a little degree, but (it's) a law set by the legislators, and the Legislature is the only one that can change this. I think that's important for people to know I can't change it, the Board of Revision can't change it and the schools can't change it. This is something the legislators have to do something about because this is a problem statewide." For a specific example Snodgrass used the city of Amherst, where he lives, which saw an average home value increase of 29.53 percent and a reduction in net millage of 8.52 mills. In Amherst, a hypothetical home worth $100,000 in 2023 would have paid $1,676 in property taxes. In 2024, that home would be worth $129,530 and the property owner would expect to pay $1,830 in 2024, a tax increase of just over 9 percent. Amherst was on the lower end of tax increases when compared to somewhere like Pittsfield Township, where the value of a hypothetical $100,000 would have rocketed to $140,260. That home's taxes would have seen a similar explosion, rising by 25 percent to hit $2,263 in 2024. The tax increases in Lorain County were almost singularly due to the 20-mill floor rule, which will see local districts receive significant unvoted funds. The largest amount of funding for falling below the 20-mill floor will go to Avon Lake Schools, which will receive $4.5 million more in revenue from 2024 taxes. North Ridgeville Schools will receive the second most with an additional $4.29 million in revenue, while Elyria, Midview and Avon Schools will all receive just north of $3.6 million in unvoted funding. Snodgrass said house sales held steady in 2024, indicating that property values were likely to remain high or even increase further over the next three years. He said he was confident that Lorain County taxpayers would be footing the new $34 million bill for the next three years. Rising home values have been a trend across Ohio and the country as a whole over the past several years, meaning that increasing property taxes are a common refrain this year. Snodgrass said that the increase is mostly a simple matter of supply and demand; the market believes that homes are worth more than they were a few years ago, so local property values reflect that worth. New property tax rates are expected to be posted on the loraincountyauditor.gov website today, and Snodgrass said his office is working on a calculator to easily enable Lorain County property owners to view their valuation and calculate their new tax rate. The recently updated website also provides a detailed breakdown of everything that a home's taxes pay for. If residents want to dispute the valuation of their home by the Auditor's Office, they have until March 31 to appeal the valuation — not the tax amount — to the Board of Revision. Snodgrass said that the best evidence to use in an appeal is either a recent sale record or an independent appraisal. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.