Many Lorain County property owners to see taxes decrease in 2026

ELYRIA — Many Lorain County property owners are likely to see their property tax bills decrease in 2026, though there will be some exceptions due to new levies. Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass provided the changes for the 2025 tax bills that are due in 2026. The majority of the changes are the result of new levies being collected or older levies expiring. A $41 million Lorain Schools bond issue leaves the tax rolls for this year, reducing property taxes for some Lorain residents $65.70 for every $100,000 of value. Many Avon property owners will see their property taxes reduced by $44.25 for every $100,000 of value after three police and fire levies expired, replaced in May with a municipal income tax increase approved by voters.North Ridgeville and Oberlin schools taxpayers will see more moderate tax savings, from nearly $33 to just over $24 per $100,000 of value depending on where they live. Snodgrass said he's already seeing reductions in property tax bills in Sheffield Lake as construction on an expansion at the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant that straddles Sheffield, Sheffield Lake and Avon Lake starts paying tax dividends. Meanwhile, many property owners in Avon Lake will see their taxes go up after voters approved both a school bond issue and a levy last year. That increase is equal to $143.72 in new taxes annually for the owner of a $100,000 home, according to the auditor's office. Columbia and Eaton township and Wellington-area property owners also will see some increases, thanks to newly voted fire, library and museum levies. Changes in state law, in property tax credits and exemptions will also reduce property taxes but also the amount Lorain County schools and Lorain County Community College will collect in the coming year, Snodgrass said. One odd outlier out of the county's 72 tax districts consists of a new district made up of five parcels of land recently annexed into Oberlin. The math says a property owner in that tiny district would be expected to cough up just over $1,856 per $100,000 of value in 2026 when in reality, those owners already paid their tax in other districts before annexation created the new one, tax settlement supervisor Sonja Beat said. Lorain County had $2 billion worth of property sales in 2025, Snodgrass said. His office collects conveyance fees of $4 for every $1,000 of property sold or transferred. That meant a record $8.3 million in conveyance fees collected, Snodgrass said, nearly $1 million more than the previous record of $7.4 million collected in 2022. He said his office sees "three, four, five, six" residential property sales of $1 million or more per week in the still-busy housing market. "The market is still strong. Sales are still high," which helps push property values up, Snodgrass said. The next property values appraisal year in Lorain County will be in 2027, based entirely on the sales market. Snodgrass said values will remain the same unless new taxes, new construction or a Board of Revisions appeal come into play. Owners who think their property values are incorrect can file an appeal with the county Board of Revision through March 31. Appeal forms and instructions can be found on the county Auditor's website, loraincountyauditor.gov. Snodgrass said about two dozen such appeals had been filed as of Wednesday. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.