Turns out, this happens every six years. It’s the “sexennial reappraisal,” in the state lingo. Hooray! The county fiscal officer’s team has been physically viewing and appraising every property in Cuyahoga County — roughly 526,000 homes and commercial properties — since July, 2017. They pretty much wrapped things up in May.
Most home values rose. According to the county data, residential values increased by 10.8 percent countywide. Commercial values increased by 8.7 percent.
“We have felt that the county is on a great upswing, and the county-wide reappraisal confirms our progress,” said County Executive Armond Budish himself, in a press release. “I am pleased that overall our property values have significantly increased. It’s a sign that our county is prospering.”
Well, yes, but maybe you feel that your property was appraised for a lot more than it’s worth. Or perhaps houses in your neighborhood, or on your street, aren’t selling for what your home value is now alleged to be. Maybe there’s some structural issue or issues that weren’t taken into account by the appraisal teams.
If that describes your situation, you can file a complaint. Until Aug. 31, residential property owners may dispute the appraised value by informally complaining online, through the mail or in person.
To file online, you’ll need the parcel number and pin number found in your mailer. If you prefer the mail, there’s a response form in the mailer you received. In person, you’ll have to attend a “conference site” where staff appraisers will be on hand Monday through Friday to hear your complaints. This week, the conference site is Tri-C East’s President Plaza. Appraisers will be there 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. today through Thursday, and 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Friday.
If you’re disputing the appraised value of your home, you’ll need to support your claim by submitting one or more of the following types of documentation for review. (The denser the documentation, the stronger the case.)
• Complete Appraisal Report (prepared within the last 12 months).
• Total cost of new structure (certified by builder).
• Photographs of structural damage, and estimates for repairs.
• Purchase agreement with closing statement.
• Certified estimates from a contractor for repairs cited as the reason for a change in value.
If you don’t informally complain by Aug. 31, you’ll have to file a formal complaint with the Board of Revision. That body will accept complaints January through May, 2019.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2018.
And the tax thievery in Cuyahoga county just gets worse and worse! My valuation went up a whopping 71%!!! Many other west side valuations went up even way more than that! -Did they think that were living in San Francisco California, where there are tens of thousands of a high-paying IT jobs and tons of young, highly-educated people moving to the area with six figure salaries? Its clearly time to move out of Cuyahoga County, not to mention the state of Ohio, to someplace thats more affordable. What does Budish plan to do with the extra millions and millions of dollars now that he raised everyones valuations so high? He will still come back with more tax levies after tax levies, and renewals and claim theres no more money for this program or that pet program that is so vital to the citizens of the county. Meanwhile, the renters, and all of tax abatement properties wont cost an additional penny. I am absolutely sick of this. Budish, and Taxin Jackson, et al, need to be removed from office now!!!!
My issue is that the tax abatements are inflating prices in neighborhoods like Ohio City, Tremont, etc. I get the idea of tax abatements to incent developers and investors to spend money in city neighborhoods, but we don’t NEED abatements in those neighborhoods anymore. All it’s doing now is inflating sales prices of townhomes where those folks have tiny property tax bills. In turn, homeowners values are shooting up, which is great for those selling, but bad for those staying in these neighborhoods.
My tax assessed home value is going up 26% in this window and has gone up 60% since I purchased it in 2012. Again, great if I sell, as long as the real appraised value has increased at same or better pace, but in the meantime, it just means much higher property taxes. I’m definitely happy to pay my taxes, but I’m not happy when I’m subsidizing developers to build overpriced, mediocre quality townhomes. Change the abatement policy to remove neighborhoods that don’t need it anymore!
This is hardly legitimate. It’s arbitary and arguably illegal. To quote: “We have felt that the county is on a great upswing, and the county-wide reappraisal confirms our progress, said County Executive Armond Budish himself, in a press release. I am pleased that overall our property values have significantly increased. Its a sign that our county is prospering.
Who is ‘we’? Does he have a mouse in his pocket who’s ‘prospering’ with him? When this bureaucrat says ‘we’, who does he mean? Does he mean ‘we’ the homeowners/residents who have to ‘file a complaint’ to make counter-intuitive arguments that their property is not valuable?
The framing of this property valuation backs homeowners into a corner. We all want the services that the county offers us at a fair price, but this is ridiculous. I can’t help but join the chorus of voices stating that this is blatant thievery.
These appraisals make no economic sense, and I’m having a hard time seeing the economic benefit for the county.
What is the legal recourse? Clearly the county executor is not on the side of the people. Who do we go to? Or do we just go away? Move someplace better? Are ‘we’ going to accept this? Or will ‘we’ develop a spine, and simply state, “Sirs, we prefer not to.”
Lets see how the upswing goes when Home owners are forced to sell and then the market becomes stagnant because no one will purchase the home with this new ridiculously high tax bill attached to the property , Im so glad these geniuses thought this through before they pull the trigger , Total incompetent jack asses
Hopefully everybody that feels their prices are to high will will contest it before the new September 14 deadline. With that said, won’t House Bill 920 protect most of us from are taxes going up exponentially?
https://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/en-us/house-bill-920.aspx