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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > October > 02
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The state on Reynolds bucking the state
The Ohio Department of Taxation is still mustering a response to Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds’ claim that he is doing his own property tax reappraisal next year because the state has him handcuffed this year. See the post below for more.
But I do have what appears to be the only correspondence between Reynolds and the state on the issue, Dated Sept. 29. Reynolds said he was verbally told “no.” Here is the text of the letter:
September 29, 2008
Richard Levin, Tax Commissioner Ohio Department of Taxation
Mr. Levin,
As you are aware, counties across Ohio, including Butler, are facing a housing crisis unlike any in recent memory. Hopes of a timely housing market recovery continue to fade due to the upheaval within the banking industry. Fair it to say, our mandatory revaluation could not take place at a worse time.
As the County Auditor, I am faced with the daunting task of assessing a fair and equitable value on properties during a rapidly declining housing market. The instability in the housing market makes it impossible, at this time, to assess a fair and conservative value on residential properties.
Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 5713.01 states that “The commissioner may grant an extension of one year or less if the commissioner finds that good cause exists for the extension.” I trust that you agree such language in the ORC was meant for such an instance as we are experiencing with the current housing and banking crises.
I am asking that you exercise your authority per ORC 5713.01 and grant Butler County a one year extension to submit our revaluation. The extension will allow time for the markets to gain stability which is imperative in fairly assessing property values.
I greatly appreciate your consideration and look forward to working out an equitable solution for the citizens of Butler County.
Warmest Regards,
Roger Reynolds, CPA
cc: Shelly Wilson, Executive Administrator for Property Taxes
Here is how Butler County’s appraisal stacks up against other counties, as provided by the Department of Taxation:
Josh:
In response to one of your questions…
There are 28 counties scheduled for a triennial sales update and another 13 going through a complete six-year reappraisal this year.
As of Sept. 12 — which is the latest information available to me at this precise moment — the tax commissioner had approved tentative abstracts for 22 update and nine reappraisal counties. I’ve listed these counties below, along with the aggregate change expected in residential property value as a result of these update or reappraisal efforts.
The update counties:
- Auglaize 6.90 percent increase
- Darke 6.96 percent increase
- Defiance 3.46 percent increase
- Franklin 0.15 percent decrease
- Gallia 5.04 percent increase
- Geauga 0.56 percent increase
- Hamilton 0.88 percent increase
- Hardin 4.78 percent increase
- Henry 4.81 percent increase
- Jackson 4.74 percent increase
- Mahoning 0.09 percent increase
- Mercer 4.42 percent increase
- Morrow 1.22 percent increase
- Pickaway 1.29 percent increase
- Putnam 5.08 percent increase
- Preble 2.76 percent increase
- Richland 0.22 percent increase
- Seneca 5.58 percent increase
- Shelby 2.93 percent increase
- Trumbull 0.13 percent increase
- Van Wert 6.37 percent increase
- Wood 1.09 percent increase
The reappraisal counties:
- Ashland 6.67 percent increase
- Athens 11.51 percent increase
- Butler 5.95 percent increase
- Clermont 7.19 percent increase
- Fulton 1.04 percent increase
- Greene 7.78 percent increase
- Knox 10.03 percent increase
- Montgomery 0.24 percent increase
- Summit 0.95 percent decreas
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Auditor promises appraisal reduction in 2009
Press release from the Butler County Auditor’s office:
Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds has announced that he is taking the bold and unprecedented step on behalf of taxpayers to lower property valuations in 2009.
Reynolds has made several requests upon the State Tax Commissioner for an extension of the 2008 property reappraisal while working within the constraints of the law. The extension would allow time for the markets to stabilize. Reynolds has been consistently told no. Therefore, Reynolds is taking the matter into his own hands on behalf of county property owners.
“The state bureaucracy may not understand how this housing market affects everyday people, but I do.” Reynolds said. “At the ground level, we see and feel this crisis. In 2009, I have the authority to lower values, and I will.”
Currently, the state tax commissioner must approve valuation changes once every three years. Routinely, auditors do not exercise their right under section 5713.01 of the ORC to conduct a valuation in the off years, but Reynolds sees these economic conditions as anything but routine.
“I have seen the significant drop in sale prices this year, therefore, I am going to lower values in 2009,” states Reynolds. “Now is the time for bold leadership and decisive action to combat the housing market crisis. This year, I was handcuffed by the state but that’s not the case in 2009 - I ‘m going to do what is right for the people of Butler County.”
Reynolds was appointed in April of this year, after the reappraisal work was mostly completed. Reynolds has hosted eight town hall meetings over the past month and has four more scheduled over the next few days throughout the county. He has been working diligently to assist property owners with their reappraisal questions.
“2008 is one of those years the state controls values, but I don’t need state approval in 2009.” Reynolds said. “It is not standard procedure, but these are not standard times. As a result of the continued housing drop, I will lower values in 2009.
Reynolds is also reviewing the 2008 revaluation process conducted by the appraisal firm hired prior to Reynolds’ recent appointment. The reappraisal was virtually complete by the time Reynolds took office in April.
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‘Stop the hate’
Update: Allow me to be unequivocal: I do not agree whatsoever with Julia Ward’s comment below.
I do not normally respond to comments on this blog, because I aim to facilitate discussion, not control it. But I was troubled by the comment posted by “Jennifer.” If anyone read this article (link below) and thought the newspaper was agreeing with this sentiment, then either it was misread or poorly written. I can assure you everyone at this newspaper, from the publisher down, would like to see a world where race doesn’t matter.
But our job as journalists is to reflect the world as it is, not as we’d like it to be. This is why it was important for this comment to be in this newspaper in the context of an article about racism, sexism and ageism in this year’s presidential election.
So now the question this newspaper sought to explore with this article: Do you belive Sen. Barack Obama’s race, Gov. Sarah Palin’s gender or Sen. John McCain’s age will play a major role on Election Day this year?
Some food for thought:
- Here is an article by Bloomberg focusing on race and the Obama campaign in “Middletown, USA.”
- Here is how local residents responded to this same issue on fellow reporter Dave Greber’s blog.
- Here is the latest age-related attack on McCain.
- Here is Palin on whether she believes media coverage of her has been sexist.
Original post
That’s what was written on a sign taped to the Hamilton Journal-News front door this morning. Here is the photo (click on it to enlarge):
The sign is a response to a story we ran Sunday, Sept. 28, on the role racism, sexism and ageism could play in this year’s presidential race. Here is the story and here is a blog post I wrote with more polling information on the views of Americans on these issues.
The paper has received a lot of comments - and criticism - for this part of the story, namely for quoting Julia Ward of Middletown, who said:
“Black people aren’t smart enough to rule the country. No one should vote for Obama. They just don’t think like the white. I would hate to see (Obama) in office because blacks just aren’t qualified.”
Some say we shouldn’t have allowed such hatred in the newspaper. My view was that some people feel this way, and ignoring it won’t do anyone any good. If we’re going to have a frank discussion on prejudice, we have to first admit that prejudices exist.
Gary Hines, local NAACP president, told me that his one regret about this year’s presidential debate is that it hasn’t spurred an open, honest debate on race in America. I hope we’ve helped bring about that discussion.
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