Ohio REALTORS Provides Testimony for Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 181
Ohio REALTORS Advocate to Protect Property Owners Against Impacts of Skyrocketing Valuations
By Andrew Huffman, Ohio REALTORS Director of Government Affairs
Ohio REALTORS recently provided testimony before the Senate Ways and Means Committee in support of Senate Bill 153, which aims to lessen the property tax burden placed on property owners as a result of historic property tax increases.
The legislation, sponsored by Senator George Lang (R-West Chester) and Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott), is in response to the triennial updates conducted by county auditors, which are used by the Ohio Department of Taxation to determine the taxable value of real estate in a given area. As a result of this review, communities across Ohio are experiencing property values grow at alarming rates, with some counties seeing property values increase over 40%. While there are protections in place that prevent property taxes from increasing at the same rate, the tax burden placed on homeowners and businesses will be significant.
Senate Bill 153 would require the Tax Commission to give equal weight to sales data from the three preceding years, as opposed to the most recent year, and would allow more local input from county auditors. Using the three-year average of sales data to determine property values will lessen the significant increases that have occurred since the pandemic.
Ohio REALTORS stated that the historic rise in property values could result in the unfortunate event of taxing Ohioans out of homeownership through no fault of their own. The testimony continues:
“This proposal will help shield homeowners from potential large tax increases as a result of the property valuation adjustments. The measure also provides protections to both taxing authorities and property owners, as it stabilizes the cyclical ebbs and flows that occur in the real estate marketplace. While this will lessen the tax burden in the short-term, we would encourage the Legislature to further examine Ohio’s property tax policies and work with stakeholders to ensure local services are adequately funded, without imposing unsustainable costs on Ohio’s current and future homeowners.”
Senate Bill 153, and its companion bill House Bill 187, are pending in their respective chambers and Ohio REALTORS is urging quick passage, while lawmakers continue to review future reforms to Ohio’s system of collecting property taxes. The full testimony can be found through the following link: Ohio REALTOR Testimony - Senate Bill 153
Ohio REALTORS Support Legislation to Modernize County Recorder Documents
Ohio REALTORS this week provided testimony to the House Finance Committee in support of House Bill 181, which would simplify real estate transactions by modernizing electronic records and conveyances maintained by county recorders. This important legislation would ensure that documents related to the transfer of real property are accessible electronically in every county.
The measure also contains language allowing an agent or representative of a rental unit owner to register a rental property with the county auditor. Current law only allows a rental unit’s owner to register the property when required by the county auditor. This change would extend the permission to an owner’s agent or representative.
Ohio REALTORS did highlight concerns surrounding the creation of a “document preservation surcharge” to help support the preservation and digitization of documents.” Ohio REALTORS has been urging lawmakers to limit this surcharge in light of the rising cost of homeownership.
The complete testimony can be found through the following link: Ohio REALTORS - House Bill 181 Testimony
