April 1 is the deadline for property owners who disagree with the auditor's evaluation of their property to file a complaint with the Franklin County Board of Revision.
The Franklin County Auditor’s Office will have nine more in-person filing events at locations around the county, including one from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Hilltonia Middle School in the Hilltop neighborhood. Homeowners can also file online.
Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano said homeowners seeking a change in their valuation need to show justification.
"We don't go inside any of the properties,” Stinziano said. “If there are inside conditions that would impact sale price. Again, if there's other recent sales, or if you've had a third party appraiser return a value that's different, and that difference is of the amount you'd want to see could change. That's where we want to hear from property owners.”
Stinziano said providing the right documentation increases an owner’s chance of getting the value change they want.
Some people who plan on selling look to increase their property values, Stinziano said, but most people look to lower values because of property taxes. Property taxes are based on 35% of the auditor’s evaluation and the property’s taxing district.
With just weeks before the deadline, about 4,200 Franklin County homeowners have filed complaints for the 2023 reappraisal.
In 2017’s property reappraisal, which saw lower value changes than last year’s historic 41% average value increases, just over 6,200 county homeowners total filed complaints.
“We haven't seen as much participation as we're anticipating from property owners,” Stinziano said.
Stinziano said property owners seeking a value change of less than $50,000 can use Franklin County’s mediation program instead of filing with the Board of Revision.
“And that is a wonderful way in which to have a dialog, have a conversation, and that's likely to result in a reduction,” Stinziano said.
The deadline for mediation is also April 1.
