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CAUV calculations may decrease this year

 

Some Ohio farmers could see their property taxes go down slightly this year.

Ohio property taxes are reappraised on a revolving basis every three years. Leah Curtis, policy counsel for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation says preliminary calculations from the Ohio Department of Taxation show 41 counties will be reappraised this year.

“We do see that there’s a general decrease in values from that 2014 level. Now the extent of that decrease is not going to be confirmed until those values are finalized and it’s surly not going to come close to removing the increases that farmers have seen in recent years,” says Curtis.

Because of the Certified Agriculture Use Formula or CAUV, Ohio farmers saw property taxes increase more than 300 percent between 2008 and 2014. While the relief is welcome, Curtis tells Brownfield final tax bills will be determined by a number of factors.

“The taxes that you pay are a combination of your CAUV value and your millage at the local level. So how things end up affecting your individual tax bill are going to be based on not just the value that the tax department determines but also that millage rate that you and your fellow residents ahve voted on,” says Curtis.

She says CAUV reform measures under consideration by the Ohio General Assembly look to remove non-farming factors – such as woodlands – from CAUV calculations.

Audio: Leah Curtis, Policy Counsel, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation