Ohio Property Tax Expertise

The Ohio commercial real estate market can be complex and difficult to navigate. Local boards of education take an active role in the real estate tax arena, and local expertise is critical when attempting to negotiate with their legal representation. Further, the recently passed House Bill 126 has injected a significant amount of uncertainty into the future of Ohio’s real estate valuation and taxation fundamentals.

Property values across the state of Ohio have remained largely underassessed for decades. Counties perform a scheduled reassessment once every three years, but value increases resulting from these scheduled reappraisals have typically been modest. Historically, the most significant catalyst that would cause a property owner to experience a large increase in their tax bill would be a recent arm’s length sale of the property. Boards of education in Ohio are very aggressive at chasing these sales and lobbying for value increases. Frequently, taxpayers in Ohio would spend substantial amounts of money hiring attorneys and appraisers to combat these increase complaints. House Bill 126 has changed a number of key tenets of this process to the benefit of the taxpayers, but it may take months or even years to determine the full impact of this new law.

Ryan’s Ohio experts are available to assist property owners with annual reviews and provide an understanding of the potential future tax implications of their acquisitions. They are well versed statewide in preacquisition due diligence tax estimates for existing properties and new construction projects and can provide assistance to owners navigating pilot and other abatement programs. Ryan clients rely on the local team to help them understand the full scope of annual assessment reviews and ensure their properties are assessed fairly to remain competitive in the market.