Summit County Property Tax Adjustments Equal $47,000 in Reduce Revenue So Far in 2014

This morning Summit County Council member Dave Ure was visiting with KPCW’s Leslie Thatcher about his candidacy for reelection. Ms Thatcher asked Mr Ure about previous County budget problems and whether those problems were no longer a concern. Mr Ure replied that he hoped so because reporting was so much better. That made us wonder how property tax revenues were looking for 2014.

Property tax revenues are based on the assessed value of a home, where the homes, is and whether it is a primary residence. Each year valuations of properties can change and home owners can protest their current assessed value. These changes are provided to the County Council in a Board of Equalization Adjustment document. The Council has to approve the adjustments to values.

It wasn’t uncommon during the Great Recession for adjustments to taxable amounts on all properties in Summit County to total $300 million during a year. This could mean lost property tax revenues of $300,000 – $400,000 per year. This impacts all levels of government. So far in 2014, adjusted tax amounts total $58 million, which equates to an estimated $48,000 reduction in property taxes.

While $48,000 is real money, the good news is this likely doesn’t impact the ability of the County to provide services like it did in some past years.