2023 Triennial Property Value Update Progress

2023 is a property value update year for Ashtabula County. Unlike the State Mandated Mass Revaluation, the Triennial just looks at the market and sales data for all of Ashtabula County. We are currently reviewing these numbers and working with the State Department of Taxation. Just like in 2020, the 2023 Triennial will include postcards, education sessions, and opportunities to appeal your value. But remember, the market is the market- our role is to track the market and relay what your property is worth on January 1, 2023.

Watch my update video here

Great article from the Columbus Dispatch with an overview of Property Tax need to knows.

Learn about the CAUV changes here.

Key Takeaways- 

• Every 3 years the State mandates a Triennial Update of market values in every county based on neighborhood real estate sales. 
• Ashtabula County will have our Triennial Update in 2023 which will change values on tax bills in 2024. 
• Unlike the 2020 Mass Revaluation, the 2023 Triennial Update has no field inspections and the changes are not based on each individual property, rather neighborhood sales over the last 3 years. 
• Tentative values will be made available in the Fall 2023 based on market value of January 1, 2023. We will send postcards, have public meetings, and allow for property owners to make informal complaints of the new value. 

For Immediate Release                                                     November 29, 2022

Contact:        David Thomas

Phone:           440-576-3785

Email:             djthomas@ashtabulacounty.us

Auditor’s Office Kicks Off Triennial Update

Jefferson- The Ashtabula County Auditor’s Office is about to become much busier in the new year as 2023 is another state-mandated property value update year. The last county-wide property value update occurred in 2020 as part of the every six-year Mass Revaluation mandated by the state of Ohio.  A Triennial occurs in-between the mass revaluations to capture market changes every three years.

“The State mandates this update based on the real estate market as a check-in of sorts between county’s big revaluations every three years,” said County Auditor David Thomas.

Thomas said the Triennial Update is less involved and not as intensive in comparison to the Mass Revaluation. The six-year 2020 Mass Revaluations have Auditor staff physically inspecting each of the over 80,000 parcels in Ashtabula County to view changes and conditions to combine with market impacts for values. The Triennial Update however only gauges value changes based on how the real estate market has moved in each neighborhood.

“Everything in this Triennial Update is based on what a property could sell for on the market on January 1, 2023 just like in the Mass Revaluation we looked at January 1, 2020,” explained Auditor Thomas.

The process will look similar to property owners this time around except they will not see an Auditor staff member at their door or on their road. Instead, Thomas says that there is a good amount of number crunching looking at sales data and determining the changes in prices for areas of the county based on sales over the last three years.

“Just like our transparent 2020 Mass Revaluation, I plan to send postcards and have an online portal in addition to in-person opportunities to dispute new values and public education sessions,” stated Auditor Thomas.

 “Come late spring our office will be given a percentage change in total value that the Ohio Department of Taxation has determined we should be, based on the sales data they look at for the county,” said Auditor Thomas. “We then may argue that percentage change due to different data we have or try to pinpoint areas of stronger or weaker market movement to get to their number.”

Individual property information will be helpful to the Auditor’s Office should a property owner disagree with their new value, but the Triennial Update takes a bigger picture view of the county’s values versus the Mass Revaluation according to Thomas.

“We do not know yet what the state will tell us to move our values to for 2023 but I think we have all seen the higher sales numbers these past three years and been able to track a significant increase in the average sale price.” explained Auditor Thomas.

Thomas acknowledges the threat of a large real estate bubble and the impact inflation has had on property sales, but he says the Auditor’s role is to take the data from the market and determine what the market says for a specific date.

“The question we always get and rightfully so is how will this impact my taxes,” said Auditor Thomas. “We won’t know until December of 2023 with new tax rates and what levies will look like for tax bills in 2024 but the key is to get the value as of January 1, 2023 correct.”

Tax changes are not proportional to value changes according to the Auditor’s website. Thomas also cautions taxpayers who believe the Triennial Update is a way to get more revenue to local governments. “These updates are to have correct data and information and don’t increase or decrease revenue proportional to value changes,” stated Auditor Thomas.

The Auditor’s Office anticipates having tentative property values over the summer to share with residents and have conversations with those in disagreement.

“I encourage everyone, especially those who pay their tax bill through their mortgage, to look at our website and see their property information along with their tax distribution and value details,” shared Auditor Thomas.