When I first became your Franklin County Auditor in 2019, one of the most common complaints I heard from residents was that their property values as determined by the Auditor’s office weren’t reflected in their home. Property values can affect the amount of property taxes a homeowner pays, and it directly affects the residents of Franklin County.
As we prepare for the 2023 Sexennial Reappraisal when every property in the county will be reappraised, earlier this year I commissioned a report in partnership with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity to examine the role of racial bias in appraisals.
The report was released this month, and it found that implicit racial bias continues to affect the appraisal process, a legacy of decades of discrimination from practices like red-lining that have proven hard to erase.
It found that lower income black majority neighborhoods are regularly overvalued while white neighborhoods remain undervalued; that racial disparities between black and white neighborhoods have grown since 2010; and that black homeowners are underrepresented in making Board of Revision claims that could lower their taxes.
It also makes key recommendations, including measures to eliminate bias; developing a two-tier system for valuation emphasizing desk appraisals; removing subjective variables in the data gathering process; ensuring solid criteria for grading properties; and more outreach in black majority neighborhoods to encourage more Board of Revision filings.
I plan to implement as many of these recommendations as possible as the Auditor’s office prepares for the sexennial reappraisal.
A home is a person’s biggest investment, and Franklin County property owners deserve the most accurate and fair appraisals and values, no matter which neighborhood you live in. The information and recommendations in the Kirwan report will guide my efforts as your Franklin County Auditor to ensure equity in appraisals for all homeowners.
As always, if you have suggestions, I encourage you to contact me at (614) 525-5700, or at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov.
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Auditor’s Office Out in the Community
The mobile office and Auditor’s office staff are back out on the community, bringing services and resources to residents in their neighborhoods. This month the mobile office was at the Franklin County Fair offering information and Auditor’s office resources to fairgoers. The mobile office also visited Kidsfest events across the county and several Yappy Hours at BrewDog in Canal Winchester.
In addition, outreach staff are in the midst of presenting the office’s new Tax Incentive Hub at Columbus area commissions, city councils and other organizations across Franklin County. The Hub is a one-stop shop website unveiled in June that uses innovative GIS technologies to show comprehensive details on every tax incentive in use in the county.
The Tax Incentives Hub features maps that show where incentives are in use, the different types of incentives, data about the incentives, and the local ordinance that created each. The maps can break down the tax incentives by municipality, so residents can see which are in use in their neighborhood.
The Hub also lists the effects each incentive has on government agencies that depend on tax revenue, and it links to specific information about each incentive at the individual municipality’s economic development website.
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Auditor’s office Holds Accessible Housing Town Hall
The Auditor’s office hosted an Accessible Housing Town Hall this month featuring several speakers exploring affordable housing, property tax relief and discrimination in housing.
Auditor Stinziano joined state Sen. Hearcel Craig; Charles Hillman, President & CEO of the Columbus Metropolican Housing Authority; Bo Chilton, CEO of Impact Community Action; Maria Bruno, Civic Engagement Coordinator & Policy Analyst at the Coalition of Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO); and Noel Williams, Executive Leader of Building Responsibility Equality And Dignity (B.R.E.A.D.) as they explored the resources, programs and initiatives available to help homeowners. The town hall was moderated by Bishop Hezekiah Martin, senior pastor of the Southfield Community Baptist Church, where the event was held.
Board of Revision to Accept COVID-19 value complaints from Small Businesses
The Franklin County Board of Revision (BOR) will begin accepting complaints from property owners who believe the pandemic and related public health orders have affected the value of their property.
The filing period begins August 3 and ends September 2, and anyone who was eligible to file a standard BOR complaint can file a COVID-19 complaint even if they already filed a standard complaint.
Per the new legislation that passed this year, property owners must “allege with particularity in the complaint how such a circumstance or order caused the reduction in true value of the property.”
For more information and to file a COVID-19 complaint, please visit the Board’s website.
Obetz Hardware wins July True Transactions Award
Obetz Hardware has won the July True Transactions Award for its stellar record of using accurate scales and scanners in its sales of housewares, tools and hardware items.
“Congratulations to the Obetz Hardware team on an outstanding record of using accurate scales and scanners in their sales of hardware goods. Obetz Hardware’s knowledgeable staff work diligently with our weights and measures inspectors to ensure the scales and scanners are accurate for their customers, a sign of a great local business,” Stinziano said.
Obetz Hardware is a third-generation, family-owned business that has offered its customers high quality products and services since 1931. It is located at 4256 Groveport Rd. in Obetz.
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Community Hours
Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano continues to hold weekly Community Hours meetings where residents can stop by and visit and share firsthand their feedback and ideas about the auditor’s office or any concerns they have.
The meetings continue a practice Stinziano has done since he was first elected to office. Community Hours will be held at the dates and locations listed below. Virtual events will be held via facebook live @mstinziano.
Monday, August 2nd - 11:30am (virtual)
Featuring Falafel Kitchen in Dublin
Wednesday, August 11th – 9:30am - 10:30am
Whitehall Library (4445 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH)
Thursday, August 19th – 10:30am - 11:30am
Westerville Library (126 S. State Street, Westerville, OH)
Tuesday, August 24th – 12:00pm (virtual)
Featuring Lombardi's Dairy Diner in Hamilton Township
Monday, August 30th – 11:00am - 12:00pm
Lockbourne Historical Hall (206 Vause St., Lockbourne, OH)
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