CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — People in communities across northeast Ohio are receiving property appraisals.
Some are seeing their homes increase in value by double-digit percentages.
It’s causing a stir in neighborhood apps like Next Door, where people are asking questions about what this means for taxes.
“I don’t want people to panic when they see such a high increase,” said Lisa Rocco with the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office.
In Lyndhurst, where the average property value increase is 18%, a Next Door app user said his property is now worth 32% more since 2018.
“I am bracing myself for a huge tax increase that will come along with it,” he said.
Rocco said he should stay calm.
“What I suggest is to go online to our fiscal office website. We have a tax calculator on there to estimate the impact on the increase of value,” said Rocco. “It’s most likely that his tax bill will go up, but it’s not going to go up dollar for dollar. It’s not going to go up 32%.”
More than 150 people commented on his post with similar concerns.
Over in Parma, with the average appraisal being a 23% increase, another neighbor asked, “Are there any attorneys out there that could help fight a big increase if it happens?”
Rocco sayid Cuyahoga County will hold meetings in 11 communities to explain appraisals, then if taxpayers want to dispute the value with photos or information, they can do so with the Board of Revision.
“These are not formal — I want to stress that. All we’re going to do is talk to the taxpayer and explain like I’m explaining now what our process is, what we do, how we came up with it, but unfortunately this year due to COVID, we’re going to direct everyone to the Board of Revision.”
A dozen neighborhoods saw increases in values of more than 20%. The four areas with the highest overall appraisal increases were: Maple Heights (29%), Lakewood (27%), Brookpark (25%) and Parma (24%).
“I don’t want people to panic when they see such a high increase. Please go to our website, please utilize our tax calculator. Taxes will be going up for some circumstances, again like the gentleman in Lyndhurst, but they’re not going to increase per the amount of the increase of your value,” said Rocco.
The calculator takes your existing property value and the new 2021 value into consideration.
Rocco stresses, “Please just go on our website, please use our tax calculator and hopefully that’ll put taxpayers at ease.”
The final values won’t be approved until December, then you have from Jan. 1, 2022 through March 30 to file a complaint with the Board of Revision.
