Octagon Holdings LLC, the largest local purchaser of distressed real estate, gets the owner-occupied tax credit on 65 properties, including their offices on South Dixie Drive in Kettering.
REPORT: Thousands of area rental properties get tax break meant for homeowners
A Pennsylvania-based company that owns an apartment complex on Riverside Drive in Dayton gets a $1,000 a year tax break through the credit.
These are among thousands of properties across Montgomery County that the I-Team found were getting the tax credit though they are registered rentals, business properties or are owned by someone who claims more than one property as their primary residence.
Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith promised a thorough review after the I-Team presented the information to his office.
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AZZAPN owner Tom Sullivan said he was unaware of the tax issue.
“I’ll look into it,” he said. “Any costs on the buildings that are rented get passed on to the tenant.”
Peter Julian, CEO of Octagon properties, also said he “had no idea.”
Julian said most of the homes his company owns likely used to be owner occupied but his company bought them from a bank or the government through foreclosure proceedings. He said most are rentals, though they haven’t yet been added to the county’s rental registry.
Altogether, the 65 properties get more than $2,000 in tax credits for being listed as owner-occupied. Julian said the issue should be reviewed and fixed if necessary.
“If the county can get some additional money, we shouldn’t get the benefit of the tax break or credit,” he said.
The tax credit is a 2.5 percent rollback on property taxes created before 2012. Every dollar that is reduced in tax collection from the credit — $11 million countywide — is made up for with state coffers so local governments don’t lose money.
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