Tax rates are expected to jump in Franklin, and Franklin and Clearcreek townships by about 15% while rising in Springboro by about 12 or 13%, according to Nolan.
The state recently approved Warren County’s value increases and about 110,000 letters to property owners are expected to be sent in September, he said.
“Everyone falls in the mid-20s to low 30% increases county wide” for property values, Nolan said. “The very rural areas are the highest. But that is not home values. That is land values, where the price of raw farmland has increased significantly percentage wise.”
Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF
Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF
For Springboro schools next year, the county’s “most recent estimate” projects a 25% increase in tax revenue from residential/agriculture properties and a 10% hike from commercial ones, according to Terrah Stacy, district treasurer.
Property reappraisals or re-evaluations are done every three years and future tax rates will be finalized by early next year, he said.
The highest current property taxes in the county are Kings Mills, Deerfield Twp., and the Kings school district, followed by Franklin, Little Miami schools, Lebanon and Mason, Nolan said.
Specific rates for many local jurisdictions were not available, officials said. Springboro and Springboro schools now have the lowest property taxes in the county, Nolan said.
Reasons Springboro has such low rates include the reputation of the school district and agreements with Clearcreek Twp. for shared services, including fire and EMS, he added.
“There is no other shared fire departments in Warren County right now,” Nolan told Springboro city officials recently. “Mason and Deerfield used to be. They split up. Lebanon (and) Turtlecreek (Twp.) used to be. They split up.
“You guys have the unique setup where they can use the property tax dollars that everybody in the city and the township paid for the fire department,” he added.
The current annual rate in Springboro for a home valued at $100,000 without homestead exemption is about $1,490, according to city finance Director Jonathan Hudson. The city receives about $34 of that amount, he added.
Local jurisdictions receive different revenue amounts from property taxes with an overwhelming majority of the funding going to school districts. The revenues help fund local budgets.
The budgeted property tax revenue this year ranges from $940,000 (1.7%) for the city of Springboro to $39.74 million (70%) for Springboro schools, according to a survey by this news organization of six northern Warren County jurisdictions.
Clearcreek Twp.’s funding accounts for $17.2 million of its current budget (88%) while the city of Franklin revenue was $2.23 million of its budget (5%), survey results show.
In Franklin schools, next year “we anticipate about an 8% increase in property tax revenue,” Treasurer Kevin Hawley told this news organization. “Some of that would also include other factors other than the valuation change.”
This year’s re-evaluation started several months ago. The auditor’s office reviewed sales in 2023 and the first couple months this year, Nolan said.
The county is broken down into neighborhoods and sales in those specific areas are compared to recorded property values, he added.
“For example,” Nolan said, “let’s say we have every house valued at $80,000 and they all are selling at $100,000. Ohio law requires that we move those properties up to $90(000)-$95,000. But not every property sells in that time frame, so we have to move all of the properties in that neighborhood up by the same — or a similar — percentage.”
After that process is done, data is sent to the state, which verifies that the value increases are in line with the sales Ohio officials have seen and the increases are approved, a step which recently occurred, he said.
In September, notices of the new values will be sent every property owner.
“Those that have concerns that their home is not worth the value that we have placed on it will have a month to meet with my team or I to discuss the value and why they think we have it over valued,” Nolan said.
After that, the data is sent to the state, which submits tax rates to the county around Jan. 1, he said.
PROPERTY TAX IMPACT
Local jurisdictions receive different amounts of funding from property taxes. The chart below shows the total those amounts contributed to each locality’s current budget and the % of revenue of those budgets.
JURISDICTION PROP. TAX REVENUE % OF BUDGET
•Clearcreek Twp. $17.2M 88%
•Franklin $2.23M 5%
•Franklin schools $15.26M 38.68%
•Franklin Twp. $1.17M 98%
•Springboro $940,000 1.7%
•Springboro schools $39.74M* 70%**
*Includes tax payments from public utility companies.
**Include all local taxes, and state reimbursements for rollback and homestead exemptions.
Sources: Clearcreek Twp., Franklin, Franklin schools, Franklin Twp., Springboro and Springboro schools.
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