Cleveland Real Estate News

The Plain Dealer’s Laura Johnston wrote about things taken into account when your home is appraised by the County to determine your tax rates.  We know we pay in arrears, we don’t know how much of the current system is going to stay in effect due to the Cuyahoga County charter revision.  It’s a good overview of how tax rates are determined. 

A few things to add.  She correctly states that prices of homes sold on your street and in close proximity are taken into account for your tax rate.  For most of us, that means tax vale should go down because sales prices have gone down.  My home sold for $91,000 (to me!) almost six years ago.  Home sales on my street and in my immediate neighborhood have been lower than that in the last 12 months.

This gets me to the issue of contesting your tax rate.  Property owners can contest their taxes every year between January 1st and March 31st.  Want to know a bit more about how Cuyahoga County determines your tax rate?  You can go to the Auditor’s website and the FAQ page here . The process is detailed, including mathematical formulas. While there has been extensive media coverage of thousands of tax rates being adjusted and apparently some done without following the legal procedure to do so, it IS your right to contest your taxes.  The market values have dictated that more people are contesting than usual.  Not all rate changes were illegal!  Just sayin’.  Peace Out – 3C