SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — The Summit County Fiscal Office is holding appraisal review meetings for people with questions or concerns about their new property values.
“It doesn’t make any much sense why it’s so high, so I wanted to come up here and talk and file my, I guess, complaint,” said homeowner Joe Varga.
When Varga first saw how much his property value in Boston Heights went up, he said he couldn’t believe it.
“Mine came in at $105,000 higher. Yeah, I was blown away. The total value they said was $227,000 before, now it’s at $332,000,” said Varga.
As a retired senior, Varga said he can’t afford to pay for another expensive bill, so he came to the Summit County Fiscal Office’s eighth appraisal review meeting in Richfield to try and appeal.
“Everything is getting harder and harder to live on, and money is getting tight. (I) had to go back to work and just try to pay for everything. This is a big hit,” said Varga.
While there, chief of staff Mike Migden and his team sat down one-on-one with property owners like Varga and Joe Hustosky to answer questions and see if they could make any adjustments.
“The past it’s been like 50-75% increase. It’s like I don’t do any improvements on my home, yet the value keeps going up,” said Hustosky.
Migden said record-high home sales and how an owner's property looks on the outside is driving up the assessments.
“If there’s any changes to the inside, if there’s any structural damage, any foundation issues, please send us photographs. That’s very helpful to assist,” said Migden.
So far, Migden said he and his team have helped hundreds of people in-person and on the phone during their informal hearings.
But he said those meetings will end on Thursday, Aug. 27, so you are encouraged to attend their meetings next week.
If you can’t, Migden said you can file a formal valuation appeal with the Summit County Board of Revision starting next year on Jan. 1.
“Don’t panic. If they can’t make the 27, they still do have time next year,” said Migden.
To see their schedule, click here.
