CLEVELAND — Marlene Homan has lived in the same house on Cleveland’s West Side since 1977.
She raised two sons there. She mourned the loss of her husband, who died in 2017. Now, she shares the space – and her modest monthly budget – with a stray cat named Kitty and a rescue dog named Belle.
Last week, Homan found out her annual property tax bill jumped by $333 a year. She’s one of thousands of Northeast Ohio homeowners feeling sticker shock in the wake of state-mandated reappraisals, surging home prices and recent tax levies.
RELATED: Effort to reform property tax bills led by citizens
“When you’re on Social Security, that’s a lot of money,” Homan said of the increase in her tax bill. “And I know a lot of people got hit with a lot worse.”
Now that tax bills are arriving in people’s mailboxes, the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision is getting inundated with calls from worried homeowners.
Some of them weren’t expecting their bills to rise so much. They knew that home values were up, but they didn’t bank on the impact of school levies and other local tax hikes that voters approved last fall.
‘Some very large increases’
In Cleveland, residential property values increased by 49%, on average, during the county’s sexennial reappraisal – a process that happens every six years.
RELATED: Cuyahoga County home values soar in first sweeping reappraisal since the pandemic
And in November, voters approved a tax hike to avoid deep cuts at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
“That’s where we’ve seen some very large increases in Cleveland. There are some other cities that passed levies as well, so they’re going to be in a similar situation,” said Ron O’Leary, the administrator of the county’s board of revision.
The board handles disputes over property values – not taxes. Property owners who disagree with the county’s appraisals have until March 31 to file complaints, which can be submitted online or filed by mail, email, fax or in person.
The board schedules hearings to review the evidence, which can include photos, private appraisals and repair estimates.
O’Leary said his office has already received roughly 1,200 complaints. He’s urging taxpayers to submit their documents as soon as possible.
“They sooner that they file, they sooner that we will schedule a hearing,” he said. “We’re already scheduling into early March for the complaints that we’ve received. We’re going to be hiring additional staff to deal with the workload.”
Cuyahoga County is one of seven Northeast Ohio counties that wrapped up a mass reappraisal last year. The other six are Erie, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Portage and Stark.
You can find information about appealing your property value for each of those counties here:
Property-tax bills came out later than usual this year – and carry later deadlines.
Tax payments for the first half of the year are due by Feb. 20 in Cuyahoga County; Feb. 19 in Erie, Lake and Stark counties; Feb. 14 in Huron and Lorain counties; and Feb. 28 in Portage County.
If you’re challenging your valuation, experts say you should still pay your new tax bill in full to avoid any penalties and interest charges.
“I always tell people ‘You have to make your own best decision, but if I was in your position, I would pay the tax and hope I get a credit later,’” O’Leary said.
‘That’s just criminal’
Homan challenged her home’s new value last year, during a short window when the county accepted informal appeals involving paperwork but no hearing. She sent in photos of her aging garage and areas of her home that haven’t been updated in decades.
She ultimately got about $10,000 shaved off the county’s appraisal, she said.
That was a savings, but not a windfall. She’s still seeing the impact of soaring home prices and the Cleveland school levy, which she voted against.
At 75, Homan is fed up. She’s trying to save money where she can – while watching the cost of everything, from car and home insurance to groceries and pet food, keep rising.
“Where does it end?” she asked.
She hopes the General Assembly will finally act this year on property tax reforms, with a focus on relief for low-income, elderly homeowners.
RELATED: Northeast Ohio homeowners, advocates push for property-tax relief as values soar
“Nobody should lose their home because they can’t afford the taxes,” she said.
In a report released early this year, a bipartisan legislative committee acknowledged the challenge, calling the recent spike in property values “a historical anomaly.”
Committee members came up with 21 recommendations for providing tax relief or making the state’s complicated tax system simpler or easier to understand.
Those suggestions include:
- Expanding the homestead exemption, a tax break for very low-income seniors
- Exploring a property-tax deferral program to let elderly homeowners put off paying part or all of their taxes until they sell their homes, move out or die
- Creating a mechanism called a circuit breaker, which would limit how much of a household’s income could go toward property taxes
- Putting limits on levies
- And tweaking some of the calculations used in the appraisal process.
It's unclear if or when lawmakers will follow up on those recommendations.
“They just like to push it on somebody else or put it on the back burner on certain stuff,” Homan said. “But you know, they need to tighten their belt, too. I have to do it. … I don’t spend money on stupid stuff, and I know there’s a lot of stupid stuff that gets spent with our tax money.”
If her tax bills keep rising, she knows she can lean on her adult sons for help. But she worries about other elderly homeowners who don’t have anyone to support them.
“That is so unfair for somebody to live somewhere and think, ‘Oh, I’m going to stay here ‘til I die.’ And then be forced out because they can’t afford the taxes,” she said. “That is criminal. That’s just criminal.”
