Between caring for her many chickens and listening to the abundant wildlife, Debbie Hamm can’t decide what she loves most about living on 16 acres of land in Monroe Township.
“You hear cicadas, you hear bees, you hear birds, hear my chickens. But other than that, you don't hear anything,” Hamm said. “You don't hear traffic. You don't hear your neighbors talking. You don't hear your neighbor’s TV blaring. It's just — it's peaceful, which is why I like it.”
But this year, her home doubled in value after Clermont County’s reappraisal process, from $108,500 to $218,200. And two adjacent parcels of land she and her husband own, which hold a family cemetery and garden, more than tripled in value, from $27,100 to $91,300 combined.
Clermont County Auditor Linda Fraley said the new residential values — which went up by nearly $4 billion in total across the county — could be viewed as positive.
“I take a lot of pride in the fact that when we do this assessment of real estate, we're actually valuing people's homes, and most people — that's their most valuable asset,” Fraley said.
But to cash in on that asset, you generally have to sell the property. And Hamm doesn’t want to sell the land that’s been in her family for the last six decades.
She and her husband are both retired and on fixed incomes. Hamm said they worry about how they’ll pay next year’s property tax bill — based on the new value — especially with the cost of groceries, electricity and gas also being high.
“We talk about it almost daily. Well, what can we cut back on?” Hamm said. “Do we have a streaming service that we can get rid of? Can we sell some chickens? Can we sell some eggs?”
The data suggests Hamm is likely not alone.
At the last reappraisal in 2020, property values increased by 11.8% overall. This year, the average countywide increase was twice that, at 22%.
Why the increase?
Fraley said sales were the biggest factor in this year’s evaluation.
Since the auditor’s office last updated home values at the cycle’s halfway point in 2023, the median residential sales price has jumped nearly $70,000.
If homes were never revalued to reflect bigger sales, it wouldn’t be fair to new homeowners, Fraley said.
“If some people have just bought a home and theirs is valued way higher than somebody that’s owned their house for 20 years, they wouldn't necessarily be taxed at the same rate,” she said.
Clermont County has seen significant growth over the past decade, and there’s still more to come: a housing study from last year shows the county will need nearly 12,000 new housing units by 2045 to serve a larger population.
The study recommends denser developments to meet the need. But that may mean bigger property tax bills for current residents.
The townships where Clermont County has seen the most growth and development — Union, Miami and Batavia — are also the places that saw bigger jumps in property value this year.
What will my tax bill look like?
Fraley said tax bills aren’t based on the big number people have seen in the reappraisal documents they’ve received this summer, which is known as market value. Instead, they’re calculated using assessed value, which is just 35% of the reappraisal number, Fraley said.
But because of new state laws that change how property taxes are calculated, Fraley said her office can’t even provide “guesstimates” about what this year’s bills might look like.
Late last year, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that limits how much schools may collect to inflation, rather than property value increases, and expands the existing owner-occupancy credit. Another measure requires counties to make sure inside millage levies — taxes not voted on by the people — don’t grow more than the sum of the past three years’ inflation. And yet another counts certain levies toward schools’ minimum funding requirements.
All these changes are making the calculations complicated. Fraley said she might not have answers until December, with tax bills due in February.
“We understand the angst that people are going through, and I can see that,” Fraley said, adding her office must follow Ohio Revised Code. “We all have budgets. We want to know what we can count on.”
Fraley said Clermont County residents who feel their home has been overvalued may file an appeal with the Board of Revision between Jan. 1 and March 31.
“My house needs this. My house needs that,” Fraley said. “Provide us documentation because we're not trying to overvalue.”
Mixed opinions on how to address property taxes
Hamm plans to appeal as soon as the process begins because she believes there hasn’t been enough growth in the surrounding township or change to her property to warrant the steep revaluation.
“We’ve added a chicken coop, literally,” Hamm said. “Clermont County, I think they've lost their mind in terms of property value because my place hasn't changed, and we're not going to change it because this is what we enjoy.”
For her part, Hamm does think there needs to be some property tax reform in Ohio. She suggests distributing more money to city and township services instead of schools.
“Do I think that the schools need funding?” Hamm asked. “Absolutely, they probably need more funding. But Jackie, my property taxes [are] not the way to go about it.”
But after a career working for Clermont County — and her husband for Union Township — Hamm isn’t interested in getting rid of the system altogether, because she says the money is vital for schools, roads and emergency services.
That’s not the case for Patty Hamilton, a regional captain for the AxOHTax movement, who argues people are essentially renting from the government because property taxes are so high.
“We're just trying to make a living and enjoy life, and hopefully, we can pass it on to the next generation,” Hamilton said. “If it's up to the government, it'll be gone, and that's what's really sad.”
Hamilton’s group is trying to get a measure on the ballot to abolish property taxes, in part because they feel the government has not stepped up to the plate — even with recent legislation aimed at curbing property tax increases.
“These are just one-time solutions. We want a long-term solution,” Hamilton said, arguing Ohio legislators prioritize capital improvements instead of families. “They need to start tightening their belt instead of the Ohioans having to do that.”
The petition didn’t make it on the ballot this year, but Hamilton says there’s momentum.
After this year’s reappraisal, Hamilton said she started to get calls from people in Clermont County who wanted to do more than just sign the petition.
They wanted to collect signatures for the cause, Hamilton said, and create more permanent signing locations.
“I really do believe that it's going to happen, but I think Clermont County specifically — they're mad,” Hamilton said. “They're spitfirin’ mad.”
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