MOUNT VERNON — Every six years, the state of Ohio mandates the counties re-examine and reassess all properties in the county. The Knox County Auditor’s Office is now in the process of conducting that reappraisal.
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“The state department of taxation notifies me two years ahead of time when the reappraisal is due,” said Knox County Auditor Margaret Ann Ruhl. “Every county has to do a reappraisal every six years.”
Ruhl’s policy is to send out a request for proposals to several companies in the state of Ohio that do this type of work.
“I received three proposals from companies in Ohio that do reappraisal work,” Ruhl said. “Those three did presentations and we selected a company to do our reappraisals in Knox County. That company happened to be John G. Cleminshaw Inc. based in Hudson, Ohio.”
There are more than 42,000 real estate parcels in Knox County, and each one has to be inspected by a “lister.”
The lister will first knock on the door and if the owner or resident is at home, then will ask a few simple questions about any changes made to the interior in the past six years.
“We don’t do an interior inspection,” Ruhl said. “I consider that an invasion of privacy.”
If no one is at home, the lister will leave a door card on the front door. The card is a questionnaire for the owner to fill out and return to the auditor’s office.
“I know a lot of people don’t always use their front doors,” Ruhl said, “so they should be checking for the card.”
The rest is all exterior inspection.
Each lister will have an identification card with them so residents will know they are not being scammed. There are currently six listers gathering information around the county.
Ruhl said Clemenshaw came in last year to get the survey ready for the 2008 tax year.