MOUNT VERNON — Not all of the lines have been at the polls this week. A line of Knox County taxpayers, letters in hand, have been circulating through the Knox County Auditor’s office as well.
Knox County Auditor Margaret Ann Ruhl said she knew the change of value notices recently sent to property owners would result in a flurry of phone calls and visits to her office from taxpayers who have questions about the new property values.
“My staff is experienced with this,” she said Tuesday. “We knew that people would be in, and I would be surprised if they hadn’t been in or called.”
Ruhl said the new values are set every six years for tax purposes. Several factors are used, including the value of the local real estate market. Although Ruhl agrees the local market has been slow, she said prices in the county are still generally on the increase. Sale prices from 2005-07 are used in the most recent calculation.
A new computer software system has been used for the latest value determination, and Ruhl said the new system has not been without drawbacks.
“The new program was purchased a year ago,” Ruhl said. “It’s been some of our problems, yes.”
Ruhl said the program will sometimes not readily accept all of the information required to calculate the porperty’s worth.
“The software doesn’t always do what it has to do,” she explained. “We’ll try to put something into the system and it won’t let us do it. The programmer then has to modify it. It’s an ongoing process.”
Complete and accurate information must be put into the system to ensure an accurate appraisal.
The software program, purchased from Manatron, was needed because the old program had become obsolete and could no longer be serviced.
The appraisals for the 42,000 parcels in the county take the office two years to complete, according to Ruhl. She said four appraisers gather all of the information to be plugged into the software program. Information gathered includes the physical features and location of a piece of land, and any buildings on it.
A triennial update was completed in 2005, which only studied sale values in the area, with no actual visitation of properties. After this update, staff begins making actual onsite appraisals. Ruhl said the process has not changed in the 13 years she has been in office.
“Our assessment has been done the same way throughout,” she said.
The size of the lot, the size of the home, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, number of stories, type of construction, and any improvements are some of the details used to determine a property’s value.
Even if a home has not sold recently, the sale prices of other homes in the area can increase its value.
Ruhl said the recent climb in foreclosures does not appear to have negatively affected property values at this point. The auditor’s office is not routinely notified if a conveyance is a foreclosure. If it is made aware of a foreclosure, the conveyance is marked by the auditor as a not-valid sale.
Ruhl said the state does not recognize foreclosures as valid sales.
“A valid sale, according to state regulations, has to be a sale between a willing buyer and a willing seller that are not related,” she explained. “Usually they are advertised through the newspaper or a Realtor.”
Ruhl said that although the value of homes in Knox County have gone up since the last appraisal in 2002, they are still lower than local sale prices.
“They’re still selling for more than we have them valued for,” she said.
Current home values are 90.96 percent of the local sale prices. The Ohio Department of Taxation requires the ratio to be at least 90 percent, and sets the goal between 95 and 100 percent.
The Department of Taxation has final approval of the values set by the Knox County Auditor’s Office. In July, the county office sends the state a tentative abstract for approval. Ruhl said the state did not approve Knox County’s tentative abstract because the ratio of values to local property sale prices was too low. In August, the state sent it back to the county for revision.
“They didn’t like it and we had to make some adjustment to the value,” Ruhl explained.
The final approval pushed the timing the letters could be completed and sent out by Ruhl’s office back a month. Ruhl, the Republican candidate for State Representative of the 90th District in Tuesday’s election, said some have questioned why she did not wait another couple of days to send the letters — which are not always happily received — until after Election Day.
“We send them out as soon as we get our work done,” Ruhl explained.
She said she and the 13 staff people who work for her have worked hard to complete the letters, but the state’s rejection of the initial figures delayed the process.
Ruhl encouraged property owners who disagree with the values her office has set for their property to contact her office by phone, in person or through the auditor’s Web site.
Property owners can fill complete a Complaint Against the Valuation of Real Property form in her office. The form must be filled out as completely as possible and notarized. Ruhl said her office has already received some of these appeals, and expects more.
She said her staff is willing to work with people who feel a mistake has been made regarding their property value. She said owners can check the auditor’s office or Web site to make sure all of the information about their property is correct.
“We’re making corrections now; we know mistakes are a possibility,” she said.
Ruhl said complaints are received each time the value letters go out, every six years. She encouraged property owners to take the time to read through their letters and check all of the information about their parcels.
Ruhl said all complaints will be addressed and responded to .
“Our goal is to have everything answered by the end of November,” she said. “People need to be patient.”
Property taxes support services to county residents such as county, city or township government, education, fire and EMS protection, libraries, children’s services, services for senior citizens, roads and birdges, MRDD and mental health programs, the health department and various other agencies.
