Legal-Ease: Real estate taxes more complex than commonly thought

Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at Lee@LeeSchroeder.com or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.

Real estate taxes in Ohio operate under a unique structure. Real estate taxes are defined in terms of “mills,” which are created through local governments or through residents’ votes for “levies.” Mills and millage are understood to be a percentage of the property value. The calculation process is much more complex, though, because real estate tax levies can fall under two different categories.

In the first category of real estate levies, millage is calculated as a percentage of the property value. In the second category of real estate tax levies, the levies are defined as mills, but they’re capped at the total dollar amount of money that the levy brings in during its first year.

For those of us fortunate enough to own real estate, a tax payment is due this month. In Allen County, Friday was the due date. Other counties’ due dates vary throughout the month of July.

Real estate taxes operate under a unique structure in Ohio. And this column’s very simple explanation is not reflective of all of the complexity of that structure.

Read more about real estate taxes and levies in the state of Ohio in Lee’s article in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Real estate taxes more complex than commonly thought

Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Real estate taxes more complex than commonly thought,” by Lee R. Schroeder, July 15, 2017

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