The Lucas County auditor on Friday announced she is recommending property assessments increase an aggregate of 17.2 percent across the county after completing her triennial reappraisal — but she said that number was submitted to the Ohio Department of Taxation under protest and could change.

The state requires a full, in-depth reassessment of property values every six years, with a less-intensive reappraisal every three years that reviews arms-length sales and updates values accordingly. The recommendations released Friday are based on the three-year update, which took into consideration sales from 2018, 2019, and 2020.

As it stands now, the property-value increases range from 2.8 percent in a sliver of Monclova Township to 21 percent in the southwest portion of the county, the Washington Local Schools district, and in Jerusalem Township. The majority of Monclova Township shows a 15.9 percent assessment increase, most of Springfield Township shows a jump of 16.9 percent, and Oregon has an increase of 19.5 percent.

Auditor Anita Lopez recommended assessments in the city of Toledo increase by 14.1 percent, expect for the portions in the Washington and Maumee school districts, which each show an increase of 21 percent.

Sylvania Township and the City of Sylvania have recommended increases of 18 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively. Ms. Lopez suggests Ottawa Hills assessments rise by 14.8 percent.

The auditor emphasized the proposals are aggregate numbers, which means not every parcel’s assessment will increase by the same percentage. She also emphasized the numbers could change, depending on property-owner feedback. 

Ms. Lopez said she believes the coronavirus pandemic has created an inflated housing market and unstable property values, so she is wary of increasing the official values too much. She said pandemic-time sale amounts should be excluded in the assessment, which would bring the county’s overall aggregate increase should closer to 13.9 percent.

Residents have until Oct. 1 to provide feedback, which they can do online at lucascountytri.as.me, by emailing tri@co.lucas.oh.us, or by calling the auditor’s office at 419-213-4406.

Ms. Lopez will then take resident concerns into consideration and submit updated numbers to the state by Oct. 31 for approval.

“This is the open book process where we want all citizens to give their feedback,” she said.

She’s concerned state officials may not be happy if she submits a final proposal with assessment increases lower than the numbers she announced on Friday, but she said she intends to stand her ground based on what she hears from local residents.

In 2018, Ms. Lopez and state taxation officials engaged in a months-long dispute about property-value increases before reaching a resolution, which only came after the state threatened to withhold funding to local entities, such as school districts, that benefit from tax levies. They agreed to collectively increase property assessments by 9 percent countywide, though some municipalities' values went up by 12 percent and others only increased 2 or 3 percent.

Three years later, she’s working with much larger jumps in valuation.

Ms. Lopez on Friday added that she’d like to see Ohio’s governor and gubernatorial candidates call for a freeze on property-value increases until the housing market stabilizes.

“You can’t operate government with blinders on and not factor in what’s happening in the world and the economy,” she said.

Regardless of where the revaluations land at the end of the year, property owners will be able to challenge their new valuations locally in the spring.

Peter Shawaker, a commercial realtor in Lucas County, said the value increases released Friday are large, and some residents and commercial building owners likely will notice it in their pocketbooks.

“For some properties this is an accurate increase. Unfortunately for some other properties, they might not truly have got up in value as much,” he said. 

Mr. Shawaker added he believes auditors are “doing the best they can” with the way the state structures its property valuation requirements. Local auditors are “usually open to realistic appeals,” he said, and he expects there will be many in Lucas County next year.

First Published August 20, 2021, 10:39 p.m.