MANSFIELD — A new tool on the Richland County auditor’s website provides voters with more clarity about proposed property tax issues on the ballot.
The levy estimator tool allows property owners to search for their residence and then click on “levies” on the top right of the page, county Auditor Pat Dropsey told county commissioners on Tuesday.
The proposed tax levies will appear once the filing deadline for that election cycle has passed. For example, levies on the May 2 primary ballot are now loaded onto the website.
Dropsey said the addition was made by working with Beacon, the company that helps to power the website.
“The rule we’re going to put in place right now is once the filing deadline is over and no other levies can be put on the ballot for an upcoming election, then we will finish the spreadsheet with all the different levies that are gonna be on the ballot and send it to Beacon to be placed on the website,” Dropsey said.
The levies page will display the authority placing an issue on the ballot; the election date; what the levy funds will be used for; the type of levy (renewal, additional, new, replacement); the proposed millage; the number of years; and what it would cost each year to the owner of the property in question.
“This is something that we’ve been working on for probably the last six months with Beacon, trying to get this worked out. We’re hoping that the public will, appreciate it, use it and take advantage of it,” Dropsey said.
“Based on a lot of conversations I have the news media, one of the things that they like to put out when it comes to a levy is what it would cost the homeowner of a $100,000 house,” Dropsey said.
“That’s usually the question that I always get asked for upcoming levies. This is more succinct and more driven towards the specific property that you’re looking at. So it’s gonna give property owners a better idea and a better understanding of exactly what a levy’s going to cost them,” he said.
Commissioner Cliff Mears asked Dropsey why a levy with smaller millage could actually cost taxpayers more than one with larger millage.
The auditor said it happened due to a budget change during the first term of then-Gov. John Kasich in 2011.
The change stated that any additional levies or new levies approved by voters going forward that the state would not reimburse subdivisions similar tax credits or rollbacks, as with existing levies.
“If it’s a new levy and you compare it to a current levy, the, the new levy’s going to be more, even though it’s less millage because there will be no 10 percent or 2 1/2 percent reimbursement from the state of Ohio,” Dropsey said.
The auditor said he hopes to to be able to add all property taxes for a specific address onto the website. That information is now on the tax bill sent to residents by county Treasurer Bart Hamilton.
“But I can’t see why they couldn’t list all this on there. If you can do it for upcoming ballot issues, why not? So that’s something we’ll be working on with Beacon,” he said.
The website also only lists property tax levies. Income tax issues, such as the City of Mansfield’s renewal request for its safety forces, do not appear.
Commissioner Tony Vero said commissioners have already received a text message approving the addition to the website.
“So it killed me to give Pat credit for making that happen real quick,” he said.
