Any tax that, if unpaid, causes a citizens to become homeless is immoral!
We are continuing to get the message out to the Lake County citizens about the estimated 30% increase in property values due to the sexennial revaluation in 2024 with the collection in 2025. We sent the following email to the Concord Township Trustees.
Dear Concord Trustees,
I believe it is important that all Concord Township residents be informed of the mandatory property revaluation taking place in 2024 with the tax to be collected in 2025.
Auditor Galloway suggested that I use an average of 30% property value increase to determine the property tax increases. The property value increases will impact the inside (unvoted) millage. Our calculations indicate that Concord Township will realize approximately $644,651 in additional annual tax revenues without a vote of the taxpayers.
The estimated cost to the homeowners will be $32 per $100,000 of home market value (a.k.a.appraised or true value). I have reviewed these numbers with the Auditor’s office.
Can you please confirm for us what your calculations indicate the Township will receive and the estimated cost to the homeowners? As you know, the taxpayers will also have to pay additional property taxes to the Lake County General Fund and to their respective school districts.
Are there any plans to place another outside millage levy on the November, 2024 ballot?
Thank you for your transparency.
Brian Massie
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Here is the reply we received from Mr. Andy Rose. In all of my dealings with Mr. Rose, he displays honesty, integrity, and transparency, and we believe that he is an asset to Concord Township.
Mr. Andy Rose, Concord Township Administrator
Mr. Massie,
Thank you for your email. After reviewing the figures you presented, I concur with your figures as estimated/approximate revenue increases based on the Auditor’s estimate of a 30% increase from the reevaluation. That said, your figure of $644,651 is based on a 100% collection rate. The Auditor uses a 94% collection rate for estimates so I place the estimated increase at approximately $606K. I also concur that the reevaluation estimate will result in a $31.50 per $100k for homeowners on Concord’s inside millage of 3 mils and does not include the County or schools inside millage.
Yes, there will be a levy placed on the November ballot for safety (police/fire). The specifics and amount of the levy has not been determined.
I will be holding four separate sessions in April for our residents at the Community Center. The session is titled “Understanding your taxes”. I plan to cover things such as where tax dollars are allocated, difference between inside and outside millage, sexennial reevaluation, and the impact of HB-920. This will be given during day and evening sessions to provide ample opportunity for residents to attend. The session will also be videoed and posted to our website. We will be pushing info out on these sessions in the near future.
As a side note…I do not like your “without a vote” phrasing. Ohio residents have the ability to address the inside millage issues with State Senators and Reps and this inside millage has been a long standing practice and is covered in the Ohio Constitution. There was a statewide vote in 1922 which asked voters to increase the inside millage to 15 mils. The citizens of Ohio voted that issue down and it has remained at 10 mils. The vote was 60-40 to keep it at a maximum of 10 mils. I also believe this was a citizen initiated ballot issue.
Please give me a call if you wish to discuss this issue further.
*****
Categories: Concord