Auditor opens office to help with tax issues

The office will be open until March 31, which is the deadline to file complaints.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino is opening a temporary office in Southern Park Mall to answer property owners' questions about new valuations that will affect their taxes.
Sciortino will have a press conference Friday at the new location, which is in the concourse between J.C. Penney department store and a mall entrance at California Avenue.
The auditor's mall location will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sciortino said. It will be closed Sundays.
Appointments are not necessary but can be made by calling the auditor's office at (330) 740-2010.
The mall office will be staffed by appraisers from the auditor's office as well as representatives from Manatron, a Michigan-based company that conducted mass appraisals of county properties, Sciortino said.
Appraisals required
Ohio Revised Code requires physical appraisals of real estate in counties every six years in order to reflect fair-market value, which hinges on what buyers and sellers negotiate. Properties were reappraised for tax year 2005, which will affect tax payments made beginning this year.
Factors that affect property values, and thus taxes, include room additions; the arrival or departure of industries in a community; a housing shortage in a desirable neighborhood; recession; and damage to homes by fires, flooding and the like.
The auditor's mall office will be open until March 31, which is the deadline for property owners to file complaints against assessments. Forms for filing complaints are available from the auditor's office.
shaulis@vindy.com