COLUMBIANA CO. Officials to explain property values

The meetings won't consider levy costs.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The owners of property in Columbiana County will have a chance to see their new real estate values starting next week.
County Auditor Nancy Milliken has scheduled two town hall meetings to start to explain the values to owners.
The first meeting will be for property owners in the city of Salem and Perry Township. It will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the township hall.
The second is for the owners of property in city of Columbiana, village of New Waterford, and Unity and Fairfield townships. It will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Fairfield Township Hall.
Milliken said she plans to have about eight meetings throughout the county, but may have more if the turnout is heavy.
"I don't know if five people will show up or 100," Milliken said.
She hopes to have all the new values will be on her Web site, www.columbianacntyauditor.org, by next week.
Letters with the new valuations also will be sent by the end of this month to all property owners.
Reappraisals
The county recently completed its mandatory reappraisal of its 77,000 parcels. Milliken successfully lobbied the state for conservative increases.
Property taxes overall will go up 8 percent starting in 2005. That's the increase in value since the last appraisal three years ago. The figure is misleading because there's no across-the-board tax increase. Taxes are assessed on 35 percent of the property's value.
Overall increases by category are: residential property, 8.1 percent; agricultural property, 13.2 percent; commercial property, 11.4 percent; and industrial property, 0.4 percent.
A computer at each meeting will have records on each property in the county. Owners can discuss their property and why it's value went up or down.
The actual taxes owners will pay will depend on the condition of their property and which of the county's 55 taxing districts it's in. Milliken said the meetings won't determine a person's tax bill.
The board of elections won't certify the results of tax issues that were on the ballot until later this month. The county treasurer's office will then apply those based on the property value to determine the owner's tax bill. Those tax bills will be mailed early next year.
Milliken said she may have a program on her Web site early next year that will allow owners to calculate their tax bills. She said she had heard almost no reaction to the revaluation.
wilkinson@vindy.com