2004 ASSESSMENTS Complaint filing deadline near for property owners

The deputy county auditor said 263 people have filed grievances.
LISBON -- Columbiana County property owners have until March 31 to file complaints regarding their 2004 assessments, which will be used in determining this year's taxes.
The Columbiana County Board of Revision will schedule hearings on the complaints after they are filed with the office of the Columbiana County auditor, 105 South Market Street.
The assessments, determined by a revaluation process countywide in 2004, will be used in determining taxes for schools, cities and townships for the current year.
Subject of hearings
Mike Smith, deputy county auditor, said 263 people already have filed complaints, which will be the subject of hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday next week as well as on April 5 and 7. The hearings all will begin at 9 a.m. in the Auditor's Conference Room at the Columbiana County Courthouse.
Smith said the people filing complaints by the March 31 deadline may not have a hearing on them until June.
The upcoming hearing dates are just for complaints already filed, he explained.
Though the revaluation last year involved about 77,000 various properties that make up the county, he said it has provoked only 263 complaints to date, compared with 1,525 stemming from the 1998 revaluation.
Public information sessions led by county Auditor Nancy Milliken reduced the number of complaints by helping residents understand the assessment process and the tax system, Smith said.