HAMILTON — Many Butler County property owners are getting an unwelcome summer surprise in their mailboxes.

        Reappraisals show there is a price to be paid for soaring property values in this area. In the reappraisal, the average residential property in Butler County rose in value by 16 percent from the previous assessment six years ago.

ESTIMATING VALUE

Ohio law requires property reassessments every six years.    County appraisers decide on a fair market value for a piece of property after looking at it from the street for exterior changes, and after analyzing market sales, building costs, land costs and other market data.    Property owners who want to make an appointment to discuss their reappraisals with the Butler County Auditor's office should call 785-5113 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Any adjustments in reappraisals would have to be made after hearings conducted next year by the Board of Revision.    Three years after a property reassessment, counties make cost-of-living adjustments in property valuations.

NEXT ASSESSMENTS

Years when other Greater Cincinnati counties are scheduled to undergo their next property reassessments:    Hamilton County: 2005    Warren County: 2006    Clermont County: 2002    Dearborn County: 2002    In Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties in Kentucky, communities generally undergo reassessments every four years.

        “Brace yourself,” warned Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox. “People are going to be very, very angry.”

        Some property owners wasted no time in scheduling conferences with the auditor's office to appeal their reappraisals. The 85 openings for the first conferences next Monday already are filled. Another 55 are scheduled for Tuesday.

        But Auditor Kay Rogers said Wednesday the volume of complaints hasn't been as high as expected.

        “When you consider we're talking about 140,000 parcels of property, 140 complaints is nothing,” she said. “Our phones have been ringing, but we've been able to field all the calls. We have a lot of employees working on this and are trying to make it as easy as possible for people to come in for their conferences.”

        The value of residential property in Hamilton, Jacksonburg and Madison Township increased by 20 percent, the highest in Butler County. The rate of increase in Oxford, Oxford Township and Ross Township was 10 percent, the lowest in the county.

        Most people's property tax hike will reflect about 25 percent of their property value increase, depending on what levies they must pay, said Nancy Powell, county deputy auditor.

        “Property reappraisal increases should be viewed as a positive thing,” Ms. Rogers said. “Hamilton's big increase says the city has done a lot of things to improve. There are more people wanting to move there, and they're willing to pay more.”

        But some residents don't share Ms. Rogers' view.

        “The whole thing in West Chester stinks,” said Barb Morath, 55, a lifelong township resident whose property value jumped from $193,580 to $209,840. “It's just outrageous the property taxes we pay. I am probably going to put my house up for sale next spring.”

        Conceivably, county commissioners could roll back millage in response to property owner outrage. However, Mr. Fox ruled that out Wednesday, saying the county is already falling short of funding needed to keep up with Butler's growth.

        The property reappraisal notifications are hitting mailboxes in a year in which voters will face money issues on the November ballot, and could hurt their chances for passage.

        Liberty Township, whose residential property value increased by 18 percent in the reappraisal, will have a replacement, five-year, 3-mill fire levy on the ballot. A second levy not to exceed 1 mill in Liberty is likely to go on the ballot for parks.

        Hamilton plans to place a 1-mill police levy and a 1-mill fire levy on the ballot. The Butler County Regional Transit Authority, fighting for survival, recently decided to place a five-year, quarter-percent sales-tax increase on the same ballot.

        “Organizations that have levies on the ballot are going to have a difficult time passing them,” West Chester Trustee Catherine Stoker said. “People are feeling the pinch. They are seeing the increase in their property taxes and when they go to the ballot and see people want even more, they may have the tendency to say no. People can only bear so much.”

        School districts won't be reaping a bonanza from the increased property values. By state law, only part of a school district's millage is affected by the increase.

        The reappraisal will mean about $1.5 million in more property tax revenue for the Lakota School District, said Alan Hutchinson, district treasurer.

        “That's not much, considering we have a $100 million budget,” he said.

        The increases are particularly bad news for people on fixed incomes.

        Herbert and Norma Biermann's West Chester home has gone up twice in value since they purchased it 11 years ago. First it went from $150,000 to $175,000. Now it has shot to $205,000.

        “It just keeps going up,” Mr. Biermann, 70, said. “This is discouraging. I would like to see them sell this house for what they valued it at. I suspect it will cost us $400 a year more now. I don't think we have gotten that many more amenities from the county to make it go up that much.”

        “Not only are the taxes going up by the assessment, but they also are going up for tax levies that have been added on and there are even more to come. There is no end to it,” said Naomi Ormes, 59, a 35-year Liberty Township resident whose 4-acre farm and house along Princeton Road just east of Ohio 747 is for sale.

        “Our fixed income isn't going up at the rate that all the other expenses are. This is just the price of progress and it's too bad it has to fall on our shoulders,” she said.

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