Op-ed: As your Portage County auditor, we need to change our tax system

Ohio property values have increased dramatically over the past several years. For Portage County, we are seeing an increase on average of about 33%. What does this mean? Well, you may have been surprised when you opened the letter from my office recently that showed a before value assessed in 2021 and then an after value from this year.

The state of Ohio mandates that all 88 counties must appraise the value of properties every six years, otherwise known as a sexennial appraisal. Auditors of each of Ohio’s 88 counties are responsible for this appraisal — also referred to as a revaluation. Portage County has just completed this appraisal process and the letters that property owners have received are the result and communication of this process.