More Butler County residents to benefit from property tax deferrals
Revaluation will cost taxpayers more, but local effort will give some relief.
Butler County leaders fought unsuccessfully for months at the Statehouse level to reduce a large, state-mandated property tax increase, but in the last few months some local governments have approved a new way to collectively save taxpayers millions.
In September, Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix pitched a proposal to have local governments defer collecting taxes on their inside millage above the amount collected in 2022.
She said the plan, if all local governments took part, could save a collective $39 million. Not all are taking part, but Butler County commissioners and five local governments jumped on board.
“I applaud those local governments who have elected to hold the line on tax increases,” Nix said. “Their costs have increased, too, from inflation, but they are foregoing the additional inside millage funding that would have been generated from the value increases in their localities.”
Inside millage, basically, is 10 mills of unvoted property tax millage in a given political subdivision that dates back to when the Ohio legislature first started property taxes. The inside mills for an area are proportionally distributed to three jurisdictions: a county, a school district, and either a township or municipality.
Fairfield Twp. quickly came on board with the deferral plan and the village of Seven Mile followed; initially, they were the only two local governments that voted to participate.
Individually, it isn’t a lot of money being collected, but together, it’s a considerable savings.
The projected benefit from the commissioners’ 0.44-mill inside millage reduction is $15.40 for a $100,000 home and $46.20 on a $300,000 home, which is close to the average home value in Butler County. That means the county is foregoing nearly $5.75 million that could have been used for other things, such as incentive pay, raises or new hires.