Auditor to Explain Property Re-Evaluation Options to Parkman Residents

January 12, 2023 by Ann Wishart

Parkman Township residents have been invited to a fact-finding meeting regarding their real property values and future taxes with Geauga County Auditor Chuck Walder at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Parkman Community House.

Walder said in a phone interview he would like the opportunity to explain the options to property owners who were forced by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to tie into the county’s wastewater treatment plant on U.S. Route 422 when it was built years ago.

The meeting may be common knowledge among Parkman residents.

“Residents connected to the (sewer) system should have received a letter of invitation; however, all residents are welcome to attend,” said the legal ad published by Parkman Township Fiscal Officer Denise Villers. “Contact me with any questions that you may have at 440-897-8761.”

Parkman Township Trustees plan to attend the event, she wrote.

At a trustees meeting early in December, Walder said about 120 residents were entitled to a review of their property valuations.

Such reviews could result in a change in property taxes, which might help offset their sewer costs, he said.

Walder explained how his office has the statuary authority to tax-equalize a neighborhood’s property values that directly affect owners’ annual tax bills.

He said his intention is to create a neighborhood that includes those homes, so his office could begin the process.

The two-pronged process works because Walder and his staff were able to help the residents of Berkshire Heights in Chardon Township in 2022, he said.

In both cases, the OEPA required a wastewater treatment plant be built to handle sewage from homes in a specific area.

Construction, maintenance and operation of the sewage plant west of Parkman center, built almost a decade ago, is covered by user fees, not assessments, so each resident is paying more than $80 per month with no end in sight, Walder said.

“You are being charged as a utility,” he said.

The process to receive tax relief would be the same as it was for Berkshire Heights residents, Walder said.

Those 100-plus Parkman residents around the intersection of Route 422 and state Route 528 who were forced to tap into the sewage lines would have their properties assessed by an independent contractor and appraiser sent out and paid for by the auditor.

The auditor could then reduce the values of those homes across the board, depending on the report, Walder said.

“You are paying too much (in taxes) because your values aren’t right,” he said, noting their property values do not take into account the sewer plant’s effect on their values. Following that appraisal, property owners could apply to the auditor’s board of revision, which has the authority to re-evaluate properties’ values. That new value may result in even lower tax bills, Walder said.

The board would interview the property owners individually to find out what improvements or maintenance they did not do because of the burden of the sewage bill.

Berkshire Heights residents received an average property valuation about 29% lower when they applied to the board of review — an average of 14% from the board of revision and 15% from the appraisals, Walder said.

As a result, their tax bills went down by varying amounts. The devaluation is good for five years, after which the values would be re-examined and could increase, he said.

The board of revision would listen to each property owner’s explanation as to why they have not been able to afford improvements or maintenance on their properties due to the increasing sewer rates, which would cause the value to decline, Walder said.

The Berkshire Heights homeowners’ interviews were recorded and can be viewed online, so Parkman residents who apply can see how the hearings go, and he and his staff would explain it thoroughly to them, Walder said.