As Introduced

134th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 726

2021-2022

A BILL

To amend section 323.155 and to enact section 319.303 of the Revised Code to allow certain counties to authorize a property tax freeze for certain owner-occupied homes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 323.155 be amended and section 319.303 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 319.303. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Homestead" means a homestead, as that term is defined in section 323.151 of the Revised Code, or a manufactured home or mobile home, as those terms are defined in section 4503.064 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Sixty years of age or older" means a person who has attained age fifty-nine prior to the first day of January of the year of application for reduction in real estate taxes.

(3) "Total income" means the sum of the modified adjusted gross income, as that term is defined in section 5747.01 of the Revised Code, of the owner and the owner's spouse.

(4) "Current taxes" means, for real property, the amount of current taxes charged and payable as computed after the reductions under sections 319.301, 319.302, and 323.152 of the Revised Code. "Current taxes" means, for manufactured or mobile homes listed on the manufactured home tax list, the amount of manufactured home taxes levied pursuant to section 4503.06 of the Revised Code, less any reduction under section 323.152 or 4503.065 of the Revised Code. In either case, "current taxes for the preceding year" shall equal the current taxes for that year after subtracting any amount reduced under this section for that year.

(B) A county council of a county that has adopted a charter under Ohio Constitution, Article X and has a population that exceeds one million, by resolution, may authorize a reduction of taxes charged against a homestead owned and occupied by a person who is sixty years of age or older and whose total income does not exceed fifty thousand dollars. The amount of the reduction shall equal the amount by which the current taxes for the current tax year exceed the current taxes for the preceding year.

The resolution also shall specify the first tax year for which the reduction is to be available. Upon adopting a resolution, the council shall certify a copy of the resolution to the county executive.

Upon receipt of the resolution, the county executive shall accept applications for the reduction, on forms prescribed by the executive, and determine whether to approve or deny an application. The executive shall deny an application if the applicant or homestead does not meet the qualifications imposed under this section or if delinquent taxes, as defined in section 323.01 or 4503.06 of the Revised Code, as applicable, are charged against the homestead. Applications must be filed with the county executive not later than the thirty-first day of December of the tax year for which the reduction is sought.

The executive shall notify an applicant, within thirty days after the application is approved or denied, of the executive's determination by ordinary mail. If the application is denied, the notification shall inform the applicant of the reason for the denial. If an applicant believes that the application for reduction has been improperly denied the applicant may file an appeal with the county board of revision not later than sixty days after the notification was issued under this section. The appeal shall be treated in the same manner as a complaint relating to the valuation or assessment of real property under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code.

If the application is approved, the county executive shall compute the amount of the reduction and certify that amount to the county fiscal officer, who shall subtract that amount from the current taxes otherwise to be charged against the homestead for the tax year and enter the remaining taxes to be charged on the tax list.

(C)(1) If, in any year after an application has been approved under this section, the owner does not qualify for a reduction in taxes on the homestead set forth on such application, the owner shall notify the county executive that the owner is not qualified for a reduction in taxes.

(2) If the county executive discovers that an owner of property not entitled to the reduction in taxes under this section failed to notify the county executive as required by division (C)(1) of this section, a charge shall be imposed against the property in the amount by which taxes were reduced under this section for each tax year the county executive ascertains that the property was not entitled to the reduction and was owned by the current owner. Interest shall accrue in the manner prescribed by division (B) of section 323.121 of the Revised Code on the amount by which taxes were reduced for each such tax year as if the reduction became delinquent taxes at the close of the last day the second installment of taxes for that tax year could be paid without penalty. The county executive shall notify the owner, by ordinary mail, of the charge, of the owner's right to appeal the charge, and of the manner in which the owner may appeal. The owner may appeal the imposition of the charge and interest by filing an appeal with the county board of revision not later than the last day prescribed for payment of property taxes under section 323.12 of the Revised Code following receipt of the notice and occurring at least ninety days after receipt of the notice. The appeal shall be treated in the same manner as a complaint relating to the valuation or assessment of real property under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code. The charge and any interest shall be collected as other delinquent taxes.

(3) Property taxes on a homestead granted a reduction under this section shall no longer be reduced under this section for a tax year if the homestead is no longer owned by the applicant homeowner on the tax lien date, unless the property is transferred, upon the death of the homeowner, to the homeowner's surviving spouse, provided the surviving spouse is at least fifty-nine years of age on the date the deceased homeowner dies. If a surviving spouse's claim to the homestead's title is contingent and the surviving spouse otherwise qualifies for the reduction, the executor or administrator of the deceased spouse's estate may apply to the county executive to have the reduction continued on behalf of the surviving spouse until title is vested in the surviving spouse.

(D)(1) A county council that authorizes a reduction in taxes under division (B) of this section may, by resolution, rescind the reduction. Property taxes reduced on homesteads that were approved for the reduction under this section shall no longer be reduced under this section in the tax year following the rescission and all following tax years unless the council adopts another authorizing resolution under division (B) of this section.

(2) The county executive of a county that authorizes a reduction in taxes under division (B) of this section may delegate the obligations imposed under this section to the county fiscal officer or another officer of the county.

Sec. 323.155. The tax bill prescribed under section 323.131 of the Revised Code shall indicate the net amount of taxes due following the reductions in taxes under sections 319.301, 319.302, 319.303, 323.152, and 323.16 of the Revised Code.

Any reduction in taxes under section 323.152 of the Revised Code shall be disregarded as income or resources in determining eligibility for any program or calculating any payment under Title LI of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing section 323.155 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.