CINCINNATI — Audricia Brooks is worried she won’t be able to stay in her home.
“Should this continue like in 2025, 2026, we continue to see this escalation in property taxes, there’s a possibility we may not be able to pay the taxes,” she said.
What’s in Brooks' way? An increase in her property taxes.
“Our property taxes have increased by 30%, so the taxes this year are $2,000 more than they were last year,” Brooks said.
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It’s a problem many across Ohio are facing.
It’s why Cincinnati council member Mark Jeffreys created a property tax task force to figure out how the city can help. They held their first of two public town halls on the topic Wednesday night.
“What we saw here today was really robust engagement,” Jeffreys said.
He heard from people who say their property taxes doubled or tripled and they don’t know what to do. Some of them filed an appeal but were denied. Others say they applied for the homestead exemption program but it didn’t work.
“It’s sad and it’s more than exacerbating because I don’t have as many years ahead of me as I got behind me,” Brooks said.
“Me and my husband are seniors with medical issues and they double our property tax. I was shocked when I got that,” said one Price Hill woman who has lived in her house for 53 years.
Jeffreys said the city has allocated money to help people temporarily help people and hopes his task force can identify more ways to help.
“We know there are about 1,000 properties right now that are delinquent in property taxes in the City of Cincinnati and that’s about $3 million in delinquency,” he said.
His other takeaways included a need for a more transparent process, phasing in the property tax increase so homeowners aren’t hit all at once, looking into the homestead exemption program and how inflation impacts it and setting a maximum on income to determine who is eligible for short-term relief.
Many of the people in attendance wanted to know the formula the state used to make its assessment because they felt like some things were not adding up.
“What I notice is some of the houses on Clifton Hill, those big mansions. Some of the people that have ranch-style houses like myself are paying the same amount of taxes as a mansion,” said a woman who lives in East Westwood.
Jeffreys took notes during the meeting and acknowledged there are some things the city can do to help, but other issues are a state matter.
He said he hopes the task force will have some short- and long-term solutions to provide some relief for homeowners in the next 3-6 months.
The second town hall will be held at the Evanston Recreation Center on April 17 at 5:30 p.m.
