April 24 – State lawmakers and a U.S. Congressman are repeating what the Hamilton City Council has already asked the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) to do regarding planned increased assessments for property owners on flood protection: Pause.
“I think what we’re trying to do now is slow the car down a little bit, and then I’m looking forward to digging into this a little bit and figuring out what we can do to help MCD,” said Ohio. Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, who wrote a letter to the Miami Conservancy District Board of Directors. “The big thing is that a lot of this came as a shock to many.”
In the letter, lawmakers ask the Miami Conservancy District board to “pause their current revaluation of property values and reconsider the methodology used.” The letter, signed by 16 lawmakers, including all four from Butler County, was scheduled to be sent today.
While this assessment affects more than 43,000 properties in the region, nearly 900 Miami Conservancy properties will see annual tax bills exceeding $1,000, including more than 200 in Butler County. More than 83% of people paying maintenance and capital assessments would see their MCD assessment at less than $250.
The Miami Conservancy District, which was created to provide flood protection in the years following the 1913 flood, has proposed a new 1% capital assessment and a 0.59% increase in the 2.19% maintenance assessment that would affect thousands of residents already pay. The assessments will cover costs associated with the maintenance and rehabilitation of the levee and dam system.
The new assessment and increased rates will be applied to the updated property values. Rates are currently based on values from 12 years ago. So, combined with recent, historic property value increases, the increase in costs for some properties is significant.
The issue has also caught the attention of Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Troy, who on Monday sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine, Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Jason Stephens, encouraging them to “enforce (Ohio) laws on nature conservation to review and update. districts,” as the recent assessment notices “have highlighted the existence of substantial tax authority that lacks sufficient public resources that threatens taxpayers and the vitality of communities.”
Davidson applauded community and elected leaders who are opposing the new assessments, but he emphasized that there are thousands of assessed property owners who essentially have “no representation” on the issue.
The nine Common Pleas Court judges involved in reviewing and approving the benefit revaluation methodology are the only elected representation for taxpayers, Davidson said. However, the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct says that a judge “shall not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism” and “shall not give the impression or cause others to believe that any person or organization is in a position to to influence. “
When the assessments were made public, some in Butler County went into shock. Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill will see the valuations of its two properties increase more than 50 times, collectively from just over $8,800 per year to almost $478,000.
Creech said “the timing couldn’t be worse” for the rating announcements.
“I thought we needed to come together as a legislature and say, ‘Hey, we understand there’s a problem and we need to start talking about it and not rush into it,’” he said. “They need funding, and I can’t say enough good things about MCD and what they do, but we can’t just wipe out people and businesses to achieve the goal.”
Creech said nothing would be done legislatively until they sat down and talked with conservation district officials.
