If you own a home in Westerville, Dublin, New Albany, Upper Arlington, Worthington, Hilliard, or any other Franklin County address, your new tentative property value went live on the Franklin County Auditor's Know Your Home Value site on June 9, with the printed notices following by mail this month. This is the triennial update for tax year 2026. The number you see is not final, but it is the number you push back on between now and the end of September, and again from November through March 31, 2027 if you do not get the answer you want.
I have already had clients in three suburbs forward me their notices this past week. The conversations all start the same way: "How much did mine go up, and what do I do about it?"
Here is the honest read on what just changed, what it will do to your bill, and the four steps to take while the window is open.
What the Auditor Actually Released
Per the Auditor's June 9 press release, the countywide residential average is up about 9%, commercial about 4%, and industrial about 13%. The residential average varies by school district, with most districts running somewhere between 5% and 15%. The Auditor confirmed Bexley at the high end around 14% and several outer districts around 7%. The rest of the per-district numbers, including Westerville, Dublin, Olentangy, Upper Arlington, Worthington, and Hilliard, are visible on the Know Your Home Value portal at audr-kyhv.franklincountyohio.gov.
What you should NOT do is read the percentage on the notice and assume your bill is going up that much. Ohio's HB 920 reduction factor recalculates effective millage on most voted operating levies after a reappraisal so that the total dollars collected from each pre-existing levy stay roughly flat. The translation: a 10% value jump in a typical non-floor district does not produce a 10% bill jump. The compounding only happens on districts at the 20-mill floor and on any new operating levy that passes during the cycle.
The New Policy Layer Nobody Has Explained Yet
Ohio House Bill 186, passed in December 2025 and effective March 20, 2026, changed two things that show up on your bill starting with the second half 2025 collection (paid this summer) and into the 2026 tax year billed in 2027.
First, the Inflation Cap Credit. HB 186 caps the growth in property tax revenue collected from outside (voter-approved) operating millage above the 20-mill floor at the rate of inflation, measured by a three-year GDP deflator. The credit shows up on your bill as a separately itemized line called "Inflation Cap Credit." This matters most in school districts already sitting on the 20-mill floor, where prior law let value growth flow through almost dollar for dollar. If your district is on the floor, this is the meaningful new relief. If your district is not on the floor, the credit does not apply to you because HB 920 was already doing the work.
Second, the owner-occupancy rollback shifts. HB 186 phases the non-business credit down from 10% to 0% over four years for residential property (7.5% in 2026, 5% in 2027, 2.5% in 2028, 0% in 2029) and simultaneously phases the owner-occupancy credit up from 2.5% to 15.38% over the same window (5.70% in 2026, 8.92% in 2027, 12.15% in 2028, 15.38% in 2029). For tax year 2026, the combined credit on your owner-occupied primary residence moves from 12.5% to 13.20%. By 2029 it is 15.38%. For a homeowner who lives in their property, this is a modest net positive that compounds over the next four years. For an investor with a long-term rental, your non-business credit phases out entirely by 2029, which is real money on a portfolio you intended to hold.
I am not your accountant. Run the math on your specific parcel with the Auditor's Property Tax Estimator on the Know Your Home Value site, or send me your address and I will run a back-of-the-envelope on it with you.
The 4-Step Playbook
Step One: Pull your parcel today, not in August
Go to audr-kyhv.franklincountyohio.gov, search your address, and read three things on your parcel record. Your new 2026 tentative value. The comparable sales the Auditor used to set it (most parcel pages show this). And your 2023 value for comparison. Write the three numbers down. Take a screenshot.
If your 2026 tentative value lines up within 5% of a recent sale of your own home in the last 24 months, or lines up with what comparable homes on your street have sold for in the last 24 months, the Auditor is right and you are done. Walk away. There is no case here.
If the 2026 tentative value is materially higher than what your house would actually sell for today, you have a case, and the mechanics line up with the broader Central Ohio property tax appeal process. Move to step two.
Step Two: Decide your evidence before you call
The Auditor's appraisers do not walk your kitchen. They set value by formula and by neighborhood sales. They do not know your boiler is failing, your basement floods in March, your roof has hail damage, or that the comparable sales they pulled were three streets over in a different school catchment. They also did not see the dated cabinets, the unrepaired foundation crack, or the fact that your "4 bedroom" is actually three bedrooms plus a bonus over the garage that the original builder counted as a fourth.
There are three categories of evidence the County will accept:
A recent arms-length sale of your own home in the last 24 months. Strongest possible evidence. If you bought in 2024 or 2025, your closing statement is the answer.
A current professional appraisal from a certified Ohio appraiser. Strong evidence. Cost is typically $400 to $700. On any home over about $750,000, this is almost always worth the spend because the dollar stakes justify it and the BOR weighs a certified appraisal heavily.
Three comparable sales of similar homes (same school district, same general neighborhood, same beds/baths/square footage range, sold in the last 24 months). This is what I pull for clients every week. If you want me to pull these on your specific parcel, that is what the introductory call is for.
Take photos of any condition issue the appraiser would have downgraded for. A failing roof, a wet basement, a 1980s electrical panel, dated kitchens and baths, a deferred-maintenance HVAC, all of it.
Step Three: Use the informal review window first, July through September
The Auditor's office is running Property Value Review sessions virtual or in-person from July through September 2026, by appointment through the Know Your Home Value site. Phone is 614-525-HOME if you prefer that route.
This is the right first step for almost every homeowner. It is fast, it is no-cost, it does not require any form, and it is a conversation with the same appraisers who set the number. Most reductions that get made get made here, before anything ever reaches the formal Board of Revision.
You do not need a lawyer for an informal review. You do not need a real estate license. Bring the screenshots, bring the evidence, walk them through what is wrong with the comps they used. Done well, this is a 20-minute conversation that protects real dollars off your bill for the next three years. The savings range depends on your district's effective rate and how much value the appraiser actually takes off the parcel.
Step Four: If the informal does not resolve it, file with the Board of Revision between November and March 31, 2027
For property deeded to an individual, you do not need an attorney to file with the Franklin County Board of Revision. The complaint is filed on DTE Form 1 with the BOR. Filing fee is zero. The Board sets a hearing 60 to 180 days after you file. You bring the same evidence. The Auditor's appraiser brings theirs. They rule, usually within 30 days of the hearing.
For property deeded to a business entity or a trust, you do need an attorney. That is statute, not preference.
The BOR is administrative, not adversarial. They hear hundreds of these every cycle. They are not the IRS. They want documented evidence, not your opinion of value.
If you miss the March 31, 2027 deadline, you wait until November 2027 to file for the 2027 tax year, or you wait three years for the next triennial update. There are no extensions.
When the Math Does Not Justify the Fight
Three cases where I tell clients to leave the Auditor alone.
The new value is within 5% of a recent sale of your own home. The Auditor got it right.
You cannot pull three credible comparable sales. The Board will not accept your opinion of value. They want documented arms-length sales. If your street has not had a comparable transaction in 24 months, your case has no foundation.
The annual bill reduction does not justify the time. On a $400,000 home, a successful 8% reduction in assessed value at the post-credit effective rate runs roughly $250 to $400 of annual bill savings. If you are billing a CPA $300 to file the form for you, the math has to clear before you sign.
What This Looks Like on a Westerville Example
A homeowner in the City of Westerville (Westerville City Schools, Franklin County district 080) at a 2025 appraised value of $600,000 had an assessed value of $210,000 (35% of appraised, per Ohio law) and a Class 1 effective rate of about $63.59 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is roughly in line with the Westerville property tax rates buyers should expect going in. Gross of credits, that ran about $13,353 a year. Net of the prior 12.5% combined owner-occupancy and non-business credits, the homeowner was paying roughly $11,684.
If the 2026 reappraisal lifts that home to $660,000 (a 10% bump, just above the countywide residential average of about 9%), the new assessed value is $231,000. Apply the same effective rate naively and you get $14,688 gross. The HB 920 reduction factor will recalculate Westerville CSD's effective rate downward post-reappraisal, so the actual bill increase will be smaller than 10% unless Westerville is on the 20-mill floor (which I am not stating without pulling the Ohio Department of Taxation rate tables for the specific district code). The new 13.20% combined owner-occupancy credit for tax year 2026 takes another small slice off the net.
The honest disclosure: nobody can tell you the exact new dollar amount on your bill until the Auditor certifies tax year 2026 effective rates in December 2026 and the first-half 2027 bill mails in January. What you CAN do is run the estimator on the Know Your Home Value site and at least know what range you are looking at. And if your district is on the 20-mill floor, you should definitely understand whether the new Inflation Cap Credit applies to your specific situation because the dollar impact there is real.
What I Do for Clients
If you want me to pull your specific parcel, look at the new tentative value against the Auditor's comparable sales, tell you whether the math justifies a Property Value Review appointment, and pull three credible comp sales for the appointment if it does, that is what I do every week. Twenty minutes on the phone, real numbers on your address, no pressure, no charge, no listing pitch attached.
The window is open from now through September for the informal route, and November through March 31, 2027 for the formal Board of Revision route. Do not sit on this until August.
Adam Geuy at NextHome Experience. 937-239-2919.
Sources
Franklin County Auditor, "Tentative Property Values Now Available Online," press release dated June 9, 2026. Franklin County Auditor 2026 Triennial Guide. Franklin County Auditor Board of Revision FAQ. Franklin County Auditor 2025 Property Tax Rates for 2026 collection (official rate tables). Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Final Analysis of H.B. 186, 136th General Assembly, dated January 16, 2026. Per-district tentative value averages cited here are sourced from the Auditor's June 9 press release range (5% to 15%) and from Axios Columbus reporting dated May 20, 2026 attributed to the Auditor's Office for the specific suburbs named. Live per-parcel and per-district numbers should be pulled at audr-kyhv.franklincountyohio.gov.