Preble County has more than 24,500 separate parcels of real property. It is the duty of the auditor to see that every parcel of land and the buildings thereon are fairly and uniformly appraised and assessed for tax purposes. A general reappraisal is mandated by Ohio law every 6 years with an triennial update at the 3 year midpoint. The office maintains a detailed record of the appraisal on each parcel in the county. These records are open for public inspection. For taxation purposes, you are assessed at 35% of fair market value.

Special Assessments

Special assessments are not part of your real estate tax, but are included as a separate item on the real estate tax bill. These could include such items as ditch assessments, improvement levies such as street paving, curbs, lighting, sidewalks, and sewer or water lines. The auditor is required by law to keep an accounting of these special assessments, to place them on the tax duplicate as separate items, and to return the money collected to the city, village, township, or county office which levied the assessment.

Real Estate Taxes and Rates

Under Ohio law, the county auditor cannot raise or lower property taxes. Tax rates are determined by the budgetary requests of each governmental unit, as authorized by the vote of the people, and are computed in strict accordance with procedures required by the Division of Tax Equalization, Ohio Department of Taxation. Annually, the auditor prepares the General Tax List. Your tax bill is based on the tax rate multiplied by your valuation on the tax list. This is your proportional share of the cost of operating your local government including schools, townships, villages, and the county. Ohio law limits the amount of taxation without a vote of the people to what is known as the "10 mill limitation" ($10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation). Any additional real estate taxes for any purpose must be voted by county residents. Your "tax rate" is an accumulation of all these levies and bond issues.