Franklin County, Ohio Homestead Exemption

The Homestead Exemption is a statewide Ohio program that lets qualifying senior, disabled, and certain veteran or surviving-spouse homeowners shield part of their home’s value from property tax. It doesn’t change what your home is worth — it changes how much of that value gets taxed. Eligibility and dollar amounts are set by Ohio law and adjusted periodically, so anything you plan to rely on here should be confirmed with the Auditor’s Office before you apply or budget around it.

What Is the Franklin County Homestead Exemption?

The exemption reduces the taxable portion of a qualifying owner’s primary residence, which in turn lowers their property tax bill. It’s worth keeping the underlying concepts separate: your home’s market and appraised value don’t change because of Homestead — what changes is the assessed, or taxable, value that tax rates get applied to. The exemption shows up as a credit on the resulting tax bill, not as a change to your property’s recorded worth.

It exists specifically to ease the property-tax burden on homeowners who are more likely to be on a fixed income — seniors and people with permanent disabilities in particular — along with certain veterans and surviving spouses of public safety officers killed in the line of duty.

Who May Qualify for the Homestead Exemption?

Ohio law generally provides two main paths to qualify, on top of ownership and occupancy requirements:

• Age: You turn 65 by December 31 of the year you’re applying for.
• Disability: You are permanently and totally disabled, certified by a licensed physician, psychologist, or an eligible state or federal agency, regardless of age.

A separate, enhanced version of the exemption is available to qualifying 100% service-connected disabled veterans and surviving spouses of public service officers or first responders killed in the line of duty, with no income test attached.

For most other applicants — anyone who first applied in the 2014 tax year or later — there’s also an income limit based on Ohio Adjusted Gross Income (OAGI). That threshold adjusts annually; for the 2026 tax year, it’s widely reported at $41,000 based on 2025 income. Homeowners who were already receiving the exemption before the 2014 tax year are generally grandfathered in and don’t need to meet the income test at all.

Because both the income threshold and the exemption amount adjust over time, treat any specific number here as a starting point, not a guarantee — confirm the current figure with the Auditor’s Office.

Does Your Property Qualify?

Meeting the personal eligibility requirements above isn’t enough on its own — the property itself has to fit the program too. In general, the home must be:

• Owned by the applicant
• Occupied by the applicant as their primary residence
• A single-family home, condominium, or qualifying manufactured home treated as real estate under Ohio law

A rental property, vacation home, or secondary residence doesn’t qualify, even if the owner otherwise meets the age, disability, or veteran criteria. Owning a home in Franklin County doesn’t automatically mean that specific property qualifies — occupancy as your actual primary residence is a separate requirement the county checks.

How to Apply for the Franklin County Homestead Exemption

The general process looks like this:

1. Confirm which eligibility category applies to you — age, disability, veteran, or surviving spouse.
2. Review the current year’s requirements and income threshold, since both can change annually.
3. Obtain the current application, generally DTE Form 105A, along with any addendum that applies to your situation (for example, a separate form exists for applicants not required to file an Ohio income tax return, and another for those claiming the pre-2014 income-test exemption).
4. Gather the documentation your category requires.
5. Submit the completed application through the Auditor’s Office’s current accepted method.
6. Keep a copy or confirmation of your submission.
7. In a later tax cycle, verify the exemption actually appears on your property’s record.

This guide can’t process an application or confirm submission on your behalf — that happens through the Auditor’s Office directly, using whatever current method (online portal or mail) they specify.

What Information May Be Required?

Depending on your eligibility category, you may need:

• Proof of age or identity, such as a driver’s license or state ID
• Proof of ownership and that the property is your primary residence
• Disability certification, if applying on that basis
• Income documentation — typically your Ohio income tax return — if the means test applies to you

Exact document requirements can vary by category and can change from year to year, so confirm the current checklist before you start gathering paperwork.

Homestead Exemption Deadlines

Homestead applications are generally due by December 31 of the application year. Because filing rules and any exceptions can shift, don’t treat this as fixed without checking the current year’s deadline on the Auditor’s Office’s own materials, especially if you’re applying close to year-end.

How Much Can the Homestead Exemption Save?

This is the part worth being precise about, because two different numbers are easy to conflate: the amount of value exempted, and the actual dollars saved on your bill.

The exemption shields a set dollar amount of your home’s value from taxation — commonly cited as $29,000 for the standard exemption and $58,000 for the enhanced disabled-veteran and qualifying-surviving-spouse tier, based on figures reported by several Ohio county auditor offices for the 2026 tax year. Worth flagging directly: Franklin County’s own published FAQ material states a $25,000 figure, which appears to be an older, unrevised number rather than the current inflation-adjusted amount — a good example of why even official pages aren’t always perfectly current, and why the specific dollar figure is worth confirming directly with the Auditor’s Office rather than taken from any single secondhand source, including this one.

Either way, the actual tax savings isn’t a fixed dollar amount — it depends on your local tax rate, which varies by taxing district. The same exempted value produces different savings depending on where in the county the property sits.

Homestead Exemption and Property Taxes

The exemption is one input into a larger calculation. For how taxable value, rates, and levies combine into an actual bill, see Franklin County property taxes. This page focuses specifically on what Homestead does and how to get it; that page covers the broader tax picture.

Homestead Exemption vs. Property Value

It’s worth restating plainly: the Homestead Exemption is not a property valuation and doesn’t change what the Auditor says your home is worth. Property value is the county’s estimate of your home’s worth; the Homestead Exemption is a qualifying tax treatment applied on top of that value, reducing what portion of it gets taxed. A homeowner can qualify for Homestead in a year when their property value goes up, down, or doesn’t change at all — the two are calculated independently.

How to Check Whether a Homestead Exemption Is Applied

To confirm whether the exemption is currently reflected on a property:

1. Identify the property.
2. Search for the property to locate its record.
3. Review the exemption or credit fields on that record.
4. Compare against a prior year if you have one, to confirm nothing changed unexpectedly.
5. If something looks off — an exemption you believe should be there isn’t, or vice versa — contact the Auditor’s Office directly rather than assuming the online record is simply out of date.

What If Your Circumstances Change?

A few common situations affect Homestead status:

• Moving: if you move to a new property, you generally need to file a new application for the new home — the exemption doesn’t automatically transfer.
• Change in occupancy: if the home stops being your primary residence, that generally affects continued eligibility.
• Change in ownership: a transfer of the property typically requires the new owner to apply on their own if they wish to claim the exemption.

Ohio counties generally expect homeowners to notify the Auditor’s Office when a change affects their eligibility, though exact reporting requirements and timing are worth confirming directly rather than assumed.

What If You Are Denied or the Information Looks Wrong?

It matters which kind of problem you actually have. A question about whether you meet Homestead eligibility, or why an application was denied, is a matter for the Auditor’s Office administering the program. A disagreement with your property’s underlying appraised value is a different issue, handled through a formal valuation complaint with the Board of Revision. A dispute about a specific charge or amount on a tax bill is a Treasurer’s Office matter. Sorting out which category your situation falls into before you file anything will save time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Verify Current Homestead Exemption Requirements

Franklin County Property Guide explains how the Homestead Exemption generally works, but eligibility rules, dollar amounts, and deadlines are set by the state and county and can change year to year — and as noted above, even official materials aren’t always perfectly consistent with each other.

For current, official requirements and the application itself, visit the Franklin County Auditor’s Homestead Exemption page: franklincountyauditor.com/real-estate/homestead