Franklin County Auditor Property Values and Assessments

Franklin County property values on your record, explained

A Franklin County property record shows several dollar figures. They look similar but mean different things, and only one of them is what you can appeal.

• January 1the date every value is set as of (the tax lien date)
• 35%of appraised value is taxable
• 6 yearsbetween full reappraisals
• 3 yearsbetween reappraisal and update

How the Auditor appraises your property

With more than 440,000 parcels to value, the Auditor can’t send an appraiser inside every home each year. Instead, the office uses mass appraisal: statistical models built from actual sales, applied to data about each property.

1. Collect sales. The appraisal staff study arm’s-length sales, meaning sales between unrelated, willing buyers and sellers. The 2026 update used sales from 2023, 2024 and 2025.
2. Group similar properties. Parcels are grouped into neighborhoods that behave alike in the market. The Auditor’s Know Your Home Value website for 2026 includes neighborhood delineation maps.
3. Measure each property. The record holds each building’s characteristics: size, age, construction quality, condition, rooms, baths, garage and other improvements, plus lot size.
4. Apply the model. Sales in the neighborhood are used to value each parcel based on its characteristics.
5. State review. The Ohio Department of Taxation oversees county appraisals for uniformity and fairness. Final values are determined under state law after that review.

House Bill 124, which took effect in March 2026, changed part of the state review. The Department of Taxation now has to use the sample of property sales provided by each county auditor, all open-market, arm’s-length sales from the previous three years, rather than its own sample.

When you see “property appraisal” or “tax appraisal” in Franklin County, they refer to the Auditor’s appraised value. The tax assessment is then 35% of it: the assessed value that tax rates apply to.

The six-year reappraisal cycle

Ohio law requires county auditors to update all property values every three years. Franklin County completes a full reappraisal every six years, with a triennial update at the midpoint.

The 2026 residential averages varied by school district, generally between about 5% and 15%. See the 2026 property value update for the full timeline, from tentative values in June to final values expected in December.

On a six-year cycle, the next full reappraisal after 2023 falls in 2029, so the 2026 update is the last countywide value change until then. Your own value can still change in between if something about the property changes.

Why a value can change between reappraisals

Every year, the Auditor’s appraisal division reviews parcels that changed since the previous year. The most common triggers are:

• a sale or transfer;
• new construction, an addition or other improvements;
• a change in the physical size or shape of the land, such as a split or combination;
• a demolition;
• damage to the property.

If a value jumped in a non-reappraisal year, check the Permits and Transfers tabs on your record for the reason.

What affects your appraised value

Mass appraisal in plain English: an illustration

Imagine two ranch houses on the same street, both built in the same decade. One has 1,400 square feet, two baths and a finished basement. The other has 1,250 square feet, one bath and an unfinished basement. Over the last three years, several similar homes in the neighborhood sold in arm’s-length sales.

A mass appraisal model uses those sales to work out, in effect, what buyers in that neighborhood paid for size, bathrooms, basement finish, condition and lot size. It then applies those values to each home’s recorded features. The first house gets a higher value because it has more of what buyers paid for. Neither house is appraised individually the way a bank appraiser would, which is why the recorded features matter so much: if the second house were wrongly recorded with a finished basement, its value would be too high.

This is an illustration of the method, not the Auditor’s actual model. It shows why checking your record’s details is the single most useful thing an owner can do. The official Appraisal page describes the office’s cycle and approach.

How to find comparable sales yourself

If you think your value is off, comparable sales (“comps”) are the evidence that matters. You can gather them for free:

1. Define “similar.” Same neighborhood or school district, similar size (within a few hundred square feet), style, age and condition.
2. Find sales. Use the Auditor’s Real Estate Sales Dashboard, the Weekly Home Sales Reports and the Transfers tab of nearby parcels. For a 2026 value, sales from 2023 through 2025 are the relevant window; sales close to January 1, 2026 are strongest.
3. Check each sale. Open each comparable’s record. Was it an arm’s-length sale? Transfers between relatives, foreclosures and transfers into trusts often aren’t.
4. Compare features. Note differences in size, baths, basement, garage, lot and condition.
5. Build a simple table. Address, sale date, sale price, size, key features and the Auditor’s value for each.
6. Decide. If several good comparables sold for clearly less than your appraised value, you may have a case for the Board of Revision. A certified appraisal is stronger still.

How special kinds of property are valued

Appraised value vs. insurance, mortgage and sale value

The Auditor’s value serves one purpose: dividing property taxes fairly. Other values in your life serve different purposes.

None of these automatically changes the Auditor’s value, though a recent arm’s-length sale or a certified appraisal can be evidence in a value complaint.

The property value calendar

Checklist when your value changes

• Is the change in line with your school district’s average? The Auditor’s Know Your Home Value site lists averages for 2026.
• Are the building details on your record correct?
• Did anything change on your parcel: a permit, addition, demolition or split?
• What did similar homes nearby actually sell for?
• Do you have a recent purchase or appraisal that shows a different value?
• Is the Board of Revision deadline still ahead of you?

Land value vs. building value

Every property record splits the appraised value into land and building (improvements). They move for different reasons:

When you review your record, check both. An error in lot size affects land value; an error in square footage or condition affects building value.

How neighborhood sales move your value

Because values come from sales, your value is tied to what’s happening around you. If homes in your neighborhood sold for more between 2023 and 2025, most values there rose in 2026, even for owners who changed nothing. The Auditor groups similar areas into neighborhoods for this analysis, and its 2026 Know Your Home Value site includes the neighborhood delineation maps. Two practical points follow:

• A single unusual sale doesn’t set your value; the model looks at many arm’s-length sales.
• If your home differs from the typical home in your neighborhood (much older, much larger, or in poor condition), check that your record reflects those differences.

What doesn’t change your appraised value

• Your income or age. Programs like Homestead reduce taxes, not the appraised value.
• Your mortgage. Paying off a loan, or taking one out, doesn’t change the value.
• How long you’ve owned it. Ohio doesn’t cap assessed value by length of ownership.
• Household furnishings. The appraisal is of land and buildings.
• Whether you appealed before. Each value is based on evidence, though a Board of Revision decision often carries forward until the next triennial update.

For how values connect to your bill, see the tax rates.

From appraised to assessed value: quick examples

Tax rates apply to the assessed column. The tax rates shows how to turn it into dollars.

Reviewing your building data, field by field

How to request a correction

1. Write down what’s wrong and what it should be, field by field.
2. Gather proof: floor plans, a recent appraisal, photos, permits, a survey or demolition records.
3. Contact the appraisal staff at appraisal@franklincountyohio.gov or 614-525-4663, including your parcel number.
4. Follow up and check the record later to confirm the change.
5. If you still disagree with the value, file with the Board of Revision by the March 31 deadline.

Corrections to facts can lower a value without a formal hearing, which makes this the first step before any appeal. If you’re also applying for credits, see the Homestead.

What to do when you get a new value

1. Note both numbers: the old value and the new one, and the percentage change.
2. Compare with your area. For 2026, compare with your school district’s average on Know Your Home Value.
3. Check your record’s facts and fix any errors with the appraisal staff.
4. Look at nearby sales from the period the Auditor used.
5. Estimate the tax effect with the estimator, remembering that reduction factors usually soften the impact.
6. Decide on an appeal before March 31 of the following year.

When a value appeal makes sense

If you decide to go ahead, the Board of Revision walks through filing.

Why a higher value doesn’t mean an equal tax increase

This is the part of Ohio property tax that surprises people most. When values rise across a taxing district, most voted levies can’t collect more money than voters approved. Ohio law applies reduction factors that lower the effective tax rate to offset the increase. Only certain levies, such as unvoted “inside” millage and school districts at the 20-mill floor, grow with values, and 2025 legislation now caps that growth at inflation.

What matters for your bill is how your value changed compared with others in your district. If your value rose less than your district’s average, your share of the levies can fall. If it rose more, your share grows. As Auditor Michael Stinziano told WOSU in August 2026: “Your value can go up, taxes down. Your value could go down, your taxes up.”

The Auditor’s office made the same point in its August 4, 2026 release: a change in appraised value does not result in an equal percentage change in property taxes. See how property taxes are calculated for the full math.

How to check your property value

1. Find your record in the Auditor’s property search.
2. Read the Summary and Value History tabs for the current value and how it changed over time.
3. Check the building details on the Residential (or Commercial) tab: square footage, bedrooms, baths, basement finish, garage.
4. Compare with recent sales nearby using the Real Estate Sales Dashboard or the weekly home sales reports described in our property transfers.
5. Look up the 2026 tentative value on the Auditor’s Know Your Home Value website if it isn’t yet final.

A quick comparison helps: open the Transfers tab and compare your purchase price with the current appraised value. A recent arm’s-length purchase well below the Auditor’s value can be strong evidence at the Board of Revision; a price well above it usually just means the market moved faster than the last update.

Fixing an error vs. disagreeing with the value

There are two paths, and picking the right one saves time.

Damaged or destroyed property

If a storm, fire or other event damages your building, don’t wait for the next reappraisal. Ask for a value reduction using form DTE 26 for real property (DTE 49 for manufactured homes). How much of the year’s value is reduced depends on when the damage happened, so contact the Auditor promptly and ask about the filing deadline. The forms are listed in our Auditor forms.

Exempt and abated property

• Exempt property. Non-profit and government-owned properties used for qualifying purposes can apply to reduce or eliminate taxes with form DTE 23. The Auditor notes the owner must generally have owned the property for a year.
• Tax incentives. Abatements and similar agreements can exempt part of a building’s value for a period of time. The Incentives tab on a record, and the Auditor’s Tax Incentives map, show where they apply.
• Homestead and credits reduce the tax, not the appraised value. See the tax relief.

Auditor value vs. Zillow, listing prices and bank appraisals

It’s normal for these numbers to differ. They answer different questions, on different dates.

For a Board of Revision complaint, the BOR FAQ asks for a full appraisal report from a certified State of Ohio appraiser when your complaint relies on an appraisal. Online estimates aren’t appraisal evidence.

Other names for the appraisal office

Searches for “property appraiser,” “tax assessor” or “appraisal district” lead to the same place in Ohio: the County Auditor’s appraisal division. Ohio has no separate county assessor or appraisal district. Those terms usually come from guides about other states, such as Kentucky or Texas.

Five things to remember about your property value

1. It’s a market value as of January 1, set by mass appraisal from arm’s-length sales.
2. Only 35% of it is taxed. That’s the assessed value.
3. A higher value doesn’t mean an equal tax increase, because reduction factors adjust most voted levies.
4. Facts on your record matter. Check size, rooms, basement, garage and condition; report errors to appraisal staff.
5. You can challenge it. File with the Board of Revision by March 31 of the following year; for tax year 2026, March 31, 2027.

Next steps: the 2026 update, the Board of Revision and the property tax.

Historic homes and unusual properties

Mass appraisal works best where many similar homes sell. Properties that are unusual for their neighborhood (a historic home among newer houses, a very large lot, a home with major custom features, or one with serious condition problems) are harder to value from general sales patterns. If you own one, it’s especially worth checking that your record describes the property accurately. If you disagree with the value, a full appraisal by a certified Ohio appraiser who can pick truly comparable sales is often the strongest evidence at the Board of Revision.

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