Franklin County Auditor Property Tax and Levy Estimator

The official Franklin County property tax estimator and Levy Estimator

During 2026, the Auditor’s Know Your Home Value website also included a property tax estimator tied to the tentative 2026 values. See the 2026 value update.

Together they answer the two questions most owners ask: the Tax Estimator for a property’s overall bill, and the Levy Estimator for proposed levies. Both are the Auditor’s own tools.

How to use the Tax Estimator

1. Open the official tool at audr-apps.franklincountyohio.gov/taxestimator/tax and follow its prompts to identify the property or enter a value.
2. Check which value it uses. Is it the current value, a 2026 tentative value, or a value you typed in? Estimates built on a tentative value can change when final values arrive in December 2026.
3. Check which year’s rates it uses. Rates for a tax year arrive from the state in mid-December, so an estimate made earlier uses the prior year’s rates.
4. Look at which credits are included. Owner occupancy, Homestead and the changing nonbusiness credit make a big difference. See the tax relief.
5. Compare with a real bill. For a property you own or are buying, compare the estimate with the current bill in the Treasurer’s search.

How to use the Levy Estimator

The Auditor’s Board of Revision FAQ describes the route inside the property search: find your property, select “Tax Calculators,” then “Levy Estimator” to see current levy information and cost estimates. You can also open it directly.

1. Find your parcel in the property search, or open the Levy Estimator link directly.
2. Review current levies. You’ll see the levies already on your parcel, which is useful context for any new one.
3. Choose the proposed levy on your ballot to see its estimated cost for your property.
4. Read it as an annual figure and note whether it’s an additional levy or a renewal of an existing one.

Before the May 2026 primary, the Auditor featured this tool on its home page as “Know the Value of Your Vote.”

Estimating by hand: the $35 rule

You can sanity-check any estimate with simple math, using figures from your own bill:

Your current tax, roughly

Estimated tax before credits = (appraised value ÷ 100,000) × $35 × your effective rate in mills. Your effective rate is printed on your bill; the tax rates shows where else to find it.

A proposed levy, roughly

Ballot issues state the levy’s millage. For example, if a ballot issue were a new 5-mill levy, the rough first-year cost would be 5 × $35 = $175 a year per $100,000 of appraised value. Two cautions:

• New levies approved in or after November 2013 don’t receive the rollback credits, so the credits on your bill won’t shrink a new levy’s cost.
• A renewal generally continues an existing levy at its current effective rate, so it doesn’t raise your bill the way a new levy does.

Levy cost examples at different home values

These examples apply the $35 rule to a hypothetical new 3-mill levy, to show how the cost scales with value. They aren’t estimates for any actual ballot issue; use the Levy Estimator for that.

Homestead recipients pay less, because part of their value is exempt. The standard exemption removes $29,000 of appraised value, which is $10,150 of assessed value, so each mill costs them about $10.15 less per year.

Estimating taxes on a home you’re buying

1. Start with the current bill. Look up the parcel in the Treasurer’s search or the Tax tab of the property search.
2. Remove the seller’s personal credits. Homestead won’t carry over. If the seller didn’t live there, the bill won’t include the owner occupancy credit either.
3. Add the credits you’ll qualify for. If you’ll live in the home, you can apply for the owner occupancy credit for the first tax year you own and occupy it on January 1.
4. Consider the value. The home’s value can change at the next update or if the sale leads the Auditor to review it.
5. Check for flags. Abatements that expire, CAUV status, and special assessments can all change the bill.
6. Run the official estimator and compare it with your own rough math.

Common estimating mistakes

• Using a single statewide or countywide rate. rates vary by district.
• Applying the full rate instead of the effective rate. The effective rate is what’s charged.
• Forgetting the 35%. Rates apply to assessed value, not appraised value.
• Assuming credits carry over from a seller.
• Treating a renewal like a new levy. A renewal continues an existing levy; a new levy adds cost.
• Estimating before rates are set. Tax year 2026 rates arrive in mid-December 2026.

Sanity-check an estimate against a real bill

Take your current bill and work backward: divide the tax before credits by your assessed value (35% of appraised) and multiply by 1,000. The result should be close to the effective rate printed on the bill. If an estimate for next year differs wildly from this year’s bill, look for the reason: a value change, a new levy, or a credit change. The tax rates explains effective rates in detail.

If an estimate and your actual bill differ by more than you expected, compare the credits first. A missing owner occupancy credit or Homestead reduction is easy to spot on the bill, and both are fixed by applying to the Auditor by December 31.

Before you rely on any estimate

• Which value does it use: current, tentative 2026, or one you typed?
• Which year’s rates does it use?
• Does it include your credits, and the House Bill 186 changes for tax year 2026?
• Does it include special assessments?
• Is a levy on the ballot that could change the answer?

For relief programs that reduce the final number, see the tax relief and the Homestead Exemption.

What estimators can’t tell you

Estimating your 2027 bill after the 2026 update

Many owners want to know what the 2026 values mean for bills paid in 2027. The honest answer is that you can estimate the direction, not the exact number, until December.

• Compare your change to your district’s. If your tentative increase is below your school district’s average, your share of voted levies may fall.
• Owner-occupied homes get a bigger credit. The combined rollbacks rise from 12.5% to 13.2% for tax year 2026 under House Bill 186.
• Rentals lose part of their credit. The 10% nonbusiness credit on non-owner-occupied residential property falls to 7.5% for tax year 2026.
• Inside millage growth is capped at inflation for update years under House Bill 335.

Our owner occupancy credit explains the credit schedule in detail.

Researching a levy before you vote

1. Get your sample ballot from the Franklin County Board of Elections.
2. Note each tax issue’s type (new/additional or renewal), millage and length.
3. Run it through the Auditor’s Levy Estimator for your parcel.
4. Read the taxing body’s own explanation of what the money would fund.

Levy rules changed recently. After the legislature overrode vetoes in the state budget (House Bill 96) in October 2025, emergency and substitute emergency school levies can no longer be placed on ballots as of January 1, 2026, leaving renewals and new levies as the main options for schools. Existing levies weren’t affected.

Estimating taxes on rental property

For landlords, the House Bill 186 schedule is the biggest change to plan for. On the tax from qualifying levies, the nonbusiness credit falls from 10% to 7.5% for tax year 2026, 5% for 2027, 2.5% for 2028 and 0% for 2029. Rentals don’t receive the owner occupancy credit. So, all else equal, a rental’s tax rises a little each year through 2029 even if values and levies don’t change. Budget for it, and check whether the rental’s value is accurate; see the Board of Revision.

Estimating after a Board of Revision decision

If the Board lowers your value, estimate the effect by multiplying the reduction by 35% and by your effective rate divided by 1,000. For example, a $20,000 reduction is $7,000 of assessed value; at your effective rate, that’s the annual saving before credits. Because decisions often carry forward until the next triennial update, the saving can repeat for several years.

Estimating Homestead savings

The standard Homestead Exemption removes $29,000 of appraised value, which is $10,150 of assessed value. Multiply $10,150 by your effective rate and divide by 1,000 for a rough annual saving; the enhanced exemption doubles the exempt amount to $58,000 ($20,300 assessed). The Auditor also publishes an estimated reduction schedule by tax district. See the Homestead to check eligibility.

Estimating taxes on new construction

New homes are valued as they stood on January 1, so a house finished mid-year may be taxed partly as land or an unfinished structure for its first year, then fully the next. When budgeting for a new build, ask the builder or the Auditor how the property was valued as of January 1, and plan for a higher bill once the finished home is on the tax list. Abatement areas can change the picture; check the Incentives tab.

Estimator terms

A full estimate walkthrough, with your own numbers

Use this worksheet with figures from your own bill and record. Every input comes from an official source; nothing here assumes a rate.

Compare line H with your actual bill. If they’re close, you can use the worksheet to test “what if” changes, such as a new levy or a value change.

Which estimator to use when

Estimating for seniors, disabled owners and veterans

If you receive or are applying for Homestead, include it in any estimate:

• Standard Homestead: subtract roughly $10,150 × your effective rate ÷ 1,000 from the tax before credits.
• Enhanced Homestead (100% disabled veterans; surviving spouses of public service officers): subtract roughly $20,300 × your effective rate ÷ 1,000.
• Owner occupancy credit: 5.70% of the tax from qualifying levies for tax year 2026.

The Auditor’s estimated Homestead reduction schedule by tax district is a helpful cross-check; see the Homestead.

Keep a record of your estimate

When you estimate a future bill, write down the value, rate, credits and date you used. When the real bill arrives, compare. If it’s very different, you’ll know which input changed, and whether the right fix is with the Auditor (value or credits), the Treasurer (billing) or the Board of Revision (value disputes).

About third-party “Ohio property tax calculators”

Many websites offer an Ohio property tax calculator. Most apply a single average rate to a home value, which can be far off in Franklin County, where rates vary by district and credits changed in 2026. If a calculator doesn’t ask for your parcel or taxing district, treat its number as a rough guess at best. For Franklin County, the Auditor’s tools are the only estimators connected to the county’s actual rates.

Estimating the effect of the 2026 update, conceptually

Suppose your home’s value rose 6% while your school district’s homes rose 10% on average. For most voted levies, reduction factors are set so the district as a whole pays about the same, meaning the effective rate falls. Because your value rose less than the district average, your share of those levies would likely fall. Levies that aren’t reduced (inside millage, now capped at inflation in update years, and 20-mill-floor school levies) and any new levies would push the other way. Then apply your credits: for tax year 2026, 13.2% combined for an owner-occupied home. This reasoning is why the Auditor says value and tax changes aren’t one-to-one. Plug in real numbers once tax year 2026 rates arrive in December; see the 2026 update.

What the official estimators can’t know about you

• Whether you’ll apply for, or lose, the owner occupancy credit or Homestead.
• Whether a Board of Revision complaint will change your value.
• Whether your school district will place a new levy on a future ballot.
• Whether an abatement on your property is about to expire.
• Whether a new special assessment is coming.

Treat any estimate as a starting point and revisit it when rates arrive each December.

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