Erie County's Property Search website features Levy information to help property taxpayers understand how levies on upcoming ballots will affect their tax bill. To see if any levies are on an upcoming ballot in your tax district, search for and find your property details. Once you are on the Summary page for a property you have searched for, you will see a Levies section at the top of the Summary page.
According to Ohio law, property taxes may be levied by any county, township, city, village, school district or other special district by resolution of its governing body. Real property taxes are imposed locally with voter approval. The taxing authority of each local government unit adopts and files a budget for the coming year.
These budgets are reviewed by the County Budget Commission (auditor, treasurer, and prosecuting attorney). The Commission may neither change estimates of expenditures nor authorize a tax rate which will produce more revenue than the proposed expenditures. If the present tax will not produce sufficient revenue to cover expenditures, additional millage must be placed on the ballot for voter approval. The property tax rate is measured in mills; a mill is one-tenth of a cent. This translates to $1 for each $1,000 of assessed property value.
There are three types of levies that will affect your taxes: bond, renewal, and replacement.
A Bond Levy is a levy offered for construction activities with a specified term and amount. Proceeds are used to pay off principle and interest on the bond issuance. Mills are adjusted annually to meet in debt service requirements. When debt is retired, the levy that created the mills terminates. A new bond levy will generally increase your tax.
A Renewal Levy is a voter approved levy to extend the term and purpose of an expiring levy while considering original property valuations at the time of passage. Renewal mills have a reduction factor annually applied in order to raise the same amount of funding as in the original year of passage. If passed at the identical mills as the original levy, a renewal levy normally will not change the amount of tax you currently pay.
A Replacement Levy is a voter approved levy to extend the term and conditions of an expiring levy, but unlike renewal levies, takes the present day property valuation into consideration. Therefore, replacement levies generally benefit from the increase in value since the passage of the original "replaced" levy. If passed at the identical mills as the original levy, a replacement levy will normally increase your tax if the value of the property has risen since the original passage of the levy.