Real estate tax relief available to storm victims

Summit County Fiscal Officer Kristen M. Scalise announced that real estate tax relief is available to residents who have sustained damage to their property in the wake of the Aug. 8 storm. The fiscal office is taking the necessary steps to provide property owners the ability to file an application for valuation deduction for destroyed or damaged property (form DTE 26).

Form DTE 26 can be downloaded from fiscaloffice.summitoh.net by clicking on the link titled “Damaged Property” listed in the “Real Estate and Appraisal” column.

Mail the completed form to the fiscal office at 175 S. Main Street, Room 304, Akron, OH 44308. If you do not have access to a computer, call 330-643-2704 to request a form in the mail.

The filing deadline is Dec. 31, 2024. Scalise stressed the importance of filing this application as soon as possible. Any deduction from value will affect the tax bills mailed in January 2025.

The deduction amount equals a percentage of the reduction in value caused by the damage. That percentage is determined by the calendar quarter in which the damage occurred; the reduction will be 50% in value of the destroyed portion.

For example: the fiscal office appraises your property for $100,000. Your insurance company indicates you sustained $10,000 of damage to your property due to the recent storm. Since the damage occurred in August, you are entitled to a 50% reduction of the damage amount. Therefore, your property will be appraised at $95,000 for tax year 2024.

Real estate taxes are billed one year in arrears, so the reduction will be for tax year 2024, collection year 2025.

Once the application is filed, the appraisal department will make the necessary inspections to determine the amount of damage. Damage to trees, landscaping and fencing, as well as personal items, is excluded on residential properties. The fiscal office tracks the repairs based on the applications received and building permits that have been filed from all the townships and cities affected by the storms. ∞