County commissioners plan to adjust the county’s property assessment ratio and millage rate when they meet Thursday.

Commissioners held a press conference Tuesday to explain the move, which would take effect next year. They stress that it won’t raise taxes or bring the county more cash. In short, commissioners said, it’s a "numbers-game" move that gives the county and local communities fiscal breathing room.

Currently, assessments are one-third of a property’s 1970 market value. The board plans to vote Thursday to increase that ratio, assessing properties at 100 percent of their 1970 value. In turn, the property-tax millage rate would be cut to one-third of what it is now.

"The ratio change has been initiated because the county and certain municipalities have reached the maximum millage rates permitted by law," said Chairman Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman.

"This has occurred because the last countywide reassessment was completed 27 years ago. Generally, property values have appreciated greatly since," Brenneman said.

By law, the maximum property tax the county can levy is 25 mills. Currently, however, the county’s property tax line is 30 mills; an additional 2 mills are levied for debt retirement. Each of the last six years, Brenneman said, the county’s financial needs have exceeded the millage cap. The county has sought court orders to raise taxes above the cap, including one for an additional 5 mills in the 2001 budget.

"It’s been a roll of the dice," Brenneman said, adding that the county’s courtroom luck could run out -- Common Pleas Court could choose not to give the county an order to raise taxes.

Under the plan, the current county property tax rate would be 10 mills, far under the 25-mill cap. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Each mill would generate three times more money for the county than it does now -- from $330,000 a mill to almost $1 million a mill under the plan, said Michael DeForest, county director of revenue.

For property owners in all municipalities but Sharon this year, assessments are one-third of a property’s 1970 market value. At 30 mills, a property assessed at $15,000 carries a $450 tax bill.

Under the plan, at 10 mills, the property, now assessed at $45,000, still carries a $450 bill. Sharon already assesses properties at 100 percent of their 1970 value.

All taxing districts -- school districts, local governments -- would be required to follow the county’s suit by increasing their assessment ratio to 100 percent and decreasing millage to one-third its current rate. DeForest said he’ll be meeting with local officials over the next two months to discuss the change -- and stress that it’s not a tax hike.

"If you mention the word reassessment or any change in assessment, the person in the street has a psychological barrier. Immediately, he takes the reaction that, ‘No, oh no, that’s a tax increase.’ That’s not the case," DeForest said.

Commissioners said Thursday’s move is the first in a two-step reform of property taxes. The second step is finding a way to bring assessments up to date. Commissioner Olivia Lazor said a countywide assessment of each individual property could cost up to $4 million, and dealing with appeals on the estimates could cost nearly as much.

Brenneman said a method being used in Crawford County -- factoring -- could update assessments every three years. The downside, he said, is that properties are assessed by the neighborhoods they sit in.