Property tax dispute shows up in Camden Township figures, auditor says – Morning Journal

A dispute over property values at Green Circle Growers has set a legal precedent and now is affecting Camden Township property taxes, said Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass.

During a Jan. 25 news conference, Snodgrass explained county property tax bills and changes in home values due to strong sales from 2018 to 2021.

The figures for Camden Township show how the tax burden has shifted from the plant growing company to township residents, Snodgrass said.

In court

Green Circle Growers’ website touts it as one of the largest greenhouses in North America with more than 150 acres of indoor growing space.

Green Circle Growers attorney Jonathan T. Brollier of Columbus has argued the greenhouses are personal property not subject to real estate taxes on its 186-acre site in Camden Township.

Firelands Local Schools and Snodgrass have argued the greenhouses are legal “buildings” and “structures” that should be included in the company’s property valuation for property taxes.

The case went to court .

Last year, Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals sided with Green Circle Growers.

The Ohio Supreme Court declined to consider the issue.

Property taxes

The calculations for property taxes depend on the property values, inside millage allowed to communities under Ohio law, and millage that voters approve, such as levies to pay for schools, roads or police and fire protection.

If and when county property values increase or decrease, generally inside millage revenues to the townships, villages and cities also will rise or drop, Snodgrass said.

The Camden Township example is directly related to the court case with Green Circle Growers, he said.

Comparing the inside millage for Camden Township, residential property values went up from a total value of about $58.14 million in 2020 to about $64.39 million last year.

That would result in a $22,816 increase in property tax revenues to the township, Snodgrass said.

In rural Camden Township, the total property values of residential and agricultural decreased year on year, from about $123.24 million in 2020 down to $93.35 million for 2021, according to the auditor’s figures.

When agricultural property values are included in the formula – or subtracted in the case of Green Circle Growers – Camden Township’s property tax revenues drop from $250,700 in 2020 to $189,495 for 2021, according to the auditor’s figures.

“It’s an $83,000 swing,” for the township, Snograss said. “What went on in Camden Township to drop the ag values … by $29 million?

“It’s a prime example of what happens when values drop.”

Snodgrass and his staff noted there have been changes in Ohio law regarding property values based on soil types.

But those differences are not large enough to account for all the changes in Camden Township.

In Columbus

County auditors are building a case to take to state lawmakers to change Ohio law about taxable structures, Snodgrass said.

“The taxpayer there (Green Circle Growers) was able to successfully challenge the law,” he said. “I don’t believe it was the intent of the legislators back then to raise everybody’s taxes, and I hope it’s not the current legislators’ intent to raise everybody’s taxes.

“This is going to raise everyone else’s taxes, this decision.”

Snodgrass added he was aware of a complaint filed by a greenhouse to the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision.

“I see some other businesses that are going to be filing and that could be a major impact to this county and that’s where it’s going to impact all the other counties,” he said.

The ruling could extend to structures, so owners of things like storage units, carwashes or warehouses could argue their buildings should not count for property tax values.

In Lorain County alone, those structures are valued at $350 million, Snodgrass said.

“That’s going to impact everyone,” he said. “We don’t do enough for the homeowners, we don’t do enough for the individual taxpayers.

“I see this, it’s wrong and you’re shifting the burden onto the homeowners. Taxpayers are soaked, they’re tapped and we need to stop that.”