GENERAL ACCOUNTING

The County Auditor is the chief fiscal officer of Scioto County. It is his responsibility to account for millions of dollars received each year by the County and to issue warrants (checks) in payment of all county obligations. This includes the distribution of tax dollars to Scioto County itself and to its sixteen townships, four villages, one city, eleven school districts, one library system, as well as other special districts and County agencies. The Auditor's General Accounting Department is the watchdog over all County funds and maintains the official records of all receipts, disbursements and fund balances. It is the Auditor's responsibility to serve as the paymaster for over seven hundred County employees. The Auditor also distributes motor vehicle license fees, gasoline taxes, estate taxes, fines, and local government funds in addition to real estate and personal property taxes.


REAL ESTATE TAX DUPLICATE AND RATES

Scioto County has more than 50,000 separate parcels of real property. It is the duty of the Auditor's office to see that every parcel of land and the buildings thereon are fairly and uniformly appraised and then assessed for tax purposes. A general reappraisal is mandated by Ohio Law every six years and an update every three years. The office maintains a detailed record of the appraisal on each parcel in the County, and these records are open for public inspection.
By law, the County Auditor cannot and does not raise or lower property taxes. Tax rates are determined by the budgetary requests of each governmental unit as authorized by vote of the people and are computed in strict accordance with procedures required by the State Department of Tax Equalization. Annually, the Auditor prepares the General Tax list and duplicate. Your tax bill is based on the tax rate multiplied by your valuation on this duplicate. This is your proportionate share of the cost of operating your local government, including schools, townships, villages, the County, etc.

Ohio law limits the amount of taxation without a vote of the people to what is known as the 10 mill limitation ($10.00 per $1,000 of assessed valuation). Any additional real estate taxes for any purpose must be voted by County residents. Your tax rate is an accumulation of all these levies and bond issues.


SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS

Special assessments are not part of your real estate tax, but are included as a separate item on the real estate tax bill. These could include such items as ditch assessments, improvement levies such as street paving, curbs, lighting, sidewalks and sewer or water lines. The Auditor is required by law to keep an accounting of these special assessments, to place them on the tax duplicate as a separate item, and to return the money collected to the village, township or county office which levied the assessment.


MANUFACTURED HOME TAXES

Under Ohio law, it is the responsibility of owners of manufactured homes to register their homes with the County Auditor for tax purposes. Annually the Auditor’s office assesses each manufactured home and prepares a tax duplicate. Tax bills are sent to each owner semi-annually. The Manufactured Home tax is distributed back to the local taxing districts in the same manner as real estate taxes.


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The Auditor is the Sealer of Weights and Measures for the entire county, thus protecting the general public from the possible loss which may occur from faulty measuring devices, such as scales and pumps. He is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all state laws relating to weights and measures are strictly enforced.


LICENSING

The Auditor's office is the focal point in the county for the issuance of licenses for dogs, kennels, vendors, cigarettes, and junk yards.

Dog licenses comprise the largest number of licenses sold. Dog registration is a service designed to benefit the animal, its owner and the community. Ohio law requires that a dog license be purchased for each dog in the County.

Vendor's licenses authorize businesses to provide taxable goods or services to the public. A portion of the sales tax collected by these vendors is returned for use on the local level.


BOARD MEMBERSHIP

The Auditor is the permanent Secretary of the Budget Commission, which also includes the County Treasurer and the Prosecutor. It is the responsibility of the Commission to annually review the tax budgets of all the taxing districts within the county and to determine that all tax levies are properly authorized. In addition, the Commission allocates to local governments and libraries the monies for which they are eligible.

The Auditor is the permanent Secretary of the Board of Revision, which also includes the County Treasurer and the President of the Board of Commissioners. It is the responsibility of the Board of Revision to rule with original jurisdiction on property assessment rolls prior to the issuance of the real estate tax list and duplicate. Property valuation complaints are also reviewed.

The Auditor is also a member of the Records Commission, which is comprised of the County Recorder, Prosecutor, Clerk of Courts, a County Commissioner, and a Common Pleas Court Judge. It is this Commission's responsibility to review record management programs and applications for records disposal or transfer.