PRESS RELEASE - TAX BILLS MAILED/TAX REFORM

Property Tax Bills and Tax Reform for 2026

Ashtabula County Treasurer Angie Maki-Cliff announces that tax bills are being mailed out January 26 with a due date of March 4, 2026.

Ashtabula County Auditor Scott Yamamoto indicated that due to the timing of tax reform bills signed by Governor DeWine on December 19, 2025, some owners may begin to see some savings in the second half of 2026 and then in following years. 

House Bill 186 changes the rules for the 20-mill floor calculation that applies to Ashtabula County school districts. School taxes make up the largest part of most homeowners’ property tax bills, and H.B. 186 changes how those taxes are calculated. In the past, school districts were required to collect a minimum amount of tax revenue, known as the 20-mill floor.  This meant that if your home value increased, your school taxes would also increase, because schools could not collect less than that required minimum. Normally when values increase, the tax rate decreases to provide only the revenue originally approved by voters.  H.B. 186 modifies the 20-mill floor by putting a limit on how fast school taxes can rise. Going forward, increases in school taxes will be capped at the rate of inflation instead of matching the full increase in property values. H.B. 186 does not directly cut school funding in the sense of eliminating existing revenue streams, but it limits future property tax revenue growth tied to rising property values. H.B. 186 also includes a one-time adjustment that looks back at recent tax years and recalculates them as if the inflation cap had already been in place. However, due to the timing of the signing of the bill, we will not see this credit until second half billing in 2026.

Treasurer Maki-Cliff indicated that “property owners who choose to pay the full-year tax bill during first-half billing should be aware that the final amount may be revised once any applicable second-half adjustments are applied. If there is a resulting over-payment from adjustments made it will be issued as a credit or refund, in accordance with state guidance”.

Those paying only the first-half bill may see a reduced second-half bill if an eligible adjustment applies.

Auditor Yamamoto also reminds property owners that the online Levy Calculator has the pass/fail status of levies from the November election and their approximate tax implication.  The Levy Calculator can be found here:  https://auditor.ashtabulacounty.gov/dnn/Real-Estate/Levy-Calculator.