T-L Photo/JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH Shaheen Law Group will host a private event at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Undo’s in St. Clairsville to hear landowners’ property tax concerns and discuss their options. Shown preparing for the event, from left, are attorney Diane Senakievich, owner Michael Shaheen and paralegal Mallory Conner.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — People from all walks of life and all parts of Belmont County are expressing concern about the rising cost of property taxes reflected on bills received this month.

After noticing widespread “despair” about the matter, Michael Shaheen and other attorneys at his Shaheen Law Group investigated the situation and concluded there is a “legitimate basis for some concern” by most of the people who have spoken out.

“First of all, I want to make clear that we are not blaming the auditor or the commissioners,” Shaheen stressed. “We understand that they receive directives … from Columbus, and statutorily, she (Auditor Cindi Henry) has an obligation to make sure the values are reviewed. She didn’t go make the values.

“But the entity that did, I think, … we have some concern with the formulas that they used, the algorithms they used, the effort, or lack thereof, in doing their personal reviews or appraisals — which, that’s not Belmont County people, that was a hired-out contractor.”

Shaheen said the firm and its attorneys, including Diane Senakievich and Jacob Leach, have gotten “so many calls” that they felt compelled to try and assist. He said they have heard from single parents who struggle to feed their children whose tax bills went from $450 to $800 for six months and from people whose homes are worth more than $1 million.

Senakievich said there are elderly residents who bought their homes 50 years ago and are now on fixed incomes. She said they are unable to pay this year’s inflated property taxes and are in danger of losing their homes.

“It’s just not fair to them,” she said.

“We get calls from everybody,” Shaheen said. “We feel very strongly here at Shaheen Law Group that everybody should get a fair chance, that being treated properly shouldn’t be based on socioeconomic consideration alone, but instead everybody needs to pay their fair share, everybody needs to be treated fairly.”

As a result, the firm will hold a forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Undo’s in St. Clairsville. The attorneys want to hear from the public about their individual situations regarding property taxes. He said the firm has criteria that will be explained to attendees in an effort not to waste anyone’s time or money.

“And then if we proceed, it would be our intent to file — on behalf of a large number of Belmont County people — appropriately completed, timely filed appeals to the County Board of Revision,” he added.

Shaheen said the event is free to attend, but the firm will charge for any services provided afterward. Those fees will be on a sliding scale based on a property’s value. Shaheen said the motivation for hosting the event is not to make money; rather, he said the attorneys are holding this event to inform and potentially represent affected landowners because it is the right thing to do.

“Anybody can do the process,” Shaheen said of appealing a property valuation. “But a layperson doesn’t really understand burdens, introduction of experts, when they’re needed, when they’re not. And as Jacob has called to my attention … this is a one-and-done. Like if you file and you mess up, you don’t get a second bite. So … there’s good reason, a good logical basis, to use somebody who is an attorney versus a layperson.”

The forum is a private event hosted by Shaheen Law Group. People interested in attending must RSVP by emailing mallory@slgjustice.com or by calling 740-695-4448.

Shaheen said everyone should expect that their tax bills will rise to some degree; in this instance, however, he said some bills have risen 400-600%. He cited one example of an “arms-length purchase” of a property completed in 2024. He said the tax value of that property was set at 250% of the purchase price, which he said is “just not logical.”

He urges people to attend the event if their tax bills rose at least 18-20% over the amount they paid last year. If the increase isn’t at least that large, he said the program probably isn’t for those landowners.

Attendees should bring a copy of this year’s property tax bills and their bills from 2023.