T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Belmont County resident Lou Kutys questions who is in charge of residential holding tanks in Belmont County during a commission meeting Wednesday.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County residents sought answers at Wednesday’s Belmont County Board of Commissioners meeting, addressing skyrocketing property tax bills.

Residents Hank Martin and Lou Kutys attended the meeting seeking answers about the issue.

The total assessed value of all properties in Belmont County increased from $2,410,680,850 in 2023 to $2,772,928,250 in 2024 — an overall increase of more than $362 million. And those increased values are reflected on residents’ first-half property tax bills that were issued this month.

Martin spoke first and said he is aware it is not the commissioners’ fault that the state of Ohio required property values to be adjusted. He said he believes the increase should be an issue that can be voted on instead of it happening without residents having any say.

“It’s a hardship, especially for some of these retired folks trying to make it. We need some kind of relief from this,” Martin said. “The fat cats up in Columbus don’t care about us.”

He then suggested that residents and community leaders work together to meet with state officials to find out the reason for the drastic increase.

“In this county you have to work within a budget. Why shouldn’t they?” Martin said to the commissioners.

Board President J.P. Dutton replied that there is a six-year cycle that every county in Ohio goes through where the valuation of properties are decided.

“The tax rates didn’t change. What has changed is the value of the properties,” Dutton said.

He added that some of those valuations changed drastically, noting that some residents have seen a 30% to 40% increase in their property’s value. He added that this problem is unfortunately not unique to Belmont County, noting that he knows both Jefferson and Muskingum counties are experiencing the same issues.

“We are talking to our state representatives as well as a couple of those other counties’ commissioners who are experiencing the same thing, and from what I’ve been told from state representatives is that the number one thing that they’re talking about right now in Columbus is that they are hearing from counties like ours about these changes in valuations,” Dutton said. “I know they’re working on tax legislation, but I don’t know what that means as far as our tax bills. I just know that they are looking at that.”

He added that he wants to know how the valuations of these properties changed so drastically in such a short window of time.

“It gets administered here on the local level, because counties are just an extension of the state,” Dutton said. “People sometimes ask, ‘Why don’t you guys pass a law on this or an ordinance on that?’ We don’t have any law-making authorities as commissioners. We’re literally just an extension of the state, so we have to administer things at the state level here locally, and that’s what the county’s auditor is doing across the hall with the property taxes.”

He added that the state works with companies and vendors who validate the work to determine the value of the property but said he believes that the state needs to do a better job of explaining the models the state uses to determine property values.

“We can’t do a lot as commissioners, for the most part, but there is an appeal process, the board of revision. One person from this board sits on that board, and that’s Commissioner (Vince) Gianangeli,” Dutton said. “We also have a little bit of a role in property taxes, which is the approval of levies. The last four years, this board has removed the countywide levy for Senior Services. We have reduced a countywide levy for 911, reduced a countywide levy for Children Services. And this year, we’re dropping a levy for Children Services.”

Resident Lou Kutys then addressed the commissioners. He said he owns four properties in Belmont County, and one of his tenants was a local business that recently moved out of his location and relocated to West Virginia. He claimed the business operator said it moved to West Virginia due to the property tax increase.

He then said he is trying to expand on one of his properties in Union Township. He said there is a holding tank on that property, and he has to move the holding tank in order to expand.

Kutys said he called the Belmont County Health Department and was told it only deals with septic tanks, not holding tanks, and that he should contact the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. He said the OEPA told him he needed the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to sign off on a form that identifies what soil type is on his land.

“She told me to call ODNR, so I called ODNR and they told me to call the Belmont County engineer. I called the county engineer, and they said, ‘We don’t do that, call soil and water.’ So I called soil and water, and they said they don’t have anyone certified to do that to call ODNR,” Kutys said. “So I got one big nice circle.

“So my question to you gentlemen is why isn’t somebody in this county certified for something as simple as going down and looking and saying, ‘OK, you got type one, type two or type three soil?'”

Dutton replied that he doesn’t believe the county is required to provide that service. He added that he does agree that Kutys raised a valid point and said he will ask county department heads about why Kutys couldn’t find someone to provide him the service he needs.

“If the EPA is not in charge of holding tanks at a residential level or privately owned property level, then why isn’t the Belmont County Health Department? Why can’t they issue a permit for a holding tank?” Kutys asked.

Dutton said he would reach out to the Belmont County Health Department.

“The health department doesn’t fall under the county commissioners. They have their own board,” Dutton said. “I only say that to let you know that the reason we haven’t been deeply involved in this issue is because it really isn’t part of our primary core responsibilities. But that doesn’t mean that as commissioners, we can’t get involved in those conversations and try to get a better answer for you.”