Senior, Veteran and Disability Property Tax Relief in Ohio

Homestead reduction for owners 65 or older (meaning the person reached 64 before January 1 of the application year), and for a surviving spouse who was at least 59 when the qualifying spouse died. The reduction equals the taxes on $25,000 of the home's true value, as adjusted each year for inflation by the tax commissioner. Owners who do not qualify under earlier grandfathering provisions must have total income (Ohio modified adjusted gross income of the owner and spouse for the prior year) not exceeding $30,000, as adjusted. Both amounts are indexed annually; the adjusted figures for a given tax year are certified to county auditors by December 1.

A disabled veteran who has a total disability rating, or a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability, for a service-connected disability receives an enhanced homestead reduction equal to the taxes on $50,000 of the home's true value, as adjusted annually, with no income test. It applies to one homestead and replaces any reduction under § 323.158. The veteran's surviving spouse receives the same reduction until the spouse dies or remarries. The same $50,000 (adjusted) reduction also applies to the surviving spouse of a public service officer killed in the line of duty.

An owner who is permanently and totally disabled (an impairment of body or mind that prevents substantially gainful work and is expected to last at least 12 months, or as certified by a state or federal agency) qualifies for the same homestead reduction as seniors: taxes on $25,000 of true value as adjusted annually, subject to the same total income limit ($30,000 as adjusted) unless grandfathered.

Beyond the homestead reductions, Ohio law provides the 2.5% owner-occupancy reduction for homesteads and lets each county board of commissioners adopt an additional local partial exemption of up to 2.5% for the same property (effective the same tax year if adopted by July 1, otherwise the following year).