Columbus, Ohio USA
Return to Homepage www.shortnorth.comFranklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano
Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano took office on March 11, 2019. He is a pragmatic and innovative leader who works in a bipartisan manner to get results for his constituents. Michael was born and grew up in the Short North, where he lives with his wife Caroline, son Cooper and daughter Riley, along with two rescue pugs Wrigley and Fenway. Michael has proudly served the residents and businesses of Central Ohio in the Ohio General Assembly and a member of Columbus City Council.
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See Also: Stinziano Councilman
See Also: Stinziano State RepresentativeFranklin County's Dog License Renewal Extended to March 31
March/April 2020 Issue
The Short North is one of the city’s most dog-friendly neighborhoods. Take a stroll through Goodale Park or one of the area’s many dog parks and you can’t help but notice how popular our canine companions are here.
As your Franklin County Auditor, I want to promote responsible pet ownership and help ensure that dog owners license their dogs with my office, as is required by state law.
In recent years, there has been a downward trend in the number of licensed dogs in Franklin County. Although state law requires it, thousands of dogs are not being licensed, putting their safety at risk if they are ever separated from their owners.
The number of dogs with valid licenses in Franklin County has decreased in four of the previous six years, but this is a trend I am determined to reverse.
This year for the first time I worked with Franklin County Commissioners to extend the dog license renewal period by two months, through March 31. I’ve also expanded the locations where owners can purchase licenses, including at mobile events and Board of Revision informational meetings that are being held throughout the county. And, earlier this year we held the Me & My Pal drawing contest for K-6 students to promote pet ownership and dog licensing. The contest received some excellent drawings of dogs, many of which are now featured in free calendars produced by the auditor’s office.
So far 55,032 dog licenses have been sold, bringing Franklin County to a total of 68,660 licensed dogs. That number is on track to exceed the 2019 licensing numbers by the time of the March renewal deadline. Interestingly, so far 1,866 permanent dog licenses have been purchased, which is the largest purchase of this type of license since its introduction in 2013.
In the Short North’s two zip codes, 43215 and 43201, we have licensed approximately 1,446 dogs.
Licensing your dog has so many benefits. First and foremost, it is the law. But purchasing a license also ensures that we can reunite an owner with their lost dog as quickly as possible. The Franklin County Dog Shelter will keep licensed dogs for 14 days – versus three for unlicensed dogs.
In addition, part of the dog license purchase helps fund the Franklin County Dog Shelter, which helps everyone (human and dog alike.)
I am committed to increasing the rate of dog licensing in Franklin County and will continue to look for creative ways we can accomplish that objective.
Residents can purchase dog licenses online at doglicense.franklincountyohio.gov, by visiting the auditor’s office at 373 S. High St., 21st Floor, or by calling the auditor’s office at 614-525-3260.
They are also available at Board of Revision informational meetings events over the next month. A schedule with locations can be found on our website at www.franklincountyauditor.com/real-estate/board-of-revision.
I want to make the dog licensing process easy and convenient for dog owners. It’s an important part of building an auditor’s office that is accessible, transparent and accountable for Franklin County residents.
Capping Property Tax Increases
January/February 2020 IssueThis winter, all too many Short North residents and neighbors across our community are finding that the hot real estate market is making it more costly to keep their homes as property values – and property taxes – rise. That’s especially true in Franklin County, which has one of the hottest home markets in the nation. "
To help address this problem, in December I joined with Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, state Sen. Hearcel Craig and Near East Area Commissioner Lela Boykin to unveil legislation that would prevent large spikes in property taxes that can lead to housing instability.
The proposed bill would cap property tax increases for owner-occupied homes at 3 percent per year, preventing sudden surges in taxes. The state would reimburse any taxes that were lost because of the cap, ensuring that local governments don’t lose funding.
Had the bill been in effect in 2018, more than 60,000 Franklin County homeowners would have been shielded from large increases in their taxes. There were more than 4,300 foreclosures in the county over the last three years.
Nationally, 34 states have similar laws that protect homeowners from large tax increases.
As it is currently, programs that reduce property taxes aren’t enough. For instance, the Homestead Exemption, which allows a homeowner who is 65 or older to exempt $25,000 of property value, also has a low-income threshold put in place by the state legislature in 2014 (currently the threshold is $32,800 total income). Only 9 percent of Franklin County homeowners presently using the Homestead Exemption have qualified under that threshold – the rest were grandfathered in from before 2014.
The owner-occupied credit, which grants a 2.5 percent reduction in property value, is often eroded by property value increases caused by the robust housing market.
We need something more to help homeowners, especially lower-income and fixed-income homeowners who can’t afford unpredictable property tax increases.
This new legislation is a sensible solution that will help homeowners by making their annual property tax burden more predictable and affordable. At the same time, local governments that are on the frontline of providing services to residents won’t see their funding decrease because of the cap.
The Franklin County Auditor’s office has always sought to help residents remain in their homes and in wonderful neighborhoods like the Short North. This proposed bill, in conjunction with existing programs like the Homestead Exemption and the Owner-Occupied Credit, is a balanced measure to ensure homeowners aren’t priced out of their own homes.
PubliPublic service is my priority and I want to lead an auditor’s office that responds to the needs of Franklin County citizens. When you have a problem, question, or concern, or anytime that I can be of service, come meet me at my regular community hours, call me at 614.525.4663, or e-mail me at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov, and I will do everything I can to help.
Addressing Affordable Housing
November/December 2019 IssueYour county auditor’s office started the month of October by taking on an issue that is becoming a growing concern for the Short North and our community as a whole: Affordable Housing.
The availability of affordable housing in Franklin County has become a priority for my office. To help address the issue we held the Affordable Housing Fair on Oct. 1 in collaboration with local housing organizations and agencies, including the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, Homeport, MORPC, Habitat for Humanity, the Columbus Urban League, the Franklin County Treasurer, the Franklin County Office on Aging, and many more. Look for more of these fairs to be held by our office across the county.The goal is to connect people with resources and programs that address topics like home repair and maintenance, information for first-time homebuyers, down payment assistance program information, appliance repair or replacement programs, senior assistance programs, winterization programs, and help with utilities.
In conjunction with the fair, the auditor’s office produced an affordable housing report that shows the ongoing challenges for residents seeking affordable housing. It details items like housing costs and income, housing costs by proportion of income, amount of vacant properties, and rental versus owner occupied homes. For instance, in one of the main Short North census tracts (21) which covers the area west of High Street, the report shows the homeownership rate at 27.4 percent, which is on the lower end compared to other tracts, and there are 218 renter households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
The report also lists resources that can help residents with affordable housing. You can view the report on our website at www.franklincountyauditor.com/our-office/community-relations/in-the-news/housing-affordability-info.
With the boom in construction happening across central Ohio, it’s important that we don’t leave behind a large segment of society that increasingly can’t afford available housing. At the auditor’s office, we are trying to help by ensuring that residents take advantage of tax-reducing programs like the Homestead Exemption and the Owner-Occupied Credit.
The Homestead Exemption allows homeowners who are 65 and older and who meet income requirements to exempt up to $25,000 of their home value from being taxed. The owner-occupied credit gives a 2.5 percent reduction in taxes for qualifying levies and is available to any homeowner who occupies a home as their primary residence.
Affordable housing is a key to making the Short North and Franklin County the very best place to live and work. I look forward to continuing to find ways to help residents with resources and information on housing that will fit their budgets and accommodate their needs.
Public service is my priority and I want to lead an auditor’s office that responds to the needs of Franklin County citizens. When you have a problem, question, or concern, or anytime that I can be of service, come meet me at my regular community hours, call me at 614.525.4663, or e-mail me at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov, and I will do everything I can to help.
Update of Franklin County Property Values Already Underway
September/October 2019 IssueAt a recent Community Hours meeting in the Short North, one of the topics that residents wanted to discuss with me was the appraisal process. That is a very germane question, because next year your Franklin County Auditor’s office will be conducting the Triennial Update. It’s a process that will affect every property owner in the county and it can impact your property taxes.
The triennial update process is not intended to increase or decrease taxes, but rather to keep property values up to date with the market. In some cases where property values in a particular neighborhood increase or decrease, the owner may see a likewise change in their property taxes. The goal, as your Franklin County Auditor, is to complete the most accurate assessment of property values possible, and I will welcome your feedback.
The triennial update process is already underway, with auditor’s office staff using a statistical analysis of neighborhood home sales to update property values across the county. The update keeps home values aligned with market values and will be followed by a more thorough reappraisal in 2023, when a state-registered appraiser visits every property in the county and evaluates a home’s individual characteristics.
Properties in the Short North, where home values have been rising, will probably be affected by the update.
It’s important that our office be as accessible and transparent as possible to homeowners during this important triennial update process, and we will host expanded and varied opportunities for homeowners to challenge the new values we assign. After those new, updated property values have been released in August, my office will hold informal review sessions where homeowners who disagree can present their case to appraisers. I plan to hold an expanded number of these sessions at locations across the county, including the Short North, to make it more convenient for homeowners to tell us why the home value we just set is incorrect.
If, after those sessions, a property owner still disagrees, they can file an appeal with the Board of Revision starting in December. The BOR, which is comprised of the county auditor, treasurer and president of the board of county commissioners or their representatives, will hold a hearing where property owners can again present their case for why the new value is incorrect.
I am committed to conducting an accurate, fair triennial update process that accommodates the concerns of property owners and serves well the residents of Franklin County and the Short North as our communities continue to be the very best places to live and work.Public service is my priority and I want to lead an auditor’s office that responds to the needs of Franklin County citizens. When you have a problem, question, or concern, or anytime that I can be of service, come meet me at my regular community hours, call me at 614.525.4663, or e-mail me at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov, and I will do everything I can to help.
Helping Short North Residents Age in Place
July/August 2019 IssueOne of the key issues that has always been important to me is how to best support our elderly residents who want to continue to age in the right place – particularly in their homes. Aging in place continues to be vitally important to our families and to our community.
As your Franklin County Auditor, there are several tools at our office that can help older residents as property values – and property taxes – continue to rise, as they have throughout the city and in the Short North.
One of the primary ways your auditor’s office can help is through something called the homestead exemption. Put simply, it helps reduce property taxes for homeowners over the age of 65 who have limited income, making it easier for them to stay in their home. Here’s how it works: If you own and live in a house and are 65 years old by December 31 of the year, then state law allows you to exempt up to $25,000 of the market value of your home from
assessed property taxes. If a homeowner is additionally a disabled veteran, the amount you can exempt increases to $50,000.
Applying is simple and can be done online at your auditor’s office website: www.franklincountyauditor.com. It’s an easy way to help our older neighbors age in place in the houses they’ve maintained and enjoyed for years.
Another initiative that the auditor’s office is pursuing to help our older residents is creating a process to expedite their home value challenges. Every year, homeowners have the opportunity to challenge the assessed value of their homes before the Board of Revision (BOR). Since those home values are used to calculate property taxes, you can see why this process can potentially help an aging homeowner save money and remain in their house. Our goal is to expedite the process so older residents can have their challenges heard quickly and efficiently.
We want to make it easy for homeowners throughout the county and in places like the Short North to challenge their home valuations. That’s also why this past March the auditor’s office conducted 12 informational BOR meetings across the county to help homeowners with the challenge process.
Finally, I’m doing what I can at my office to help our staff take care of older family members. This month I announced a new paid leave policy for the auditor’s office that includes 6 weeks of paid time off for caregivers so our staff can take care of their sick or elderly parents or family members. It will benefit both the employee, who no longer has to worry about the financial impact of taking time off, and the aging family member who will receive the support they need.
Let’s help our senior population out with initiatives and programs that will give them the support they need and make the Short North and Franklin County the best place to live and age.Public service is my priority and I want to lead an auditor’s office that responds to the needs of Franklin County citizens. When you have a problem, question, or concern, or anytime that I can be of service, come meet me at my regular community hours, call me at 614.525.4663, or e-mail me at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov, and I will do everything I can to help.
Bringing the Auditor's Office to You
May/June 2019 IssueAs Franklin County Auditor, I’m excited for the opportunity to lead the Auditor’s office into the 21st century with new ideas and innovations that will help make our community the very best place to live and work. I am happy to report that we are making progress in building an auditor’s office that is transparent, accountable and accessible.
The Auditor’s office impacts the lives of most central Ohio residents, including residents of the Short North. Our office licenses dogs, inspects retail store scales, assesses property values upon which taxes are based, inspects and seals gas pumps outside Columbus, and even licenses junk yards. It’s quite a broad variety of duties most residents are not aware of.
As I work as your auditor, I want to hear the concerns of people in the Short North and Franklin County by bringing the auditor’s office out into your neighborhood. Already we have held more than five Community Hours meetings where residents can give me their thoughts, ideas and feedback. Look for one of these meetings coming to the Short North very soon. (Dates and locations of meetings can be found on the Franklin County Auditor’s website, www.franklincountyauditor.com.) I have always found these meetings invaluable since I began holding them more than a decade ago, and I encourage everyone to come by and let me know what’s on your mind.
Additionally, we’ve held an expanded series of informational meetings for the Board of Revision, which helped homeowners throughout Franklin County with the process of challenging their property valuations ahead of the now-passed statutory deadline of April 1. Many residents took advantage of those meetings, where my talented staff helped them with information that would assist with their property value challenge like nearby home sales or other neighborhood information. Again, we’re bringing the auditor’s office to you.
And we’ve updated the tax levy estimator on our office website, to help Short North homeowners understand the effect of the several bond issues on the ballot for Columbus will have on their taxes. The online tool, available at the auditor’s website, lays out based on location what a homeowner is currently paying in property taxes and what they will if bond or levy issues pass. It is helping inform voters ahead of the May 7 election. Early voting has already started.
I am excited to lead an auditor’s office that is delivering otstanding public service to residents of the Short North and all of Franklin County, and making our community the very best place to live and work.
Public service is my priority and I want to lead an Auditor's Office that responds to the needs of Franklin County citizens. I will bring the Auditor's Office into the 21st century with outstanding constituent services and fiscal common sense. When you have a problem, question, or concern, or anytime that I can be of service, come meet me at my regular community hours, call me at 614.525.4663, or e-mail me at AuditorStinziano@franklincountyohio.gov, and I will do everything I can to help.
The Short North is Open for Business
March/April 2019 IssueSmall businesses are the backbone of our community. To support those businesses and our residents, the City of Columbus has in recent years made substantial investments of millions of dollars in projects that promote our neighborhoods citywide. Spanning the High Street corridor from the Greater Columbus Convention Center through the Short North neighborhood and into the University District, the city’s investment has created a safer, more walkable, more business and visitor friendly neighborhood that is more inclusive than ever.
The Short North is home to more than 300 businesses, most of which are locally owned or headquartered, that should be seen as a model for how the interests of residents, businesses, and visitors can come together to create a truly unique community.
One example of those investments is the recently concluded Short North Streetscape Project, which will enhance the experience of one of our city’s core communities for businesses, residents and visitors. The City worked hard to improve the Short North with a well-designed plan that promises a vibrant atmosphere for the many small businesses that line High Street. Construction began back in 2017 and has recently culminated making now the best time to visit the neighborhood.
Newly paved streets, improved sidewalks and crosswalks, new street lighting — even new trees to line High Street – are included in this comprehensive facelift. You may notice that the sidewalks along the High Street corridor are now wider providing for better mobility for everyone and that the added space offers increased opportunities for outdoor dining and the new Interactive Kiosks. You’ll notice the roadway is more clearly marked with bike lanes, bus stops, and cross walks making it easier for pedestrians, cars, buses, bikes, and even scooters to travel safely in the neighborhood. Street lighting and signage has also been upgraded for our benefit.
Now it’s time for our small business people, who worked through the construction, to reap the benefits. I encourage everyone to stop by and visit the Short North and support our local businesses throughout the city that make Columbus and Franklin County the very best places to live and work. You can check out all the events happening in the neighborhood by reading the Short North Gazette or visiting www.shortnorth.org to plan your next visit. I’ll see you at the next Gallery Hop!
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