Method
How the maths works, and where each rule comes from.
The three lines
- Taxable valueappraised value × 35%
- Tax from a levytaxable value ÷ 1,000 × mills
- Same thing per $100,000mills × $35
Ohio taxes real property on 35% of its true (market) value.1 A mill is $1 for each $1,000 of that taxable value, so a mill costs $35 a year for each $100,000 of appraised value.
Why the ballot's own figure comes first
Ohio ballots now print what a levy costs "for each $100,000 of the county auditor's appraised value".3 For a new levy that figure is the voted mills × $35. For a renewal (or a renewal with an increase or decrease) it is the levy's effective rate: what it really collects from homes after Ohio's tax-reduction factors. That is the better guide to a renewal's cost, so Mill by Mill uses the printed figure whenever there is one, and works one out from the mills only when the text gives no dollar figure (and says so).
What these figures leave out
- Credits and exemptions. The figures are before the owner-occupancy credit, the homestead exemption and other credits. Levies approved at elections from November 2013 on get neither the 10% nor the 2.5% rollback.4 Ohio's 2025-2026 laws raise the owner-occupancy credit for homes people live in, phase out the 10% credit for rental and investment property (agricultural land excluded), and cap at the rate of inflation the increases that come from inside millage after a reappraisal.5 Credits only lower what you pay; your county's tax bill shows the exact amounts.
- Bond rates move. A bond levy's mills are an average over its life.
- Values change. A new levy is charged on your value each year; reappraisals can change it.
- Renters do not get a tax bill, but a landlord's taxes are part of what rent pays for. The figures show the tax on the property, not a change in any rent.
How the Ballot Reader reads
It looks for the phrases Ohio ballots and notices use: "for each $100,000 ..." (or, on older text, "... mills for each $1"), the kind of question (additional, renewal, bond and so on), the term ("for five years", "continuing period of time"), the purpose, the first year due and the estimated collections. It reports a figure only when the text gives it, and says when something is missing. It was checked against the real Cuyahoga County Board of Elections notices offered as examples. It does not check the ballot against county records, and it does not store what you paste.
What this site does not do
It does not tell anyone how to vote, rate a school district, or publish figures about any district's finances. It does not know which questions are on your ballot: you bring the words.
Sources (checked 11 October 2026)
- Ohio Administrative Code 5703-25-05(B): taxable value is 35% of true value in money. Ohio Revised Code 5715.01(B).
- A mill is one-thousandth of a dollar: ballots state levies in "mills for each $1 of taxable value". The $35 per $100,000 follows from source 1.
- Ohio Legislative Service Commission, bill analysis of H.B. 140 (134th General Assembly): ballots state the rate per $100,000 of appraised value, at the effective rate for renewals and the voted rate for other levies, with estimated annual collections. Examples: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections notices of election, 7 November 2023.
- Ohio Legislative Service Commission, bill analysis of H.B. 61 (136th General Assembly): "new and replacement levies approved by voters at elections held on or after November 2013 are not eligible for either rollback."
- Stark County Auditor, "Ohio Property Tax Reform: What Changed, Why It Matters, When You'll See It" (2026): H.B. 186, 335, 309, 129 and 124.
- Ohio Department of Taxation, "Individual Income Tax - School District" and the 2025 list of Ohio school districts with income tax rates and bases.