House damaged by the recent storms? You may be eligible for a tax break

As Northeast Ohio cleans up from last week’s tornadoes, public officials are trying to spread the word: If your house got damaged, you might qualify for a tax break.

Ohio offers temporary property-tax relief to people impacted by storms, floods and other natural disasters. The program also applies to fire damage and demolition.

“We want everyone to know that this is out there for them,” said Lisa Rocco, director of operations in the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office.

But many property owners don’t know this form of help exists.

“We tried to put this out last year when we had major storms and we had basement flooding,” she said. “And we only had three residents of Cuyahoga County fill out the form.”

Rocco is talking about the DTE 26 form , an application to cut the value of a property that’s been damaged or destroyed. The form is also available through the Ohio Department of Taxation or from your county's auditor or fiscal office.

Applications related to the recent storms are due by Dec. 31. But county officials are urging people not to wait, since the first tax bills typically arrive in early January.

“Any kind of damage to your property, to your home, your business – please fill one out,” Rocco said.

Andrew Benesh/News 5

Here’s how it works.

A homeowner submits the paperwork to the county. Then, the county sends out an appraiser to evaluate the damage. If there’s a change in your property value, it will impact your tax bills next year – and only next year.

Damage to trees and fences doesn’t count. This applies to structures like a house or a garage. And the savings will be a lot smaller than your repair bills.

Then there’s the math.

Let’s say a tree hit your garage. If the county determines that it had a $10,000 impact on what your home is worth, then you’ll see a $5,000 reduction in property value. The number is cut in half because the storms happened in early August, during the third quarter of the year.

This is a short-term reprieve, Rocco cautioned.

“It gives you that relief for one year,” she said, “to hopefully help you fix whatever needs to be fixed.”

Andrew Benesh/News 5

Karen Rieker is still waiting to hear how much it will cost to fix her garage roof, where a tornado tore off shingles and boards. The twister cut a path down her street in Brook Park, leveling a neighbor’s garage and splitting a telephone pole in half.

Rieker also lost her fence, along with the cherry tree that created a patch of shade – and a sense of privacy – in her backyard. And the storm apparently lifted and dropped her deck, warping boards and leaving nails exposed.

“Nature has its own way of talking,” she said. “And she talked pretty big on the sixth, I guess. Letting people know she was around!”

Rieker and one of her sons, Matt Kaiser, said they hadn’t heard about the potential for disaster-related tax relief. Now, she plans to investigate it.

“There’s a lot of things I think we’re not aware of that we know are available to us,” she said. “And a lot of times we really don’t bother to check into them … So it’s very good that you’re trying to get that information out to the public.”

Andrew Benesh/News 5

The storm-related value reductions won’t have any impact on recent mass reappraisals in several Northeast Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga, Lake and Lorain. If property owners want to challenge those reappraisals – which happen every six years – they need to appeal through a different process.

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Cuyahoga County mailed out proposed valuations earlier this summer and is giving homeowners the chance to file informal appeals through Aug. 30. Property owners also can file formal complaints with the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision early next year.

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