Stark County auditor extends deadline to contest home values to Oct. 4 after mail issue

CANTON ‒ The Stark County Auditor has extended the deadline to informally appeal your home value following the sexennial reappraisal after issues with the U.S. Postal Service processing plant in Cleveland caused some residents' values to get lost in the mail.

Auditor Alan Harold said he's done all he can to get issues resolved, but some residents still haven't received their notices.

"It's frustrating, it's really frustrating," he said. "We keep working. I call them every day."

Harold said it is not an issue with local mail carriers; his office has sent all the necessary information to the processing plant in Cleveland. He said they are currently working through the issue.

"I think with our interactions with the post office we're hopeful to get the resolution with them very quickly," he said.

In the meantime, the auditor has pushed the informal appeal deadline back one week, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. For those who haven't received their mailed notice, home value information is available on the auditor's website or by calling 330-451-7085.

Reappraisal: Stark County residential property values spike 30% in reappraisal, signal rise in taxes

Informal appeals ongoing

In the recent countywide reappraisal, property values countywide saw a median increase of 30%. In Canton, the median increase was 44.5%, the highest average jump in the county.

The auditor's office has had over 4,000 interactions with the public since mailing out notices to property owners in late August between phone calls, in-person visits and communication online. Harold said this is on par with how the process has gone in past appraisals and updates.

Those interactions have ranged from questions to informal appeal filings. Harold said the office has successfully handled the volume so far.

"A big part of this is making sure we have our record correct and walking them through the process and how we come to the conclusions," he said. "We work to address the concerns through either change of the record or submission of evidence."

If you believe your home valuation is incorrect, you can start an informal appeal to submit evidence to the auditor's office. Evidence could include recent sales, other appraisals, photos or correcting any mistake the county has on the record.

The deadline to informally appeal your value is Oct. 4. After that time, residents can still file appeals through the Board of Revision complaint process.

Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@gannett.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County auditor extends deadline to contest home values to Oct. 4 after mail issue