Columbus has been one of the Midwest's best growth stories: Intel's chip investment, a stable state-government and university base, and steady in-migration. It is also a market where the tax base just moved sharply, and a lot of in-place tax bills are about to look very different from the numbers in older offering memoranda.
Ohio taxes 35% of value, and Franklin just reappraised hard
Ohio does not reset your assessed value when you buy. Instead, counties reappraise every six years and update values every three, and property is taxed on 35% of appraised (market) value. The wrinkle in Columbus: Franklin County's 2023 reappraisal raised residential values an average of about 41%, the largest jump in the county's history, with some school districts well above that.
That reappraisal flows into tax bills. Ohio's HB920 reduction factors soften the blow by rolling back voted (outside) millage so those levies collect roughly the same dollars despite higher values. But the reduction is partial: inside (unvoted) millage, the 20-mill minimum school levy, and any new levies still let bills rise. So a Columbus building's tax can climb materially off a reappraisal even though it does not double.
The Columbus / Columbus City Schools effective rate runs near 2.62% of appraised value. Model your tax at the current appraised value times the effective rate for the exact taxing district, and confirm whether the seller's bill predates the 2023 reappraisal. If it does, it understates your cost.
Suburbs and school districts drive the rate
Franklin County spans many school districts and municipalities, and the rate varies widely across them. A property in Columbus City Schools carries a different rate than one in Dublin, Westerville, Hilliard, or Worthington. Confirm the exact district before you underwrite.
Permits and the renovation story
Major work in the City of Columbus requires a permit through the city's Building and Zoning Services department. Cross-reference "renovated" claims against the permit record. See the full guide to checking permit history.
The broker pitch, translated
- "Taxes are $X": check whether that predates the 2023 reappraisal. If so, it is stale.
- "Intel growth": real long-term tailwind, but do not let it substitute for verifying in-place rents against ZIP-level ACS medians.
- "Renovated": verify permits for system work, not just cosmetics.
- "Cap rate is X%": ask for the NOI math with post-reappraisal tax, reserves, and management.
The standard checklist still applies
The Columbus items above sit on top of the general pre-offer due diligence checklist: permit history, code violations, demographics, debt-service stress test, and FEMA flood zone (the Scioto and Olentangy rivers put parts of the county in mapped zones). The post-reappraisal tax base is the item to model precisely. Full tax modeling guide.
Or get the Columbus research done for you
DealBrief pulls Franklin County appraisal, applies the 35% ratio and the current district rate, and returns sale history, permit records, FEMA flood zone, and the full debt-service scenario grid for any Columbus multifamily address. Your first report is free.