Where Ohio's Apartment Property-Tax Law Stands Right Now

If you own apartments in Ohio, two recent court decisions are worth putting on your radar. Taken in the order they happened, the first is a "keep an eye on it" story and the second is a clear win for owners. Here's where things stand — without the legal jargon.

First, a quick refresher on how this works

Your property tax is based on what your county thinks your building is worth. Call it the county's "guess" at your value. The higher that guess, the higher your tax bill.

Sometimes the guess is too high. When that happens, you can push back. You file a complaint with your county's Board of Revision (BOR) — a local group that hears these disputes and can lower your value.

Here's the part that matters: most of your property tax money goes to your local school district. So schools have always paid close attention. Historically, if you'd just bought a building for more than the county's old value, the district could ask the county to raise your value up to what you paid — and higher value means higher taxes. If you asked for a lower value and won, the district could fight you and appeal to try to undo your win.

The law at the center of it all: House Bill 126

In 2022, Ohio passed House Bill 126 (HB 126). It put guardrails on all of this — limiting who could push to raise your value and when they could do it, and taking away the school district's power to appeal these value decisions to the state's Board of Tax Appeals. For a lot of owners, it brought real peace of mind and made tax bills easier to predict.

Both of 2026's big rulings are fights over that law. Here they are, in the order they happened.

First (late April 2026): an appeals court questioned HB 126 itself

The earlier — and less settled — story is worth having on your radar. In late April 2026, an Ohio appeals court looked at HB 126's guardrails and said parts of the law break the Ohio Constitution.

The reasoning, simply put: Ohio's Constitution says property taxes have to be applied fairly and evenly to everyone, and the court decided HB 126's limits didn't meet that "treat everyone the same" standard. So it struck those parts down.

Before you worry, here's why this is not panic time:

In other words, we're at halftime, not the final whistle. This ruling does not apply to Cincinnati, Dayton, or the rest of the state right now.

Then (May 29, 2026): the Ohio Supreme Court closed a loophole in your favor

About a month later, on a separate issue, owners got a clear win. Some school districts had never wanted to accept HB 126's limits, so they got creative. They tried to appeal to a different court — the common pleas court — using a general appeal law that isn't specific to property taxes. Their argument: "We have nowhere else to appeal, so this general law should let us in." It was a workaround, and it left a cloud of uncertainty over owners who had won.

On May 29, 2026, the Ohio Supreme Court shut that loophole down. In Olentangy Local School District Board of Education v. Delaware County Board of Revision, the Court ruled that school districts cannot use that general appeal law to challenge a Board of Revision decision. The reasoning was straightforward: that general law only applies when there's no other appeal path — and here, one still exists (the owner can always appeal). So the door is closed to the schools.

Bottom line from the Court: appeals of Board of Revision decisions to court are for the property owner, not the school district. When you win a reduction, the district can no longer drag you back into court to fight it. Your win sticks — less cost, less stress, less legal back-and-forth.

One important note: these are two separate cases on two separate issues. The May Supreme Court win did not resolve the April constitutional question — that one is still working its way up on its own track.

Why apartment owners should care more than most

Both of these stories land hardest on multifamily owners. Apartments change hands often, and sale prices are public record — so a recent, strong sale price is exactly the kind of event that gets a school district's attention and can push your value up. And higher taxes mean lower net income, which can mean lower property value. It's simply a number smart owners keep an eye on when they run their deals.

The Franklin County ruling is the reason to keep watching one front. The Supreme Court's decision now gives schools far fewer tools to force a higher value on the other.

The bottom line

• Today: Nothing changes for you. Your protections in Cincinnati, Dayton, and outside Franklin County are still in place.
• On the constitutional question: It's early, it's local, and it conflicts with another court. The Ohio Supreme Court will likely have the final say, and that's still ahead of us.
• On appeals: The Ohio Supreme Court just strengthened your position — win a reduction and it sticks.

No alarm bells. Just good information, shared early, so you're never caught off guard.

One honest caveat

I'm a broker and appraiser, not an attorney — this isn't legal advice, and parts of HB 126 are still being argued in other courts, so the full picture isn't 100% settled. If you think your value is too high, talk to a qualified property-tax professional or attorney about your specific situation. I'm always happy to point you to good people.

Hat tip to the team at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, whose clear client alerts I leaned on for both rulings. Read their write-ups: 10th District Declares Key Provisions of HB 126 Unconstitutional and Ohio Supreme Court Bars Boards of Education from Appealing Board of Revision Decisions.

This article is for general educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult your CPA and attorney regarding your specific situation.