If you’re 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, or a qualifying surviving spouse, the Mahoning County homestead exemption can take roughly $29,000 of your home’s market value off the figure used to calculate your property tax. You apply once, through the Mahoning County Auditor at 120 Market Street in Youngstown, and the reduction stays in place as long as you keep the home as your primary residence and meet the income limit.
Who Qualifies
Three groups are eligible for the standard exemption:
- Homeowners who are 65 or older during the year they apply.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reductions in Taxable Value
- People who are permanently and totally disabled, at any age, with a physical or mental impairment that prevents substantially remunerative employment and is expected to last at least 12 months. A physician, psychologist, or qualifying state or federal agency must certify the disability.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.151 – Definitions
- Surviving spouses who were at least 59 on the date their spouse died, if that spouse was receiving the exemption at the time of death.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing
The house has to be your primary residence as of January 1 of the application year. If you own more than one property, the exemption attaches to the one where you’re registered to vote and file your income tax return. It covers the dwelling plus up to one acre of surrounding land.
The Income Limit and a Common Mistake
Unless you were already enrolled before tax year 2014, you have to meet an annual income test. For tax year 2025 real property (the bills payable in 2026), the cap is $40,000, up from $38,600 the prior year, and it adjusts for inflation each year.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing Homeowners who were receiving the exemption before 2014 are grandfathered and don’t have to meet the income threshold at all.
The number Ohio uses is not the adjusted gross income on your federal 1040. It’s Ohio Modified Adjusted Gross Income: Line 3 of your Ohio Individual Income Tax Return, plus any business income deduction from Line 13 of the Ohio Schedule of Adjustments.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing If you claim an Ohio business income deduction, your MAGI will be higher than your Ohio AGI. Check the Ohio figures before you assume you’re under the cap.
If you haven’t filed an Ohio return, the auditor’s office can estimate your income using Form DTE 105H and may ask for W-2s, 1099s, or other source documents.
How Much You Save
The exemption doesn’t erase your tax bill. It removes a set portion of your home’s true value from the taxable figure. The statutory base under Ohio Revised Code 323.152 is $25,000, adjusted annually for inflation; after adjustment, that comes to approximately $29,000 for the 2026 bills.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reductions in Taxable Value
Your dollar savings depend on local millage. The auditor multiplies the exempt value by the 35 percent assessment rate and then by your effective tax rate. For most Mahoning County homeowners, that works out to several hundred dollars a year, and the reduction appears automatically on the bill once your application is approved.
A Larger Exemption for Disabled Veterans and Line-of-Duty Survivors
Veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability rating, or who are compensated at the 100 percent rate for individual unemployability, qualify for an enhanced exemption that shields $50,000 of true value (adjusted for inflation) instead of the standard base.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.152 – Reductions in Taxable Value The enhanced version replaces the standard exemption rather than stacking on top of it, and there is no income test. A disabled veteran’s surviving spouse keeps the same enhanced reduction until death or remarriage.
Surviving spouses of peace officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and other first responders killed in the line of duty get a separate category based on approximately $52,300 of value (also inflation-adjusted), with no income limit, lasting until death or remarriage.4The Ohio Senate. State of Ohio Homestead Exemptions – FAQs
How to Apply in Mahoning County
The core form is DTE 105A, the Homestead Exemption Application for Senior Citizens, Disabled Persons and Surviving Spouses. You can download it from the Mahoning County Auditor’s website or pick one up at the office.5Mahoning County Auditor. Forms – Mahoning County Auditor You’ll need your Social Security number, date of birth, and the parcel number from your most recent tax bill.
If you’re applying based on disability, add Form DTE 105E, the certificate of disability, completed by a licensed physician or psychologist. A disability determination letter from a qualifying agency such as the VA or Social Security Administration can be used in place of the physician certificate.6Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.153 – Application for Reduction in Real Property Taxes Bring your Ohio income tax return, or the documents the auditor would need to estimate your Ohio income, to show MAGI under the threshold.
Mail everything or drop it off at the Mahoning County Auditor, 120 Market Street, 1st Floor, Youngstown, OH 44503.7Mahoning County Auditor. Mahoning County Auditor The office notifies you by mail once the review is complete.
Deadline and the One-Year Lag
For real property, file on or before December 31 of the tax year you want the exemption to apply to. For manufactured or mobile homes, the deadline is December 31 of the year before the tax year.8Ohio Department of Taxation. DTE 105A – Homestead Exemption Application for Senior Citizens, Disabled Persons and Surviving Spouses Late applications are allowed in some cases; call the auditor’s office early in the following year to ask, because that window also closes well before the next December.
Ohio property taxes are paid a year in arrears, so an exemption you file in 2026 shows up on the bills you pay in 2027. First-time applicants sometimes expect the next bill to drop. It won’t.
After You’re Approved
You don’t reapply every year. The auditor mails a continuing application, Form DTE 105B, and you only have to return it if something changed: you no longer own or occupy the home, your disability status changed, or your income went over the cap. Otherwise the exemption rolls forward.
Move to a new home and the exemption on the old one ends. File a fresh DTE 105A with the auditor in whichever county the new property sits.
Making a false statement on the application is a fourth-degree misdemeanor under Ohio law, and a conviction locks you out of the exemption for three years from the conviction date.3Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Tax – Homestead Means Testing The auditor can also strip an improperly granted exemption and recover the taxes that should have been paid. If your income or living situation changes and you no longer qualify, tell the auditor’s office rather than waiting for the audit.