The property tax rate in New Albany, Ohio depends on which side of the city your home sits on. New Albany straddles Franklin and Licking Counties, and parcels in the two counties fall into different tax districts with different combinations of county, township, school, and special-district levies. The Franklin County portion sits in Plain Township under Tax District 222, which historically carries one of the highest effective residential rates among Franklin County’s cities and villages. The Licking County portion sits largely in Jersey Township under its own district. Because the exact rate turns on your tax district and overlapping levies, the only reliable figure is the one listed for your parcel on the Franklin County Auditor or Licking County Auditor website.
How to Find Your Exact Rate
Both county auditors publish a full rate sheet each tax year, broken out by district, as a downloadable spreadsheet. Pull the rate for the specific tax district your parcel sits in rather than relying on a citywide average, because even within Franklin County the rate shifts if your parcel overlaps different township or special taxing boundaries. If you’re shopping for a home in New Albany, confirm the district before you commit to a budget; a parcel one street over can carry a noticeably different bill.
Turning Mills Into Dollars
One mill equals one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. Ohio taxes property on assessed value, not full market value. Under Ohio Revised Code 5715.01, assessed value cannot exceed 35 percent of the appraised market value, and the Tax Commissioner has set it at that 35 percent mark. So a home appraised at $500,000 has an assessed value of $175,000, and your millage rate applies to that $175,000.
To estimate your annual tax, divide your assessed value by 1,000 and multiply by your effective millage rate. A property assessed at $175,000 in a district with an 80-mill effective rate would owe roughly $14,000 before credits. Your actual bill will come in lower once credits are applied, but the arithmetic gives you a working number to compare against your budget.
The county auditor sets the market value, not you. That value is based on comparable sales, property characteristics, and neighborhood conditions as of the most recent reappraisal or triennial update. If you recently paid significantly more or less than the auditor’s listed value, your assessed value may not match the purchase price until the next valuation cycle catches up.
Why the Effective Rate Is Lower Than the Voted Rate
The total rate on your bill is the “effective” rate, not the “gross” rate voters originally approved. Ohio’s House Bill 920, codified at Ohio Revised Code 319.301, prevents voted levies from collecting more revenue simply because property values rose during a reappraisal. Each year the Ohio Tax Commissioner calculates a reduction factor for each voted levy so the levy collects roughly the same dollar amount from existing properties as the year before. The gross rate stays on the books; your bill reflects the lower effective rate. Only new construction adds revenue to a levy. Appreciation alone does not.
Some levies bypass this reduction and collect at their full voted rate regardless of value changes: inside millage (the first 10 mills of unvoted taxes), charter millage for municipalities, debt charges, and school emergency levies. These are the pieces of your bill that genuinely rise when values rise.
Credits That Reduce Your Bill
Ohio law requires county auditors to apply a 10 percent non-business credit to qualifying residential property tax levies, which reduces the tax charged on eligible levies before you ever see your bill. An owner-occupancy credit, historically set at 2.5 percent, also applies to owner-occupied homes, but only on levies approved before 2014. Any levy passed after that date does not receive the owner-occupancy reduction, so the credit shrinks as a share of your total bill each time voters approve a new levy.
In December 2025, the Ohio legislature restructured these two credits. The owner-occupancy credit will gradually absorb the non-business credit over several years, reaching a combined 15.38 percent reduction on pre-2014 levies by tax year 2029, when the separate non-business credit disappears entirely. For the next few tax years your bill will show both credits in shifting proportions as the phase-in proceeds. Total credits on older levies stay roughly similar during the transition; credits on newer levies will continue to be smaller.
Homestead Exemption for Seniors, Disabled Homeowners, and Veterans
Ohio’s homestead exemption directly reduces the taxable value of a qualifying owner’s primary residence. For tax year 2025 (the bills you pay in 2026), homeowners who are at least 65 years old or permanently and totally disabled can exempt $29,000 of their home’s market value from taxation, provided their total Ohio adjusted gross income does not exceed $40,000. Disabled veterans receive a larger exemption of $58,000 in market value, as do surviving spouses of public service officers killed in the line of duty, subject to the same income limit.
At the 35 percent assessment ratio, the $29,000 senior exemption removes roughly $10,150 from your assessed value, worth several hundred dollars off your annual bill depending on your effective rate. The veteran exemption removes about $20,300 in assessed value. Apply through your county auditor’s office. The exemption carries forward in later years as long as you continue to qualify.
Where Your Tax Dollars Go
The New Albany-Plain Local School District takes the largest slice of every property tax dollar in New Albany. School operating levies, bond issues for facilities, and permanent improvement levies together account for the majority of the total millage on a typical bill. The City of New Albany levies its own millage for police, road maintenance, parks, and general municipal operations. Franklin County and Licking County each collect taxes for county services such as the sheriff, public health, developmental disabilities programs, and the metropolitan library system. Smaller levies from entities like Metro Parks, joint fire districts, or regional transit authorities may also appear depending on your tax district. Each entity has its own line on your bill, which is why the total effective rate in New Albany sits well above what any single entity charges.
Payment Deadlines and Penalties
Ohio property taxes are paid in arrears, so the bills you pay in 2026 cover tax year 2025. The payment year splits into two halves. For 2026, Franklin County has set the first-half deadline at February 28 and the second-half deadline at no earlier than July 20. Licking County may set slightly different dates; the county treasurer’s office publishes exact deadlines each year.
Missing a deadline triggers a 10 percent penalty on the unpaid balance of that half’s taxes. Miss the first half and the penalty hits immediately. Miss the second half as well and another 10 percent lands on the remaining unpaid balance. Interest accrues monthly on top. Mortgage companies with escrow accounts typically handle payments directly, but if you pay your own taxes, mark both deadlines well in advance.
Appealing Your Property Valuation
If you believe the auditor overvalued your property, file a Complaint Against Valuation with your county’s Board of Revision. The statewide deadline is March 31 of the year following the tax year in question, and the same complaint form is used in every Ohio county. Download it from your county auditor’s website or the Ohio Department of Taxation.
The burden of proof falls entirely on you. The auditor’s value is presumed correct, and the county does not have to justify it. You need evidence that market value as of January 1 of the relevant tax year was lower than what the auditor assigned. The strongest evidence tends to be a recent arm’s-length purchase price below the audited value, a professional appraisal, or comparable sales showing similar homes sold for less. Damage to the property, increased vacancy in rental properties, or functional obsolescence can also support a reduction.
Fill out the complaint form carefully. Missing or incorrect entries can get your case dismissed before you present evidence. Franklin County parcels go to the Franklin County Board of Revision; Licking County parcels go through the Licking County Board of Revision. For high-value properties or complex disputes, a real estate attorney or tax consultant who regularly handles these cases knows which evidence panels find persuasive and can prevent procedural mistakes that waste a year of appeal rights.