Ron Hollenbeck introduced our speaker, noting that he is the former president of the County Auditors' Association of Ohio, where he was recognized as Ohio's Outstanding County Auditor in 2012.

  Ron said Karl is on the Executive Board of the County Auditors' Association of Ohio and is on the Animal Resource Center Advisory Board. He is a member of the Montgomery County Township Association, and the Southwest Municipal Finance Officers Association of Ohio. He is the president of the Ashland University Alumni Association and is a member of the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center. He lives in Dayton's Belmont neighborhood with his wife Doris and his dog Winston.

 Karl noted that Winston was number one dog in the county for two years, but has now given up his seat to another dog. He said he is the county's chief fiscal officer and also the county's sealer of weights and measures, so you will see his seal on gasoline pumps in the area. He also is in charge of selling dog licenses, and he reminded everyone that the deadline for getting a dog license is Jan. 31.

 Karl explained that the county does an update of property valuations once every three years with a comprehensive evaluation every six years. Since 2007/2008, property valuations have declined more than 12 percent, he said, for a loss of $3 billion for the county. This is the lowest level in more than a decade, he said. The update in 2014 was the third update since the Great Recession, he said.

In 2008 there was a one percent decline. Three years prior to that there was a 12 percent increase. In 2011 there was a 7 percent decrease. 

 Looking at 2014, Karl said that in July there were 160,000 parcels that had a loss, but by the end of the year that number was 170,000 parcels, representing more than a $1 billion loss. While residential was down 5 percent and commercial 2 percent in July, agricultural values were up 44 percent, due to a special formula used for them and the fact that there were high crop yields and profits that caused the change.

 The changes in values were not the same throughout the county, but varied in the urban core, the inner ring and the outer western townships, which are more agricultural in some places. He said the urban core went down 9 percent, with $600,000 in loss. The inner ring went down 4.4 percent and the outer ring had less than a one percent decline, with a total decline value of $15 million.

  He said valuations are determined by informal reviews, new construction, the Board of Review, and agricultural values. There were 8,400 informal reviews this past year. Some 2,400 people took advantage of on-line reviews, he said. In the informal reviews, 9 percent saw an increase, 57 percent saw a decrease and 34 percent saw no change.

 The deadline for filing appeals to the Board of Review is March 31, he said.

  Harvey Smith asked how they appraised the Arcade downtown, and Karl said when it was appraised in 2010  it had serious mold issues and deterioration and that it is appraised at about $1 a square foot. He said market rates have declined dramatically in downtown Dayton, though foreclosures are also down..

Payment options are available for farmers who may have problems with cash flow because of the large jump in taxes on agricultural parcels, he said.