Accountability & Public Finance
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Property Record Accuracy Matters:
What One Neighborhood Audit Revealed Property Record Accuracy is something most homeowners never think about—until they discover an error. Every day, homeowners, buyers, appraisers, lenders, and local governments rely on public property records. When those records are complete and accurate, they build confidence. When they contain errors or inconsistencies, they raise important questions about the…
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One Street. One “Audit” = 28% Inaccurate?!
Are Montgomery County Property Records Accurate? Can Montgomery County property owners trust the information in their public property records? To find out, I reviewed the Auditor’s public property reports for every home on one street. That street contains 46 homes. I expected to find an occasional mistake. Instead, I found missing information, obvious errors, rental-registration…
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Does Your New Property Value Make Sense?
What Every Homeowner Should Know A higher property value doesn’t automatically mean it’s wrong. It also doesn’t automatically mean it’s right. Before accepting a new assessment, homeowners should understand when a Property Value Dispute makes sense. Has your property value increased significantly? Do your neighbors’ homes appear to have much lower values? Did you recently…
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Tammy’s Approach to Property Tax Reform:
A Better Way Forward for Homeowners Over the past few weeks, months, and even years, I have listened to growing concerns about property taxes. My property tax reform approach comes directly from those conversations—because the frustration people are feeling is real, consistent, and cannot be ignored. IF the New Governor does not Dismantle the Property…
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German Township Trustee Meeting Recap:
Community Preparedness, Local Investments, and Transparency in Action One of the things I’ve learned while attending meetings across Montgomery County is that every community has different priorities. And, the German Township Trustee meeting reflected that well. Although the evening began with remarks from State Representative Rodney Creech discussing current legislation, I found the most valuable…
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County Financial Reserves Policy:
Who Decides How Much Is Enough? Over the past several weeks, we’ve taken a closer look at Montgomery County’s financial reports. We reviewed revenue, spending, and the patterns that have developed over the last 10 years. What we found was clear. The County is in a strong financial position. Revenues have increased.Spending has expanded.Assets, investments,…
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County Revenue and Spending Trends:
What Happened to $276 Million Over Budget? Over the past 10 years, Montgomery County collected more than $276 million above what was originally budgeted. That finding raised an obvious question: Where did that money go? To answer that, we didn’t rely on assumptions. We reviewed the County’s own financial reports—year by year—to understand both revenue…
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Our Current Property Tax System:
Budget vs Actual Revenue The Montgomery County property tax system is designed to estimate revenue, set a budget, and fund services for residents. Each year, officials establish expected property tax collections before the year begins. However, when we compare those projections to actual results, a clear pattern emerges. Year after year, more revenue comes in…
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Ohio Checkbook Montgomery County:
What I Found and Why Transparency Matters In a previous post, I introduced Ohio Checkbook and discussed the importance of making public information easier for taxpayers to access and understand. This week, I decided to take a closer look at what information is actually available throughout Montgomery County. What I found was encouraging. Several local…
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Montgomery County Government Transparency:
Can Taxpayers Easily Find Public Spending Information? Every year, Montgomery County residents pay property taxes that help fund schools, public safety, libraries, parks, road maintenance, county services, and local government operations. Most taxpayers understand that these services require funding. However, many residents struggle to answer a simple question: Where does the money actually go? As…