With the first property tax collection of 2024 behind us, some of them are still unpaid and have been for years. 

In Trumbull County, about 10% of properties have unpaid taxes and are considered delinquents. 

Mahoning County has about the same with 10% having unpaid taxes which equates to a loss of about 20 to 40 million dollars depending on the year. 

The Columbiana County treasurer, Bryan Blakeman, said he’s very aggressive at collecting taxes so their percentage of properties with unpaid taxes is 2.87.

“Just two three days ago I submitted with a prosecutor to go after a business that’s about 35,000 dollars delinquent and the same day I sent one in for less than 1,000 dollars on a residential property,” Blakeman said. 

If a property tax goes unpaid, a 10% interest rate gets tacked on, that continues for the next missed payment. Trumbull County’s Treasurer, Sam Lamancusa, said those fees are usually what causes the unpaid total amounts to get so high. 

“All of the sudden 1,000 dollars becomes 5,000 over just skipping four tax payments,” Lamancusa said. “It's going to accumulate quite quickly.”

If a property owner has missed two payments or a full year of taxes the counties are able to foreclose on the home. In each county, some of the delinquents' situations are uncollectable. In situations where an owner has filed bankruptcy, has died or has a certain court case pending that can prevent treasurers from foreclosing on a home to try and get that money back.

“We do try to do everything we can. You never want to take someone's home,” Blakeman said.  “Some of these properties people have basically walked away from them and it’s the only way to clean up a neighborhood.”

Not every home automatically gets foreclosed. In Trumbull County, they're focusing on closing the delinquent properties that are also bights.

Once the property is foreclosed it goes to auction. The bidder must pay all of the back taxes to get the property which allows the counties to recoup those lost funds in the long term. 

Short term - it costs the counties a lot in fees to foreclose on a house which is one reason why more aren’t done. The other reason is because the treasurers say they would rather work with property owners to work out a payment plan for the taxes. 

“It is primarily a case by case basis. We treat each one individually. We will work with anybody who is willing to work with us,” Daniel R. Yemma, the Mahoning County Treasurer said. 

Overall, if the taxes go unpaid, the money lost is a huge hit. 

“Entities that hurt the most are public schools,” Yemma said. “It’s a constant battle for them to balance their books and meet their finances. That's why we see levies and so fourth but the collection of real estate taxes can help alleviate the need for additional levies.”

“Who it does effect is the cities, municipalities and the townships especially in today's tax cycles when the state of Ohio has constantly reduced local government monies,” Lamancusa said. 

And if those taxes continue to go unpaid - the community as a whole suffers.

“You can’t live in a community and expect to get all the services that are offered and not have to pay your share,” Blakeman said.

All three county treasures recognized that sometimes, property tax payments are missed for legitimate reasons. 

“People were out of town, they’ve moved, they didn’t get a bill … maybe a medical issue has arisen,” Blakeman said. 

In those cases some of the treasurer offices forgive late fees. They all encourage anyone to call their office to speak to someone about working out a payment option.