How Much Property Tax Are You Overpaying?
Commercial Property Sales Loophole Costs Small Business Owners Thousands

By Lucia Walinchus, Samantha Raudins, Ashton Nichols, and Chen Chang reporting for the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism, Eye on Ohio
Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann for Ohio News Connection

When Palmer Square, LLC recently wanted to sell their apartment building at 4121 Palmer Park Circle East in Columbus, they went through all the usual hoops that most homeowners are familiar with: they executed a purchase contract with the buyer, Manhattan Real Estate Partners, LLC, they ordered an inspection, and they obtained title insurance.

But selling the property outright would have cost $65,000 in conveyance fee taxes, and annual property tax would bump up an additional $309,000 dollars per year, with the property now valued at the agreed to purchase price of $35.25 million instead of the auditor’s value of $24.5 million. So instead, Palmer Square formed Palmer House Borrower, LLC. That new business received the property at 4121 Palmer Park Circle and its mortgage. Then they technically sold the business, and not the property. Conveyance tax due to Franklin County: $0.

Palmer Square is one of hundreds of such property deals taking place throughout the state of Ohio every year, and they are legal. To take a look at their potential cost, over the past ten months, the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism gathered millions of property records and matched them up with mortgage records to see how much undervaluations cost taxpayers, particularly small business owners.

Since many businesses are sold without borrowing money, for example by swapping stock or properties, calculating the full cost is not possible without looking at the finances of each company. But based on public records, LLC property sales currently cost the median Franklin County commercial business property owner an average of at least $4,893 per year, up to $65,642 in Hilliard.

In Cuyahoga County, the median commercial property owner paid an average of at least $2,928 more, up to $31,736 more in Richmond Heights.

In Warren County, neighboring Cincinnati, the median commercial property owner paid an average of $9,490 extra per year, up to $146,732 extra in Harlan Township.

The property LLC loophole hits taxpayer wallets three ways. First, the state loses out on conveyance taxes, the fees that property owners pay when they sell a property and hand over a deed. Depending on the county, property sellers have to pay $1 to $4 per $1,000 of property value－ but not if they are technically only selling the business that owns the property.

In Cuyahoga County, for example, public tax records show that only 779 businesses valued at $1 million or more have paid a conveyance tax since 1976.

Second, the property LLC loophole changes the tax bills of other taxpayers, particularly small business owners, who as a consequence pay a higher proportion of property taxes.

Warren County Auditor Matt Nolan said he was most concerned about not knowing the market price of large property sales, because then the then his whole tax base becomes skewed.
“If you just look at it on its face, it does looks like an increase to raise taxes. It’s not. For certain people I guess it would. But it would decrease taxes for most Ohioans, because we would properly value these commercial/industrial properties,” he said.

Third, out-of-wack property values also changes how taxes are assessed to build new public facilities. So for example, if a fire department needs to build a new fire station, the county auditor looks at current property values to determine the amount of taxes that need to be raised from everyone in that district in order to pay for it.

Fourteen jurisdictions have addressed the issue of business real estate sales in one form or another, including Florida, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washtington, Vermont, Connecticut, California and the District of Columbia. Most require that businesses pay a conveyance tax when the controlling ownership of a business changes hands between unrelated parties.

In Ohio, however, the measure hasn’t generated much steam. Last year, the County Auditors’ Association of Ohio circulated a draft bill but not a single legislator offered to sponsor it. This year, Mike Skindell, a Democratic representative in the Ohio House, drafted an amendment to the budget bill in an effort to regulate real estate taxes.

“I saw it as a tax avoidance measure, these LLC loopholes. They’re avoiding paying real estate transfer taxes, they’re avoiding paying higher property taxes. And it hurts our schools,” Skindell said.

But the Finance Committee Chairman’s office declined to include the amendment in the proposed budget bill.

Though the government loses money over time, unknown entity sales make the biggest impact on the bottom line of small commercial property owners.

Loder’s Shake Shoppe has been in North Royalton, Ohio, and Linda Watkins’ family since 1952, when it began as a walk-up ice cream counter.

Watkins is the executive of the property that has been in the family since her grandfather originally owned it. She said that running a small, family-owned business is more than just a job.

“We’re thinking, ‘I don’t want my kids to take it over’ because you have to dedicate your life,” Watkins said. “You have to enjoy it, and you have to make the decision to do it.”

Watkins — whose taxes on the property just increased — said that keeping up with the expenses of maintaining the property and learning to get the most out of their taxes is hard as an independent business, and she said she doesn’t believe it is fair for some real estate to avoid paying the appropriate amount of taxes.

“We’re so busy working our business, we don’t know all those kinds of ropes,” Watkins said.

With a profit margin that has been decreasing since previous generations ran Shake Shoppe, Watkins said that any extra change would be put right back into the store as she tries to keep it open as long as possible before closing for the winter.

“Even though it looks busy, there’s always something that you never figured on, and it takes that change to cover the cost,” Watkins said.

Property tax rates are set based on the amount that a given levy needs to raise and the value of property on the books. So for example, if the amount of taxable value doubled in a district, that would cut the property tax rate in half.

Ohio has two county property tax rates. One is for commercial properties, and the other is for residential and agricultural properties. So if a large commercial property is undervalued, Ohio still collects that tax money—from other properties. Owners of small commercial properties, whose property values are harder to obscure, then end up paying more than they would in a transparent system.

True property tax values are often an emotional issue. Market rates are determined by what a hypothetical buyer would pay, and then property owners pay a percentage of that in actual dollars. For example, in the past economic downturn, property owners sued Cuyahoga county, claiming that their tax rates didn’t go down enough. To get the most conservative estimate, Eye on Ohio looked only at recent actual sales to calculate the cost to property owners. Learn more about our methodology, and see our code here.

Technically anyone can go to a Board of Revision to contest a property value, though in practice it’s usually school districts, who get the lion’s share of property taxes.

“There’s a number of reasons for having the entity transfers, but clearly one of the major reasons is that the schools across the state have been extremely aggressive in picking up all deed transfers of commercial property where the sale has been higher than the value on the tax duplicate and have been filing with the board of revision to get that increased. So this is a way to not disclose the sales price to the public,” said Robert Weiler, a commercial real estate appraiser in Columbus for over 50 years.

“Sometimes you have a situation where the entity might have a whole bunch of properties. Suppose you’re buying the Panera on High street. I’m just making this up- you’re buying the Panera on High street. And maybe the guy has twenty Paneras. And you’re just buying the one on Broad and High. Then you might have him or her take that one property and transfer it to one of their own entities, a separate entity. So that the buyer comes along and buys the entity. But the whole purpose, scheme as it were, is so that you don’t have to file a deed.”

On September 10, the Supreme Court of Ohio will hear oral arguments in the Palmer House LLC case. Representatives of Palmer House did not respond to repeated requests for comment, though in court documents they have contested the mortgage value as the true value of the property.

Ohio has 31 other exemptions to the Conveyance Tax besides transfers between businesses, such as gifts of land within a family, or a transfer involving the government or a nonprofit. Officials don’t keep statistics on the reason for exemption.

Small business owner Sonya Staffan, 56, of Lebanon, Ohio bristled at the thought of avoiding the tax. She owns a canning business, a retail outlet, and a rental house which she says she has considered unloading.
“We’ve thought about selling it and then buying an equal or greater property in Michigan for retirement but the conveyance tax is exactly why (we can’t),” Staffan said.

This investigation made possible via a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

Lucia Walinchus, Samantha Raudins, Ashton Nichols, and Chen Chang report for Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism, Eye on Ohio. Mary Schuermann reports for Ohio News Connection.


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A coalition of South Dakota groups is voicing its opposition to a ballot measure intended to end a state sales tax on consumables.

If passed this November, Initiated Measure 28 would repeal the state's 4.2% sales tax on "anything sold for human consumption," including food and other products from toothpaste to tobacco, CBD and vaping products.

Sandra Waltman, director of public affairs for the South Dakota Education Association, said the teachers union opposes the repeal because it does not include a plan to replace the money the current tax contributes to education.

"Our main reason for opposing this is the lack of a plan for replacing the $176 million and what that will do, not only for K-12 students but for higher education," Waltman explained. "Districts would probably be looking at a very bare-bones budget."

Currently, Waltman said about 60% of public school funding comes from state coffers, and the other 40% from local property taxes. She called the potential effect on education "drastic," saying they could lead to fewer teachers, larger class sizes and cuts to newer resources like mental health support and programs for career and technical education.

Proponents of the measure said repealing the tax could help the nearly 9% of South Dakotans who are food insecure but Waltman countered the same people would likely feel the effects of underfunded school systems.

"To repeal one tax without a more broad conversation about how you replace that revenue is shortsighted, and we think you shouldn't just be repealing a tax without a plan."

Other groups opposing the measure include the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Dakotans Against a State Income Tax and the South Dakota Farm Bureau.

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North Dakota officials will highlight a new project today to boost childcare access for parents with nontraditional work hours.

A local provider likes what the state's been doing to help facilities and families but hopes for more action. Health and Human Services leaders will appear at a child care facility in Fargo to discuss a pilot initiative, giving operators financial incentives to increase capacity for childcare slots outside the hours of 7:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m.

Kathy Busche, owner of Kathy's Kids Daycare in Hazen, said she will need to see more details but would have interest in signing up. She explained it has been a big need in her area.

"We're right in the middle of coal country and so, a lot of our plant workers are working 12-hour shifts, starting at 6:30 in the morning," Busche observed. "We have hospital workers that are working 12-hour shifts."

The announcement is part of a series of investments the state adopted last year to ease the childcare burden felt across North Dakota. Busche noted she especially likes the inclusion grant to provide day care for kids with special needs. She feels the state could go further in offering incentives to retain staff.

The state has been providing a stipend, which maxes out at $3,600, to help stabilize the child care workforce. Busche emphasized her workers have already used up their portions.

"Now, there's really no incentives left to keep staff," Busche contended. "Without staff, we can't have more kids."

Busche feels the state should not write a "blank check" to address problems and wants policymakers to keep evaluating what is working. She hopes staff retention is among the topics state lawmakers revisit when they return to session early next year.

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By Ashli Blow for Tennessee Lookout.
Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Tennessee News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

Rebecca Maino would set aside $20 each month for her house repairs. Her aging home in Memphis had a leaky sink, an outdated air conditioner, and holes in the walls.

It just wasn’t enough to cover the costs. On her limited budget, she couldn’t manage to save more money while paying her family’s bills.

“When [contractors] come in and the scope of work that they tell you is thousands of dollars, people that are on fixed incomes that have worked their whole life to pay their home off, they simply cannot afford that,” said Maino. 

Over the years, the inconvenience evolved into a safety concern. With the increasing frequency of extreme weather — like last week’s deadly, subfreezing temperatures — her energy-inefficient home was becoming a health risk. Maino turned to Memphis Gas Light and Water (MLGW) and their weatherization program that could help with improvements. 

As storms intensify, environmental coalitions are backing these assistance programs as a viable climate solution in southern cities like Memphis. Weatherization gives residents the resources they need to protect themselves while reducing energy use from sources that emit climate-altering pollution. It also reduces energy during peak power demands that Tennessee now experiences as people try to stay warm in winter weather.

Weatherization programs have a longstanding presence across the nation. It’s a strong policy framework that MLGW has adapted into a program that is uniquely its own, some of which comes down to Memphis grit: the people behind the program who are dedicated to working hard for their community. 

“I take my job personally, because I came from a challenging upbringing right here in Memphis. I know what it’s like to be cold in the wintertime, hot in the summertime, and not having a lot of necessary needs to be met,” said David Wright, the technician who was assigned to Maino’s case. 

“We can’t rebuild a house all over again,” he said. “We try to make the [recommendations] the best that we possibly can give to a customer and to meet the needs they have.” 

When Wright showed up at Maino’s doorstep, that’s exactly what he did. He walked Maino through the issues while writing a work order that prescribed her a new air conditioner and heater, pipe repairs, and wall patchups. That order also identified the contractors responsible for installing appliances and making the necessary fixes. 

Maino never received an invoice, because the ratepayers had it covered. 

$8.3M in ratepayer donations funds weatherization projects 

In 2016, a MLGW customer-led advisory board told the utility it wasn’t doing enough with Share The Pennies—a small program that rounded up utility bills to the next whole dollar for weatherization services. For three years, customers were given the option to donate their extra change, but many weren’t checking the box. 

The board worked with Memphis City Councilmember Patrice Robinson to propose a resolution that would make Share The Pennies an opt-out program, asking customers to remove themselves if they didn’t want to participate. The city council passed it. 

Margie Borrum-Smith took the calls from unhappy customers. 

“People would say, ‘I don’t want anybody telling me what to do with my money,’ but when they hear about what’s going on, they want to participate,” said Borrum-Smith, who is now the manager of MLGW’s energy services and oversees the Share The Pennies program. 

Customers contributing to the program give about $12 each year, resulting in a collective revenue of $8.3 million. It has funded the weatherization of 935 homes. 

But, managing the program budget is not just about the quantity of work, it’s about the quality of the work, said Borrum-Smith. 

MLGW technicians oversee home projects from beginning to end. To perform services, they are required to hold certification as a home energy rater, an accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Trained to conduct ethical inspections and uphold industry standards, they offer cost-saving recommendations and investments in sustainable appliances such as heat pumps—an energy-efficient technology capable of both heating and cooling homes.

During installations, technicians collaborate with a roster of 41 local contractors, with many being small businesses owned by people of color and women. Together, they adhere to a set of standards and code enforcements.

“In the end, the technician has to sign off and the customer has to sign off,” said Borrum-Smith. “It’s the technician that should be asking, ‘are you satisfied?’ Because we shouldn’t let anything pass that should not be like we want it in our home.” 

The demand for weatherization services exceeds what Borrum-Smith’s team can currently meet. In addition to better living conditions, people want more affordable monthly utility bills. 

Memphis has one of the highest energy burdens nationally, where families or individuals allocate a significant portion of their income to utility bills. Thirteen percent of households face energy burdens, nearly 10% higher than the national average, as reported by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. 

MLGW’s next enrollment period opens on Tuesday. The utility partners with the Metropolitan Interfaith Association to manage the hundreds of people who ask for weatherization services. In past years, they’ve received so many applications, they closed the portal in just a day. 

Borrum-Smith hopes that the program can eventually offer a second enrollment period each year, but this expansion would require more funding. Despite that MLGW receives federal and state funding for weatherization programs, as well as contributions from ratepayers, meeting the pace and scale of demands will require more funding. 

Energy efficiency as a solution in motion 

Weatherization is among America’s oldest resiliency policies. 

In response to the 1973 oil crisis that brought about soaring energy costs, the U.S. The Department of Energy created its weatherization assistance program. Now, nearly half a century later, the Biden administration is using similar approaches as a tool to meet climate targets with unprecedented funding packages for clean energy. 

“Weatherization is key from a climate resilience standpoint,” said Will Bryan, policy director with the Southern Energy Efficiency Alliance. 

“There are two dimensions to this,” he said. “There’s certainly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is vital and which weatherization does. The other benefit improves the kind of resilience of a household in the face of climate impacts.”

The impacts of climate change, such as hotter summers and more intense winter storms, pose dual threats to both safety and the operational integrity of energy grids. Tennessee Valley Authority, the energy provider for MLGW, has been grappling with these challenges. 

In recent years, the utilities have implemented rolling blackouts due to high electrical demand that strains its energy grid. Just last week, they jointly issued energy conservation alerts, urging customers to voluntarily reduce their energy usage when temperatures dropped to single digits.

While cohesive emergency plans and the adoption of clean energy sources are imperative for a holistic climate response across Tennessee, these solutions are years away. But weatherization already has a strong policy groundwork. 

That’s why Bryan and his colleagues at SEEA are actively aiding state energy offices now on home energy programs, offering guidance on effective strategies for administering and allocating federal funding. He anticipates that millions of dollars could come through Tennessee because of initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These funding packages offer rebates and other funding streams that can be used to directly lower the cost of energy improvements. 

Already, Memphis city planners funneled $500,000 awarded from the American Rescue Plan Act into the Share The Pennies program last year. 

As program managers and energy consultants try to expand their financial resources for weatherization programs, they are grateful to customers like those at MLGW who are helping their neighbors. This accessible and dependable revenue source is something even Share the Pennies participants, like Maino herself, can contribute to. With her monthly utility costs now $30 lower, Maino rounds up her bill, passing on the assistance to others. 

“Everybody wants to be Bill Gates. Everybody wants to be Warren Buffet, but the reality is when you’re a single mother, like I am, I don’t have the liberty to sit here and write a $10,000 or $10 million check,” said Maino. “But rounding up to the nearest dollar, that’s not going to affect anyone’s bottom line.”


Ashli Blow wrote this article for Tennessee Lookout.


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