Dear Applicant, 

The following information is necessary in completing your application for the tax incentive program but is not meant as legal advice. Please contact an attorney for legal advice.

If you choose to submit via mail, two applications are to be given to the Franklin County Auditor’s Office. One of the applications must be an original. Please be sure to include a copy of the signed tax incentive agreement. Also include any amendments, ordinances, resolutions, relocation notices, area boundaries, parcel listings and other information that may pertain to the incentive. Our office will complete the Auditor's findings and Treasurer's Certificate on the application. We will also provide a property record card and a map of the parcel before forwarding it on to the State of Ohio Department of Tax Equalization.

Please note: all taxes, penalties and interest levied against the property prior to and including the purchase year (and any year not applied for) and all current and prior assessments must be paid in full prior to our office forwarding the application to the Department of Taxation.

Recoupment and Special Assessments are not considered property tax and are not subject to this exemption.

Once the applications are received at the State, the decision to grant or deny could take several months. You will be notified of the decision by letter, from the Department of Taxation (DTE), at the address you provide on the application. Please contact DTE at 614-466-5744 for more information or questions regarding this process.

While the incentive is pending, you will continue to receive tax bills for the parcels filed on. Depending on which type of incentive you are applying for, you may either pay the bill in full or make a tender payment (partial payment) through our office. If you have further questions, please contact me at 614-525-4937.

Michael Stinziano
Franklin County Auditor

Melanie J. Brown, Deputy Auditor
Tax Incentives Division

General Instructions

• If you choose to apply online, please save one copy of the application. If you choose to apply by mail, submit two copies of this application to the auditor’s office in the county where the property is located (make a copy for your records). The final deadline for filing with the county auditor is Dec. 31 of the year for which exemption is sought. If you need assistance in completing this form, contact your county auditor.
• Both the county auditor’s finding (page 3) and the treasurer’s certificate (page 4) of this application must be completed. Ask your county auditor for the procedure to follow to obtain the treasurer’s certificate. When presented with this application, the county treasurer should promptly complete the certificate and return the application to you so it may be filed with the county auditor. The county treasurer should make certain that the treasurer’s certificate is complete and accurately reflects the paymentstatus of taxes, special assessments penalties and interest, by tax year. Obtain a copy of the property record card from the county auditor and enclose it with this application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure the information supplied by the county auditor and county treasurer is complete and accurate.
• Answer all questions on the form. If you need more room for any question, use additional sheets of paper to explain details. Please indicate which question each additional sheet is answering. This application must be signed by the property owner or the property owner’s representative. 

Your Franklin County Auditor's Office will complete the County Auditor's Findings for you.

Special Instructions for Tax Increment Financing Exemptions

If the applicant requests an exemption under Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) 725.02, 1728.10, 5709.40, 5709.41, 5709.73 or 5709.78, the application can be signed by the property owner, the property owner’s representative, the political subdivision without the property owner’s consent, or the political subdivision with the property owner’s consent acting under a power of attorney (attach DTE form 24P). If the application is signed by the political subdivision without the property owner’s consent, such exemption shall be subordinate to an exemption granted under any other section of the Revised Code and service payments shall not be required for the portion of the property exempt under that other section. If the exemption requested involves service payments in lieu of taxes and the application is signed by the property owner, the property owner’s representative, or the political subdivision with the property owner’s consent acting under a power of attorney, those payments will remain in effect for the term of the exemption even if the property is used later for another exempt purpose, unless the political subdivision consents in writing to the subsequent exemption. These service payments are also binding on future owners if the political subdivision or the property owner files a notice with the county recorder after the tax commissioner approves the application, unless the political subdivision consents in writing to the subsequent exemption. Failure to file such notice relieves only future owners from the obligation to make service payments if the property becomes exempt under any other provision of the Revised Code. Consent by a property owner filed with the tax commissioner after the commissioner has approved an application for exemption originally filed by the political subdivision without the property owner’s consent will trigger the same procedures mentioned above for an application filed by or with the property owner’s consent.