Understanding Property Taxes in Columbus

[Gurjot Grewal]

Hello BP,

I am trying to understand how property taxes work in Columbus to better analyze property. From the government website, " Ohio law requires counties to revalue all real property every six years with an update at the three-year midpoint as ordered by the Tax Commissioner of the State of Ohio." Some general numbers I found online are 2.18% on 1-3 units and 2.78% on 4+ units (although I assume this varies on the neighborhood). Also that the tax will be on the appraised value. 

A few concerns I have: 

- This user describes having to pay the taxes of the past 2 years on his new purchase even though he didn't own the property those years. Is this common? https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

-  Pull permits in Columbus and do a major renovation you can lock in the current taxes for 15 years

- read posts where users' tax rates skyrocket after a reassessment 

Questions: 

What can I do to analyze property information more accurately taking into account the possible tax hike? 

Is there any way for me to figure out how much the tax might be raised? 

Will doing a major reno allow me to lock in tax rates for 15 years? 

Would I have to pay property taxes on the years prior to me owning the property? 

Thanks Everyone