Photo: S. Griggs

Meet the neighborhood jackasses.

Most neighborhoods usually have their share of “jackasses” but usually the term is used to reference a human who neglects their lawn or has decided to paint their shutters orange.  Over Memorial Day weekend our new neighbors arrived- with the first mule braying his or way through the nights and off and on during the day.  It was funny but not to amusing because the homes backing up to the acreage (mine included) didn’t get much sleep for a few nights.

Now the “3 Stooges” or “3 Amigos” seemed to have settled into their new home and life is almost back to normal. While living in a standard suburban neighborhood- our street backs up to several homes with 1+ acre lots.  Many of the properties are currently classified as “agricultural” and enjoy the benefits of a lower property tax rate and ultimately pay much lower property taxes.

And that’s why we now have real jackasses in the neighborhood.  As counties, cities and the State of Ohio struggle to get more revenue -turning a blind eye on zoning classifications has ceased and lots of land owners are being notified pending zoning changes to residential from agricultural.  In some cases the zoning change can double the property taxes.  So for an owner currentyl paying $5,000 a year for acreage could end up paying $10,000 a year.  Higher property taxes fuels creativity and that’s the neighborhood jackasses are happily grazing just beyond the fence in the backyard.  Hopefully the other owners also facing rezoning won’t get too creative and we end up with chickens and pigs peeking through the fences.

Zoning classification changes and appealing property taxes takes some detailed research- if you need more information on what’s selling around you and values of properties in the area- Call/Txt