How to decrease property values in a region: Flood it, plague it with drug culture and abandon what’s left.
Compared to the others in Ohio, this is the state of affairs in the Southeast District.
Ohio is broken up into five districts: Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest. Home to a major university, Athens County is unlike most others in Appalachia.
Athens County’s total property valuation, which has increased for almost a decade, is about $939,312,540 for the 2012 tax year.
The presence of Ohio University keeps the housing market fresh and updated, as there are always students who are going to be renting houses and apartments in the city of Athens, said Athens County Auditor Jill Thompson.
“Athens’ numbers aren’t representative of the whole Southeastern District because Athens’ property values are more stable than other counties in Ohio,” she said. “Ohio University helps stabilize our market values.”
While Athens’ total valuation number — the overall value of every property in a county — stands out when compared to other counties in Southeast Ohio, Columbus’ Franklin County has more than 102 times the property valuation that Athens has.
In the 2012 tax year, Franklin County had a total real estate market value of $96.3 billion. That number, in part, is because Franklin is the largest county in terms of size and population, said Dave O’Neil, director of communications at the Franklin County Auditor’s Office.
“We’re doing far better than other counties,” O’Neil said. “The real estate market in central Ohio is relatively stronger than the rest of the state.”
Overall, Southeast Ohio’s property valuations are significantly lower than every other district in Ohio. Hocking County’s total valuation is $573,417,510.
Hocking County Auditor Kenneth Wilson said one reason the Southeast District might be falling behind in development is because it lacks a large metropolitan city.
“Large companies are typically looking for a well-educated, trained work force, and so the large clusters of companies that need 300-plus employees flock to large metropolitan cities for a more desirable workforce,” Wilson said. “It’s held us back a bit in the southeast, but I think there are some companies that might like a region like us here. But today, a lot of that hasn’t happened.”
az346610@ohiou.edu
