COLUMBIANA CO., Ohio (WKBN) – Property owners in Columbiana County may have “sticker shock” when they open their latest tax bill because it’ll probably be a lot higher than normal.

Tax bills have been mailed recently and they reflect figures from the county’s latest re-appraisal of all 77,000 properties in the county.

Auditor Nancy Milliken says dramatically rising sale prices caused the Ohio Department of Taxation to increase what the county has to charge.

Milliken says some of those sale prices are significantly higher than the property’s appraised value.

“People from Pittsburgh, Cleveland come in and buy these properties. I know of two or three that they had to rehab right away before and they’re not even moved in yet because there’s so much wrong with it,” she said.

Milliken says unless property owners can successfully file a complaint with the Columbiana County Board of Revision, the tax bills cannot be reduced.