The Six-Tier Source Hierarchy Behind Every Page
Every county auditor walkthrough on ohioauditors.org/ is built from the same evidence stack — county auditor portals first, the Ohio Auditor of State and Ohio Department of Taxation second, the Ohio Revised Code and Administrative Code third, the County Auditors' Association of Ohio (CAAO) fourth, the Ohio Sunshine-laws framework fifth, reputable Ohio press and research sixth. This page names the actual sources and explains how each tier is used.
What’s on this page
1. Why We Publish a Hierarchy
Ohio’s county-auditor system is decentralized across 88 county offices, each with its own portal, its own GIS interface, its own form numbering, and its own internal terminology. Layered on top are the Ohio Auditor of State (a separate constitutional officer), the Ohio Department of Taxation (state-level oversight), the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA), the County Auditors’ Association of Ohio (CAAO), and the Ohio Department of Agriculture (weights-and-measures policy). Without a clear hierarchy, it’s easy to publish content that sounds authoritative but is sourced from a third-party summary that itself misread the agency page.
The six-tier hierarchy below is how we decide what to trust as the source of truth. Tier 1 always wins for portal URLs, current procedures, current officials, and lookup procedures. Lower tiers are useful for context but are never the sole basis for a current portal URL or lookup procedure.
Issuing Offices — Source of Truth
The official portals run by Ohio’s 88 county auditors and the state-level offices that oversee or administer property-tax and county-finance matters. These are the source of truth for portal URLs, current procedures, current officials, and on-screen field labels.
| Source | What we use it for | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio’s 88 county auditor portals | Property search, tax estimator, BOR filing, Homestead Exemption, vendor’s license, dog license, weights and measures, current auditor’s name and contact | Linked on each county page |
| Ohio Auditor of State (Keith Faber) | Audits of all 5,600+ Ohio public offices; fraud reporting; technical bulletins; Ohio Compliance Supplement | ohioauditor.gov |
| Ohio Department of Taxation | State-level property-tax oversight; Division of Tax Equalization; sales tax; transient vendor’s license | tax.ohio.gov |
| Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) | Appellate body for property-tax appeals from county Boards of Revision | bta.ohio.gov |
| Ohio Department of Agriculture — Weights & Measures | State weights-and-measures oversight; coordinates with county auditors | agri.ohio.gov |
Ohio Revised Code (ORC) — Statutory Framework
The Ohio Revised Code is the state-level statutory authority for what county auditors must do, what’s public, what’s confidential, and what deadlines apply. The Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s LAWriter site is the authoritative version.
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| ORC Title 3 | Counties (general) |
| ORC §319 | County auditor — duties and authorities |
| ORC Title 57 / Chapter 323 | Real-property tax (collection, distribution, rollbacks) |
| ORC Chapter 5713 | Property valuation, classification, exemptions |
| ORC Chapter 5715 | County Boards of Revision and the State Board of Tax Appeals |
| ORC §5715.19 | Board of Revision complaint window — January 1 through March 31 |
| ORC Chapter 5739 | Sales and use tax; vendor’s license framework |
| ORC §5739.17 | County and transient vendor’s licenses |
| ORC §149.43 | Public Records Act — county auditor records are public |
| ORC §121.22 | Open Meetings Act — Board of Revision and Budget Commission |
| ORC §1349.19 | Data breach notification |
| ORC Chapter 1354 | Ohio Data Protection Act — cybersecurity safe harbor |
| ORC §2743.75 | Ohio Court of Claims public-records jurisdiction |
Searchable ORC: codes.ohio.gov.
Administrative Rules and Compliance Standards
The procedural detail layer — how the statutes are operationalized.
| Source | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) | Implementing rules of state agencies, including the Department of Taxation |
| Ohio Department of Taxation rules and bulletins | Property-valuation methodology, CAUV table, Homestead Exemption guidance |
| Ohio Auditor of State Technical Bulletins | Accounting and auditing guidance for Ohio public offices |
| Ohio Compliance Supplement (Auditor of State) | Annual compliance framework for audits of Ohio public offices |
Associations and Cross-County Bodies
The professional and association layer — used for cross-county comparison and assessor training context.
| Source | What it covers | URL |
|---|---|---|
| County Auditors’ Association of Ohio (CAAO) | Founded 1867; all 88 Ohio county auditors and fiscal officers; located 66 East Lynn Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215; (614) 228-2226 | caao.org |
| County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) | Cross-county-government policy and Board-of-Commissioners coordination | ccao.org |
| International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) | Assessor professional training; CAAO is an IAAO chapter | iaao.org |
Ohio Sunshine-Laws Framework and Public-Records Enforcement
Used for any procedural question about accessing county auditor records, attending Board of Revision or Budget Commission meetings, or escalating a public-records denial.
| Source | What it covers | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio Attorney General — Sunshine Laws Manual (Yellow Book) | Authoritative ORC §149.43 and ORC §121.22 training and reference | ohioattorneygeneral.gov |
| Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (Ohio guide) | Practitioner-oriented public-records guidance | rcfp.org |
| Ohio Court of Claims — Public-Records decisions | Rapid, low-cost forum for enforcing ORC §149.43 (under ORC §2743.75) | ohiocourtofclaims.gov |
Ohio Press and Peer-Reviewed Research
Used for context and background. Never the sole source for a current portal URL or procedure.
- Reputable Ohio legal and tax press
- Ohio State Bar Association tax-section publications
- Ohio County Officials Coordinating Council (OCCO) materials
- Peer-reviewed Ohio property-tax research
- Ohio Capital Journal, Ohio Public Radio, and other state-level press
Most Frequently Cited ORC Sections
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| ORC §319 | County auditor — general duties |
| ORC Chapter 323 | Property tax collection and distribution |
| ORC Chapter 5713 | Valuation, classification, exemptions |
| ORC Chapter 5715 | Boards of Revision; Board of Tax Appeals |
| ORC §5715.19 | BOR filing window — January 1 through March 31 |
| ORC Chapter 5739 | Sales tax; vendor’s license |
| ORC §5739.17 | County and transient vendor’s license |
| ORC §149.43 | Public Records Act |
| ORC §121.22 | Open Meetings Act |
| ORC §1349.19 | Data-breach notification |
| ORC Chapter 1354 | Ohio Data Protection Act safe harbor |
| ORC §2743.75 | Court of Claims public-records jurisdiction |
Federal Laws Referenced
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. | FCRA — Fair Credit Reporting Act |
| 15 U.S.C. §§6501–6506 | COPPA — Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act |
| 16 C.F.R. Part 312 | COPPA implementing regulations |
| 16 C.F.R. Part 255 | FTC Endorsement Guides |
| 17 U.S.C. §107 | Fair use |
| 17 U.S.C. §512 | DMCA safe harbor |
| 18 U.S.C. §1028 | Identity theft |
| 18 U.S.C. §1030 | Computer Fraud and Abuse Act |
Update Cycle
| Content | Review interval |
|---|---|
| County auditor portal URLs and current officials | Quarterly + post-election |
| Property search / GIS portals | Quarterly |
| Board of Revision deadlines & DTE forms | Annually (December for January window) |
| Homestead Exemption forms (DTE 105A/105G/105I) | Annually |
| Triennial update / sexennial reappraisal cycles | Annually |
| Ohio Revised Code citations | Annually + on legislative session |
| Ohio Auditor of State + CAAO leadership | Annually + post-election |
| External links sitewide | Quarterly |
Quality Assurance
- Two-editor sign-off before publication for every county page
- Live sample-search verification before publication
- Quarterly link-rot check across all external links
- Annual ORC citation re-verification on legislative session
- Reader-reported corrections logged and addressed within seven business days
- “Last reviewed” date on every page reflects most recent verification
Corrections
If a source on this page is wrong, outdated, or missing, please email info@ohioauditors.org with the subject line “Sources correction” and what you believe should be changed.
Read the Full Editorial Methodology
The seven-step verification process, AI policy, and corrections workflow are on the Editorial Policy.
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