When you compare two Hudson homes this fall, whose tax bill are you really looking at? The annual tax figure on a listing comes from a bill the seller already paid. It reflects the seller's assessed value, the seller's occupancy status, and the credits the seller filed for. A buyer who closes in November or December inherits only part of that picture.
Several changes reach the same tax bill, the one mailed in January 2027. Summit County's 2026 reappraisal raised average residential values in Hudson by 18%. Ohio's 2025 property tax package, in effect since March 20, 2026, has started to separate the treatment of owner-occupied homes from every other kind of residential property. And the credit that rewards living in your own home ends when the house is sold, so a buyer has to apply for it again under the county's January 1 rule.
The credit that ends at closing
The Summit County Fiscal Office describes the owner-occupancy credit as "a reduction in the taxes charged by qualified levies." The office states its rules plainly on its owner-occupancy page:
To receive the owner-occupancy tax reduction, you must own and occupy your home as your principal place of residence on January 1 of the year you file for the reduction. Applications should be submitted by December 31 of the year you qualify. Rental properties are ineligible.
The same page says the reduction "remains until the property transfers." The seller's credit does not pass to the buyer. Each new owner has to qualify and file again.
The county's rule is tied to January 1, so the date of your closing affects when you can first apply. The filing uses form DTE 105C, which asks for the parcel, the tax district, the owner, and the date the property was acquired, and is due to the county by December 31. The version the county links still lists the owner-occupancy credit at 2.5%, which was the rate before the 2025 law. The form is still how you apply, but its percentage is out of date.
Missing this credit always cost something. What changed in 2026 is that it now costs more each year.
Occupancy now carries more weight every year
House Bill 186, signed December 19, 2025 and effective March 20, 2026, changes the two residential rollbacks that Ohio homeowners have received for decades. According to the Legislative Service Commission's final analysis, the 10% nonbusiness rollback is phased out for residential property over four years. Over the same period, the 2.5% owner-occupancy rollback rises to 15.38%.
Adding the two together year by year shows the effect:
| Tax year | Nonbusiness rollback | Owner-occupancy rollback | Total, owner-occupied home | Total, rental or non-primary home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before HB 186 | 10% | 2.5% | 12.5% | 10% |
| 2026 | 7.5% | 5.70% | 13.2% | 7.5% |
| 2027 | 5% | 8.92% | 13.92% | 5% |
| 2028 | 2.5% | 12.15% | 14.65% | 2.5% |
| 2029 | 0% | 15.38% | 15.38% | 0% |
Under the old rules, a house where the owner lived and an identical house that was rented out differed by 2.5 percentage points of rollback. By tax year 2029 the gap is the full 15.38 points, because the LSC analysis says the act eliminates the rollback "for residential property that is leased to renters or otherwise not used as the owner's primary residence." The changes begin with tax year 2026. Ohio collects real property tax a year in arrears, so the first bills affected are the ones mailed in January 2027.
For a Hudson buyer, this means the tax line on a listing reflects how the seller occupied the house. If the home was a rental or a second residence, the history describes a rollback level that shrinks every year. If the seller lived there, the history assumes a credit the buyer has to apply for. In both cases, the occupancy that matters for your bill is yours.
Hudson's 18% falls in the middle of its neighbors
The reappraisal is the change most people have heard about. Summit County reappraises all property every six years and updates values at the three-year midpoint. The 2026 reappraisal set market values as of January 1, 2026, using 2025 sales. The Akron Beacon Journal's community-by-community table, drawn from Fiscal Office figures, puts Hudson's average increase at 18%. That matches the countywide residential average.
| Community | Average value increase, 2026 reappraisal |
|---|---|
| Twinsburg | 12% |
| Macedonia | 14% |
| Stow | 17% |
| Hudson | 18% |
| Bath Township | 20% |
| Boston Heights | 28% |
| Peninsula | 33% |
If you are choosing between Hudson and one of these neighbors, the spread tells you which markets the county saw moving fastest in 2025 sales. It does not tell you how much anyone's bill will go up. Summit County assesses property at 35% of appraised value. Under House Bill 920, passed in 1976, the state adjusts reduction factors so that voted levies keep collecting roughly the same revenue when values rise. Fiscal Officer Kristen M. Scalise writes on the county's reappraisal dashboard that "property taxes normally do not increase proportionately when valuations increase."
Dominic Basile, the Fiscal Office's director of real estate and appraisal, gave Ideastream Public Media an example: "if your property value goes up 20%, most likely you will not see a 20% increase in real estate tax." In the same story, the Mahoning County Auditor said an average 38% value increase in that county's last revaluation turned into a 7% increase in property taxes, and that new and retiring levies, levy limits, and new construction all affect the final rates.
Hudson's 18% will be softened before it reaches anyone's bill. The rollback and credit changes in the table above are applied after that, separately.
The other rules shaping the first bill
Two more pieces of the 2025 package apply to this reappraisal. House Bill 335 requires each county budget commission, in a reappraisal or update year, to adjust inside millage, the unvoted portion of the tax rate, so that its revenue grows no faster than the GDP deflator over the prior three years. Summit County's 2026 reappraisal is one of the first done under that limit. House Bill 309 gives county budget commissions more authority to reduce levies they consider unnecessary or excessive. Both took effect March 20, 2026, according to the LSC's digest of 2025 enactments.
The county cannot yet tell anyone what their new bill will be. Its dashboard explains that taxes based on 2026 values are not available because the Ohio Department of Taxation does not set the adjusted effective tax rates until late December 2026.
Hudson voters will not add a new property tax levy on Tuesday. The Summit County Board of Elections issue synopsis lists the city's November 3 question as natural gas aggregation. Several nearby townships and school districts do have levy questions on their ballots, but none of those lists establish that they apply to Hudson parcels.
The calendar from now to the first bill
- November 3, 2026. Election Day. Hudson's city issue is gas aggregation, not a property tax levy.
- Late December 2026. The Ohio Department of Taxation sets the adjusted effective tax rates that turn 2026 values into actual bills.
- December 31. This is the county's yearly deadline for filing the DTE 105C owner-occupancy application for anyone who qualifies that year.
- January 2027. Tax bills reflecting the 2026 reappraisal and the first year of HB 186's rollback changes are mailed.
- January 1 to March 31, 2027. The window for filing a formal valuation complaint with the County of Summit Board of Revision. The DTE 1 form becomes available January 1. The informal review period closed August 27, 2026.
Everything above is general information drawn from county and state sources. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Please confirm how these rules apply to your purchase with the Summit County Fiscal Office or a qualified tax professional.
Quick answers
Does Hudson's 18% increase mean taxes go up 18%? No. The county says HB 920 normally keeps taxes from rising in proportion to values, and the final rates will not be set until late December 2026.
If the seller had the owner-occupancy credit, do I keep it? No. The county says the reduction lasts until the property transfers. A new owner has to meet the January 1 occupancy rule and file DTE 105C.
I'm buying a Hudson home to rent out. What changes? Under HB 186, the rollback for residential property that is not the owner's primary residence drops to 7.5% in tax year 2026 and reaches zero in tax year 2029.
If you are weighing a Hudson home this fall and want to know how its tax history compares with what you would actually owe, along with the dates that matter around your closing, Katerina Alix can review the parcel with you and point you to the county sources to check before you sign. Let's Connect.
