Tax Information — FAQ

Visit Real Estate Tax Due Dates.

• Mail the payment in the envelope provided with your tax bill.
• Pay in person at the Fairfield County Treasurer's Office, 210 East Main Street, Room 105, Lancaster.
• Use the drive-thru or Treasurer's drop box located at 135 W. Chestnut Street, Lancaster (open for 3 weeks prior to due dates — please call our office for dates and hours).
• Pay online with MuniciPay at Payments.Municipay.com. For IVR phone payments, call 740-279-3552. Fees: e-check = $1.00; card = 2.35%.

Fairfield County Treasurer, James N. Bahnsen.

Please contact our office at 740-652-7140 to make certain we have your correct mailing address on record. We will gladly send you a printout of your tax information. Another option is to send in a check for the correct amount due with the parcel number(s) written in the memo portion of your check. You can determine the amount of your taxes by visiting realestate.co.fairfield.oh.us to be directed to the Auditor's website. Search for your property by Parcel Number, Owner Name, or Address under QuickSearch in the upper-left corner of the page.

• Enter your search criteria and Submit.
• Locate your parcel number and click it to open your record.
• Click the Tax tab, which shows the taxes due for the current taxes payable in the next year.
• You may print a tax bill or pay your taxes using the Pay This Amount tab.

By law, our office must receive a written and signed request for a change of address from the party who was to receive the bill. Please contact your bank or mortgage company to discuss who is going to pay the tax bill before it becomes delinquent. If the bill was delivered to the bank or mortgage company and should be sent to you, please send written notice to the Treasurer's Office of the proper mailing address and indicate the parcel numbers of all property affected. If the bank or mortgage company should receive the bill, please have them send in a written request for the bill.

State law requires that we have the property owner's signature on the change of address request. A change of address form can be printed from our website, completed, signed, and mailed to our office at 210 East Main Street, Room 105, Lancaster, Ohio 43130.
› Change of Address Form

Your cancelled check will act as a receipt for tax payments. However, a receipt may be obtained by mailing in both the top and bottom portions of your tax bill along with a self-addressed stamped envelope with your payment.

No. Failure to receive a bill does not excuse you from paying penalty. Taxes are mailed out in January and June. If you do not receive your bill by the end of January or the middle of June, it is your responsibility to contact our office at 740-652-7140. A notice will also appear in the local paper prior to the due date.

Yes, though by law penalties can only be forgiven in certain circumstances.
› Application for the Remission of Penalty Form
Complete the form, print it out, and mail it to the Treasurer's Office.

Postal regulations state that the postmark of the due date is to be considered current if it is a US Postal Service postmark and good and valid payment is included. Postmarks from private postal meters are not accepted. Postdated payments are not accepted.

The penalty is 10% of the current taxes due according to Ohio Revised Code 323.17. Penalty is reduced to 5% for the first ten days from the tax due date. If current taxes become a full year delinquent, penalty is compounded. Interest is added on any prior delinquency August 1st. Interest will be added on December 1st for any unpaid taxes.

Once your taxes become delinquent more than a year, the Treasurer may file with the County Prosecutor's Office to sell the property at the Sheriff's Sales/Auction.

You may apply to enter into a Delinquent Tax Contract with our office that allows you to pay your delinquent taxes in installments, as long as the property is your primary residence and you have not defaulted on a prior payment plan. Please call our office at 740-652-7149 or return the Delinquent Payment Plan Request Form to discuss your delinquency payment plan options.

If you would like to file an appeal contesting the valuation of your property, please visit the Auditor's Board of Revisions to download the form, or contact the Board of Revision at 740-652-7030 and you will be sent an appeal form. Additional information is available at the Ohio Board of Revisions Resource Center. Upon receipt of your appeal form, the Board will notify you of your hearing date. In most cases it is not necessary to have an attorney with you, and the hearing will take less than an hour. Any information provided by you will be used in reconsidering the appraised value of your property. The deadline for filing appeals is from December (after the first-half tax bill is mailed) to March 31 each year.

You can view a current chart of tax rates. Tax rate sheets are also available in the Treasurer's and Auditor's offices. Please contact either office at 740-652-7140 or 740-652-7020 respectively.

If you recently purchased property, the previous owner's name will remain in the Owner Name area on your tax bill until the next year. This is because they were the owner as of January 1st of the tax year in which you purchased the property. This does not mean that you are not responsible for the payment of your real estate tax bill.

We have two options available for prepayment of your real estate taxes:

1. You may sign up for our Escrow Program, which allows you to pay monthly toward your future tax via check or automatic withdrawal. If interested, please visit Escrow Contracts. Once completed, mail them to our office at 210 East Main St. Rm. 105, Lancaster, OH 43130, or email them to FCTreasurer@fairfieldcountyohio.gov.
2. You may send in part payments and write the parcel number and "Pre-Tax" in the memo area of your check.

Your Market Value is multiplied by 35% to arrive at your Assessed Value. Your Assessed Value is then multiplied by the Effective Tax Rate for your political subdivision to arrive at your Gross Tax.

Tax levies are imposed in the year voted on by the citizenry. For example, during the regular May primary or November general elections, the levies passed by the voters are for that current tax year. However, the tax bills are payable in the following year. For example, if voters approve a five-year levy in November of 2011, the tax bills for 2011 will be payable in 2012.

Yes. It is called Homestead Reduction. The appropriate forms are listed under the Exemption Application section. Simply complete the form, print it out, and mail it to the Fairfield County Auditor prior to the deadlines. For assistance call 740-652-7020.

Yes. The appropriate forms are listed on the Auditor's Forms page, under the Miscellaneous Forms section.

Yes.
› Application for Owner Occupancy Tax Credit on Home
The appropriate form is the first entry under the Exemption Application section.

You can find this information on the Auditor's website. Search for your property by Parcel Number, Owner Name, or Address under QuickSearch in the upper-left corner of the page.

• Enter your search criteria and Submit.
• Locate your parcel number and click it to open your record.
• Click the Tax tab, which shows the taxes you have due for the current taxes payable in the next year.
• Click the Change Tax Year drop-down arrow and select the previous year.
• The payments for the year will appear in parentheses.
• If you are on Escrow through our office, you will need to call for the actual amount you paid for that given year.

1. Delinquent List (as of March 2026). The address shown is what the Treasurer's Office has for the mailing address, which may or may not be the physical property address.
2. You may also submit a records request. Please visit the County Public Records Policy.

1. You may mail updated account information to our office at 210 East Main St. Rm. 105, Lancaster, OH 43130.
2. You may email FCTreasurer@fairfieldcountyohio.gov. Be sure to include your name, parcel ID, and any account changes.