Income & Real Estate Taxes

Income Tax
The municipal income tax rate in the City of Highland Heights is 2% on all wages. This tax is imposed on the gross payroll and net profits of all businesses located within the city. However, residents are provided a credit of 100% up to 2% on taxes paid to another city.

RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency) acts as our city’s Tax Department. They oversee the collections of the income tax for the City of Highland Heights. They collect and distribute all income tax revenues within the city. You may owe income tax if your workplace city is at a rate below 2% or if other taxable income has no tax withheld. RITA forms and information can be accessed online.

Real Estate Tax
The voted real estate tax rate is 110.75 mills. It is approved by the voters in the Highland Heights taxing district for the collection in year 2014. A mill is equal to 1 dollar ($1) for each 1 thousand ($1,000) dollars of assessed valuation.

The effective tax rate, the rate that you actually pay, is 74.09 mills. That means for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, you pay $74.09. Your assessed value is 35% of your market value.

Of your total real estate tax bill, 64.2% goes to the Mayfield School District, 27% goes to Cuyahoga County, 3.4% goes to the Library and 5.4% is received by the city.

To estimate your real estate taxes for the City of Highland Heights:
  1. Take the market value of your home
  2. Multiply it by 35%
  3. Divide by 1,000
  4. Multiply by 74.09
  5. This is your annual tax liability, to this number you must add any special assessments on your property.
    • Example: $200,000 home x .35 / 1,000 x 74.09 = $5186.30
Additional real estate and tax information can be obtained on the County Auditor website.

Tax Increases
Your taxes can increase for a variety of reasons, the most common being voted tax increases. Additionally, the county updates their property records every 3 years, which typically increases the value of your home.

Special Assessments
The city assesses for street lighting and sewer maintenance. The combined amount for these 2 assessments is likely under $150 per year. These assessments are city-wide and for a continuing period. Some homeowners have additional assessments relating to their specific property or subdivision. You may contact the Finance Department for further information.

Assessment Time Frame
Street lighting and sewer assessments are continual, annual assessments. If you have other assessments unique to your property, they typically run for a specific time. Please contact the Finance Department for further information.

Street Lighting
Street lighting is a benefit to all residents of the City of Highland Heights regardless if a street light is directly in front of your property or on your street. All residents are assessed a small amount each year on their property tax bill for this service.

Paying Off Assessments
When projects are assessed to an individual property, the home owner is notified of the assessment and given the opportunity to pay for the improvement; otherwise, the city pays for the improvement with bonds and uses the proceeds of the assessments to pay off the debt. For this reason, most assessments are tied to a debt schedule and not subject to payoff (i.e. in most instances, you can not pay off assessments early).