The Ohio Senate passed legislation, originally sponsored by state Rep. David Thomas, to reform the process of property valuations and put it in local hands.

Called the Flip the Script Act, the bill puts county auditors in charge of the sales used to determine valuation changes, which happens every three years, and alters the burden to challenge sales to the Ohio Department of Taxation.

Currently, the Department of Taxation decides valuations using sales data, with county auditors able to appeal the data.

This reverses the process, thus the name of the bill.

The Senate approved the bill 31-0 Wednesday.

State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, said he co-sponsored the bill “because it allows for county auditors to flip the script. This allows for local control to determine home evaluation, which changes the current approach. This takes away the power from the Department of Taxation. The county auditors know their district better than the bureaucrats in Columbus.”

The House voted 93-0 on June 4 in favor of the bill.

Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign it into law.

Thomas, R-Jefferson, whose district includes portions of Trumbull County, said after the House passed the bill that it “emphasizes local input, ensuring those closest to the community have the final say in which home sales are considered during the property reappraisal process.”

This bill permits the Department of Taxation to file an appeal on a county auditor decision to the state Board of Appeals challenging the property sales included or excluded in a sample.

It requires the board to issue an appeal by the end of the tax year in which it was filed and moves the deadline for county auditors to submit the abstract to the state Board of Revision from the second Monday of June to the second Monday of May.

This proposal, Thomas said, was discussed in the Statehouse for a while with county auditors and taxpayers supporting the move to give control over what properties are used to change values to local county auditors.

Thomas has sponsored a number of other bills that deal with property tax reform.