EATON — The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that grain storage bins are considered personal property and will no longer hold a taxable value.

Grain bins are modular and portable as opposed to silos, which are fixed structures.

“This is a significant change to the appraisal and assessment of these properties in Preble County,” said Preble County’s auditor Lavon Wright, in a released statement.

The auditor’s office has already taken all value off any existing grain storage bins in the county, but the items will still appear on property record cards as personal property. They will not be taxed moving forward, as the change took effect on Jan. 1 and is to be payable in 2016.

“Every value in the county will be affected. The overall number will be minimal to the overall value of the county,” said Preble County’s deputy auditor Sean Maggard. “But the individual residents or farmers that have grain bins will see a deduction in their property values.”

The decision came after the Metamora Elevator Company was not happy with the value at which their property was assessed. They filed for a revision by Fulton County’s board of revision, who ruled that the assessment was sound.

Metamora then took the case to the Ohio board of tax appeals, who ruled in favor of Fulton County.

Not happy with the outcome, Metamora took the case one step further, heading to the Ohio Supreme Court – who once again ruled in favor with Fulton County and decided that grain storage bins were not a taxable item.

Anyone with questions surrounding the issue is encouraged to contact the Preble County Auditor’s Office at 937-456-8148. They can also check their property value by pulling it up on the auditor’s website.