Ohio homeowners who are 65 or older have until December 31 to get a homestead exemption application to their county auditor. That cutoff is the same in Franklin County, home of Columbus, and in Warren County, whose auditor works out of Lebanon. Both counties treat the end of the year as the last day for the current application period.

The homestead exemption is a property tax reduction for Ohio homeowners who are older, disabled or the surviving spouse of someone who qualified. It is tied to the tax year in which the application is filed, the Franklin County Auditor’s Office says, and applications for real property “must be filed on or before December 31.”

Who can file in each county

Franklin County’s rule is that an applicant must be “65 years of age, or turn 65, by December 31 of the year for which they apply.” A homeowner whose 65th birthday falls on December 20 still makes it. The county also lists total and permanent disability and surviving-spouse status as other routes in.

Warren County’s page says applicants must be at least 65, and that a surviving spouse can qualify at 59 or older. So for any homeowner 65 or older who owns and lives in a house in either county and has not filed yet, the job before the year ends is one form: the DTE 105A, which is the state’s homestead exemption application. Franklin adds that ownership and occupancy must be established as of January 1.

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The $41,000 income cap

Ohio’s exemption has an income test, and both counties publish the same number. Franklin says that for the 2026 application period, “the maximum allowed is $41,000 total income in 2025.” That is the modified adjusted gross income of the applicant and spouse, and the limit is adjusted each year for inflation.

Warren County’s auditor says the same thing in other words: 2025 Ohio income “may not exceeded $41,000” for the 2026 tax year, and the state may raise the limit in future years. Spread over twelve months, $41,000 comes to about $3,417 a month on average. The year matters, because the test looks at 2025 income, not what comes in during 2026.

Franklin County says it checks income through Ohio tax records where it can. Where it cannot, an applicant has to send supporting tax returns or Form DTE 105H. Applicants who were grandfathered in from earlier years file an extra form, the DTE 105G, according to both counties.

Where each county wants the form

In Franklin County, the DTE 105A can be filed online or by mail, and the Auditor’s Office will send one to anyone who asks at 614-525-3240. The office also takes applications in person at 373 S. High St. in Columbus. Its main line is 614-525-4663, and the details are on the auditor’s homestead FAQ.

Warren County asks for the completed form by mail at 406 Justice Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036. Its homestead exemption page names Matt Nolan as county auditor and lists 513-695-1235 for questions. The page also carries a separate Certificate of Disability, Form DTE 105E, for homeowners applying on disability grounds.

One difference in wording is worth knowing. Franklin says applications must be “filed” by December 31. Warren says they must be “received” no later than December 31st of each year, so a mailed form there has to arrive by that date rather than merely be postmarked.

Mobile homes, disability and special cases

Not every homeowner follows the same calendar. Franklin County says applications for manufactured or mobile homes are due by December 31 of the prior year, a full year ahead of the real property deadline. Owners of a mobile home who are 65 or older should ask the Auditor’s Office which date applies to their situation.

The age rule is only one door in. Franklin lists total and permanent disability as a separate basis, and Warren’s page carries its own forms for disabled veterans and for spouses of public service officers killed in the line of duty. Warren calls the second one the Enhanced Homestead for Spouses of Public Service Officers Killed in the Line of Duty.

In both counties, the exemption is something the homeowner has to ask for. Neither page describes an automatic reduction for older owners. The form goes to the auditor, the auditor checks age, ownership and income, and the exemption follows only if the form is on file.

Nine weeks to the cutoff

From the last week of October, that leaves about nine weeks. Both auditors describe the same sequence: confirm the age, confirm that 2025 income fits under $41,000, and get the DTE 105A in before the calendar turns.

The open question for most households is the income line. A married couple needs the combined total for 2025, and the Franklin County Auditor’s Office says the figure covers the applicant and spouse together. Whether that total sits under $41,000 decides whether the form is worth filing.

Homestead form still on the table?

With the cutoff on December 31, the question is whether the 2025 income fits under the $41,000 line and whether the DTE 105A is ready.

A missed December 31 date means another year of paying the full property tax bill on a house that qualified for a reduction. For a homeowner on a fixed income, that is a real number, and it repeats until the form is filed.

The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit lays out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief, so a homestead exemption is seen next to the other breaks an older homeowner may be able to use. It also includes an application log and renewal calendar for tracking what was filed and when.

Part 7 of the kit, The Yearly Routine, is built around the repeat deadlines, and Part 8 holds worksheets, contacts and sources to keep the paperwork in one place.

Get the homestead application log and renewal calendar in the Relief Kit →

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• The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.