CLEVELAND, Ohio — In 2024, the Ohio Department of Taxation calculated the taxable value of real property statewide at $470 billion. About 17% of that — roughly $89 billion — was exempt from taxation , including buildings owned by the Cleveland Clinic and other area hospitals.

Because of their nonprofit status, hospitals like the Clinic pay no property taxes on the buildings they own.

Now that the Clinic has sold some of their facilities to a for-profit landlord, those buildings will newly contribute to the tax rolls. But those new taxes are largely a departure from the statewide landscape, which has seen the amount of tax-exempt properties climb over the past two decades.

Twenty years ago, 14% of Ohio’s property value was exempt. If today’s exempt share -- now at 17% -- had stayed at

See Full Page