The Ohio House approved legislation sponsored by state Rep. David Thomas to reform how the process of valuing property is completed.

The Flip the Script Act puts county auditors in charge of the sales used to determine valuation changes — which occurs 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.

The bill would put control over valuations solely in the hands of county auditors. The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

The bill “emphasizes local input, ensuring those closest to the community have the final say in which home sales are considered during the property reappraisal process,” said Thomas, R-Jefferson, who represents portions of Trumbull County.

Thomas, a freshman legislator and former Ashtabula County auditor, is serving as the Ohio House’s point person on reforming property tax laws.

The bill passed the House 93-0. The other lead sponsor was state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison.

The bill allows the Department of Taxation to file an appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals challenging the property sales included or excluded in a sample, 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.