COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- If you got sticker shock opening your last property tax bill, you may want to spend the next few minutes reading this story. It could have a $50,000 impact.   The window to appeal property values has opened in Franklin County. Owners can start the Board of Revision process to appeal property values and NBC 4 Investigates is going to show how.  "My future is unstable,” retired teacher Loyce Hopkins said.  Ohio-based furniture store to close all locations amid bankruptcy filing We first introduced you to Hopkins in June. She’s owned her south Columbus home for almost 50 years, but when her 2023 property tax bill came in the mail, she wasn’t sure if she could afford to stay.    “Let me refresh your mind here, that it went from my taxes went from $679 to $2,300,” Hopkins said.    Her bill tripled and she had to get help to pay it.  “What my mom is sharing here is not just her personal story; it has happened to a lot of seniors,” Loyce Hopkins’ son Aaron K. Hopkins said.    Now they hope the Board of Revision process will give them some relief.   “If I don't say anything, I can't get anything done, but I will fight till the end, until they do something,” Loyce Hopkins said.  Why fighter jets may be flying over Chillicothe and southeastern Ohio A home is evaluated on improvements, recent sales around it and neighborhood appeal. You pay real estate taxes on the assessed value: 35% of the property’s value.  The rest of the tax bill comes from levies. “The board of revision, good or bad, is one of the avenues or the outlet to potentially seek a relief,” Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano said. The window to appeal is open until the end of March 2025.  “We're starting to hear from property owners who are saying, 'Hey, I continue to kind of feel a crunch when I'm looking at my property taxes,'” Stinziano said.    Home contractor to serve over seven years in prison for fraud in Delaware County If you live in Franklin County and feel your property value is incorrect go to the Franklin County Auditor’s website.    Scroll to the Board of Revision and click it.    Then click filing instructions.  Here’s where you pick the form depending on your property: most homes will be that first form, and manufactured or mobile homes will be the second.    “What we're going to look for when they file a board of revision as evidence of why that valuation is incorrect. Maybe the square footage is wrong. Maybe there is damaged or destroyed property,” Stinziano said. Read the instructions, click continue and then you have two options: fill out and mail a printed form or file online.     Click here for that form. Fill out each category and gather the documents to prove the home is yours.    “Any pictures, any evidence that you may have, some people go as far as getting a third-party independent appraisal,” Stinziano said.      Submit the form, at which point, two things can happen from there.   Ohio principal reinstated after investigation into election message to staff “Depending on the change that you're seeking, it may go to the more formal Board of Revision, which is made up of the auditor, the treasurer, board of commissioner or we also have a mediation program in Franklin County,” Stinziano said.   Mediation is less formal and usually used if the change requested is less than $50,000.   “I've heard from people that have been successful in going through the revisions and taking the pictures and submitting them. They said it's like a six-month process, a six-month process, but they were successful in getting it lowered,” Aaron Hopkins said.    In June we also met Pastor Frederick LaMarr, who appealed his Driving Park home value and had his hearing in September.    “I had to bring the evidence of, you know, the properties were mine and proof of that and all updates or anything that I can bring to substantiate that it should be down lower,” LaMarr said. He lost his appeal.    Ohio State parents hire company to test air in dorm after mold found in rooms “There's no change. There's no change in my property value. So, you know, what was the purpose of me going through the process then?” LaMarr said.    Others did get some relief.    The average property value reduction for 2023 residential property appeals was $50,544. That’s the largest reduction going back to 2014.    “What we're going to always ask a property owner if you're going to sell that property is the auditor's value within the range that you would probably seek in the open market?” Stinziano said.    For the Hopkins family, their hopes are now resting on this process lowering their home value and their taxes.    “You have to accept what it is now, but it doesn't mean that you have to be satisfied with it. You have to do what you have to do, but you still fighting in the process. So I know somewhere along the way I've got to have $2300 for my taxes while I'm fighting the battle,” Loyce Hopkins said.   Franklin County is not the only county where homeowners can appeal. The process is very similar in surrounding counties. Delaware County will accept complaints from Jan. 2-March 31, 2025. More information on that process can be found here.    Pickaway County has the form to complain listed on its website here. Owner can also call the office for more information: (740) 474-4765.   Fairfield County has information here.    Knox County has steps here.    Madison County residents can find the form to appeal here and email it to [email protected].    Union County residents can find more information here.    NBC4 Investigates asked the Franklin County Auditor how many appeals were successful for the 2023 tax year. As soon as we have that number, we will share it.    The Franklin County Auditor’s office is also holding Mobile BOR events starting in January. More information on where and when those will be held can be found here.