The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
H. B. No. 299 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
| |
Cosponsors:
Representatives Brenner, Terhar
A BILL
To amend section 5715.19 of the Revised Code to
require counties, municipal corporations,
townships, and school boards that file complaints
against the valuation of property they do not own
to pass a resolution approving the complaint and
specifying the compensation paid to any person
retained to represent the county, municipal
corporation, township, or school board in the
matter of the complaint.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 5715.19 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5715.19. (A) As used in this section, "member" has the
same meaning as in section 1705.01 of the Revised Code.
(1) Subject to division (A)(2) of this section, a complaint
against any of the following determinations for the current tax
year shall be filed with the county auditor on or before the
thirty-first day of March of the ensuing tax year or the date of
closing of the collection for the first half of real and public
utility property taxes for the current tax year, whichever is
later:
(a) Any classification made under section 5713.041 of the
Revised Code;
(b) Any determination made under section 5713.32 or 5713.35
of the Revised Code;
(c) Any recoupment charge levied under section 5713.35 of the
Revised Code;
(d) The determination of the total valuation or assessment of
any parcel that appears on the tax list, except parcels assessed
by the tax commissioner pursuant to section 5727.06 of the Revised
Code;
(e) The determination of the total valuation of any parcel
that appears on the agricultural land tax list, except parcels
assessed by the tax commissioner pursuant to section 5727.06 of
the Revised Code;
(f) Any determination made under division (A) of section
319.302 of the Revised Code.
If such a complaint is filed by mail or certified mail, the
date of the United States postmark placed on the envelope or
sender's receipt by the postal service shall be treated as the
date of filing. A private meter postmark on an envelope is not a
valid postmark for purposes of establishing the filing date.
Any person owning taxable real property in the county or in a
taxing district with territory in the county; such a person's
spouse; an individual who is retained by such a person and who
holds a designation from a professional assessment organization,
such as the institute for professionals in taxation, the national
council of property taxation, or the international association of
assessing officers; a public accountant who holds a permit under
section 4701.10 of the Revised Code, a general or residential real
estate appraiser licensed or certified under Chapter 4763. of the
Revised Code, or a real estate broker licensed under Chapter 4735.
of the Revised Code, who is retained by such a person; if the
person is a firm, company, association, partnership, limited
liability company, or corporation, an officer, a salaried
employee, a partner, or a member of that person; if the person is
a trust, a trustee of the trust; the board of county
commissioners; the prosecuting attorney or treasurer of the
county; the board of township trustees of any township with
territory within the county; the board of education of any school
district with any territory in the county; or the mayor chief
executive or legislative authority of any municipal corporation
with any territory in the county may file such a complaint
regarding any such determination affecting any real property in
the county, except that a person owning taxable real property in
another county may file such a complaint only with regard to any
such determination affecting real property in the county that is
located in the same taxing district as that person's real property
is located. The county auditor shall present to the county board
of revision all complaints filed with the auditor.
(2) As used in division (A)(2) of this section, "interim
period" means, for each county, the tax year to which section
5715.24 of the Revised Code applies and each subsequent tax year
until the tax year in which that section applies again.
No person, board, or officer shall file a complaint against
the valuation or assessment of any parcel that appears on the tax
list if it filed a complaint against the valuation or assessment
of that parcel for any prior tax year in the same interim period,
unless the person, board, or officer alleges that the valuation or
assessment should be changed due to one or more of the following
circumstances that occurred after the tax lien date for the tax
year for which the prior complaint was filed and that the
circumstances were not taken into consideration with respect to
the prior complaint:
(a) The property was sold in an arm's length transaction, as
described in section 5713.03 of the Revised Code;
(b) The property lost value due to some casualty;
(c) Substantial improvement was added to the property;
(d) An increase or decrease of at least fifteen per cent in
the property's occupancy has had a substantial economic impact on
the property.
(3) If a county board of revision, the board of tax appeals,
or any court dismisses a complaint filed under this section or
section 5715.13 of the Revised Code for the reason that the act of
filing the complaint was the unauthorized practice of law or the
person filing the complaint was engaged in the unauthorized
practice of law, the party affected by a decrease in valuation or
the party's agent, or the person owning taxable real property in
the county or in a taxing district with territory in the county,
may refile the complaint, notwithstanding division (A)(2) of this
section.
(4) Notwithstanding division (A)(2) of this section, a
person, board, or officer may file a complaint against the
valuation or assessment of any parcel that appears on the tax list
if it filed a complaint against the valuation or assessment of
that parcel for any prior tax year in the same interim period if
the person, board, or officer withdrew the complaint before the
complaint was heard by the board.
(5) A board of county commissioners, a board of township
trustees, the board of education of a school district, or the
chief executive or legislative authority of a municipal
corporation may not file a complaint under division (A)(1) of this
section against the valuation of property the subdivision or
district does not own unless the board or legislative authority
first adopts a resolution approving the complaint at a public
meeting of the board or legislative authority. A county treasurer
or prosecuting attorney may not file such a complaint against the
valuation of property the county does not own unless the board of
county commissioners first adopts a resolution approving the
complaint at a public meeting of the board. The resolution
required under division (A)(5) of this section shall include all
of the following:
(a) Identification of the parcel that is the subject of the
complaint;
(b) The name of the owner or owners of the parcel;
(c) The change in valuation being sought in the complaint;
(d) The name and address of the legal representative, other
than an employee of the county, township, school district, or
municipal corporation, retained to represent the county, township,
school district, or municipal corporation in the complaint
proceedings;
(e) The hourly rate, contingency fee, flat fee, or other
compensation agreed to by the county, township, school district,
or municipal corporation and the person or persons identified in
division (A)(5)(d) of this section.
A board of county commissioners, board of township trustees,
board of education, or legislative authority of a municipal
corporation that adopts a resolution under division (A)(5) of this
section or a county treasurer, county prosecuting attorney, or
chief executive of a municipal corporation that obtains a
resolution under this division shall not be required to adopt a
new resolution for the same complaint based solely on a change in
the legal representative representing the county, township, school
district, or municipal corporation unless the hourly rate,
contingency fee, flat fee, or other compensation agreed to with
the new representative is greater than that stated in the existing
resolution.
Nothing in division (A)(5) of this section requires any
person, board, authority, or officer to adopt or obtain a
resolution approving a complaint filed in support of or objecting
to a previously filed complaint or objecting to a current
valuation under division (B) of this section.
(B) Within thirty days after the last date such complaints
may be filed, the auditor shall give notice of each complaint in
which the stated amount of overvaluation, undervaluation,
discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation, or incorrect
determination is at least seventeen thousand five hundred dollars
to each property owner whose property is the subject of the
complaint, if the complaint was not filed by the owner or the
owner's spouse, and to each board of education whose school
district may be affected by the complaint. Within thirty days
after receiving such notice, a board of education; a property
owner; the owner's spouse; an individual who is retained by such
an owner and who holds a designation from a professional
assessment organization, such as the institute for professionals
in taxation, the national council of property taxation, or the
international association of assessing officers; a public
accountant who holds a permit under section 4701.10 of the Revised
Code, a general or residential real estate appraiser licensed or
certified under Chapter 4763. of the Revised Code, or a real
estate broker licensed under Chapter 4735. of the Revised Code,
who is retained by such a person; or, if the property owner is a
firm, company, association, partnership, limited liability
company, corporation, or trust, an officer, a salaried employee, a
partner, a member, or trustee of that property owner, may file a
complaint in support of or objecting to the amount of alleged
overvaluation, undervaluation, discriminatory valuation, illegal
valuation, or incorrect determination stated in a previously filed
complaint or objecting to the current valuation. Upon the filing
of a complaint under this division, the board of education or the
property owner shall be made a party to the action.
(C) Each board of revision shall notify any complainant and
also the property owner, if the property owner's address is known,
when a complaint is filed by one other than the property owner, by
certified mail, not less than ten days prior to the hearing, of
the time and place the same will be heard. The board of revision
shall hear and render its decision on a complaint within ninety
days after the filing thereof with the board, except that if a
complaint is filed within thirty days after receiving notice from
the auditor as provided in division (B) of this section, the board
shall hear and render its decision within ninety days after such
filing.
(D) The determination of any such complaint shall relate back
to the date when the lien for taxes or recoupment charges for the
current year attached or the date as of which liability for such
year was determined. Liability for taxes and recoupment charges
for such year and each succeeding year until the complaint is
finally determined and for any penalty and interest for nonpayment
thereof within the time required by law shall be based upon the
determination, valuation, or assessment as finally determined.
Each complaint shall state the amount of overvaluation,
undervaluation, discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation, or
incorrect classification or determination upon which the complaint
is based. The treasurer shall accept any amount tendered as taxes
or recoupment charge upon property concerning which a complaint is
then pending, computed upon the claimed valuation as set forth in
the complaint. If a complaint filed under this section for the
current year is not determined by the board within the time
prescribed for such determination, the complaint and any
proceedings in relation thereto shall be continued by the board as
a valid complaint for any ensuing year until such complaint is
finally determined by the board or upon any appeal from a decision
of the board. In such case, the original complaint shall continue
in effect without further filing by the original taxpayer, the
original taxpayer's assignee, or any other person or entity
authorized to file a complaint under this section.
(E) If a taxpayer files a complaint as to the classification,
valuation, assessment, or any determination affecting the
taxpayer's own property and tenders less than the full amount of
taxes or recoupment charges as finally determined, an interest
charge shall accrue as follows:
(1) If the amount finally determined is less than the amount
billed but more than the amount tendered, the taxpayer shall pay
interest at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of
the Revised Code, computed from the date that the taxes were due
on the difference between the amount finally determined and the
amount tendered. This interest charge shall be in lieu of any
penalty or interest charge under section 323.121 of the Revised
Code unless the taxpayer failed to file a complaint and tender an
amount as taxes or recoupment charges within the time required by
this section, in which case section 323.121 of the Revised Code
applies.
(2) If the amount of taxes finally determined is equal to or
greater than the amount billed and more than the amount tendered,
the taxpayer shall pay interest at the rate prescribed by section
5703.47 of the Revised Code from the date the taxes were due on
the difference between the amount finally determined and the
amount tendered, such interest to be in lieu of any interest
charge but in addition to any penalty prescribed by section
323.121 of the Revised Code.
(F) Upon request of a complainant, the tax commissioner shall
determine the common level of assessment of real property in the
county for the year stated in the request that is not valued under
section 5713.31 of the Revised Code, which common level of
assessment shall be expressed as a percentage of true value and
the common level of assessment of lands valued under such section,
which common level of assessment shall also be expressed as a
percentage of the current agricultural use value of such lands.
Such determination shall be made on the basis of the most recent
available sales ratio studies of the commissioner and such other
factual data as the commissioner deems pertinent.
(G) A complainant shall provide to the board of revision all
information or evidence within the complainant's knowledge or
possession that affects the real property that is the subject of
the complaint. A complainant who fails to provide such information
or evidence is precluded from introducing it on appeal to the
board of tax appeals or the court of common pleas, except that the
board of tax appeals or court may admit and consider the evidence
if the complainant shows good cause for the complainant's failure
to provide the information or evidence to the board of revision.
(H) In case of the pendency of any proceeding in court based
upon an alleged excessive, discriminatory, or illegal valuation or
incorrect classification or determination, the taxpayer may tender
to the treasurer an amount as taxes upon property computed upon
the claimed valuation as set forth in the complaint to the court.
The treasurer may accept the tender. If the tender is not
accepted, no penalty shall be assessed because of the nonpayment
of the full taxes assessed.
Section 2. That existing section 5715.19 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
|
|