(a) A Board of Review, consisting of three members, a chairman and two other individuals, residents of the Village, each to be appointed by the Mayor of the Village with the approval of Council, is hereby created and shall be maintained to hear appeals. The members of the Board of Review shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years.
The board shall adopt its own procedural rules and shall keep a record of its transactions. A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. In the event two or more members of the Board disqualify themselves in a particular case, the Mayor and/or his appointee(s) shall replace the disqualified member(s) for only this Board hearing and decision pertaining thereto.
Any hearing by the Board shall be conducted privately and the provisions of section 880.09 hereof with reference to the confidential character of information required to be disclosed by the chapter shall apply to such matters as may be heard before the Board on appeal. Hearings requested before the Board are not meetings of a public body subject to Ohio R.C. 121.22. Records relating to such hearings are not public records available for inspection under Ohio R.C. 149.43.
(b) All rules and regulations and amendments or changes thereto, which are adopted by the Administrator under the authority conferred by this chapter, must be approved by the Board of Review before the same becomes effective. The Board shall hear and pass on appeals from any ruling or decision of the Administrator, and, at the request of the taxpayer or Administrator, is empowered to substitute alternate methods of apportionment.
(c) Whenever the Administrator issues a decision regarding an income tax obligation that is subject to appeal, as provided in this section, or in an ordinance or regulation of the Village, the Administrator shall notify the taxpayer in writing at the same time of the taxpayer's right to appeal the decision and of the manner in which the taxpayer may appeal the decision.
(d) Any person who is aggrieved by any decision of the Administrator which is made under the authority conferred by this chapter and who has filed with the Village the required returns or other documents pertaining to the Village income tax obligation at issue in the decision may appeal the decision to the Board by filing a request with the Board. The request shall be in writing, to the Board of Review, c/o Coldwater Tax Administrator, shall state with particularity why the decision should be deemed incorrect or unlawful, and shall be filed within thirty (30) days after the Administrator has issued the decision.
(e) The imposition of penalty and interest as prescribed in this chapter of this municipality is not a sole basis for an appeal.
(f) The board shall schedule a hearing within forty-five (45) days after receiving the request, unless the taxpayer waives a hearing. If the taxpayer does not waive a hearing, the taxpayer may appear before the Board and may be represented by an attorney-at-law, certified public accountant or other representative.
(g) The Board shall, on hearing, having jurisdiction to affirm, reverse or modify any such decision of the Administrator, or any part thereof. The Board shall issue a decision on the appeal within ninety (90) days after the Board's final hearing on the appeal, and send notice of its decision by ordinary mail to all of the parties to the appeal within fifteen (15) days after issuing the decision. The taxpayer or the Administrator may appeal the Board's decision as provided in Ohio R.C. 5717.011.
(Ord. 813. Passed 11-13-72; Ord. 1451. Passed 12-27-01; Ord. 1509. Passed 11-22-04.)