(a) Composition and Procedures. A Board of Review, consisting of a chairperson, and two other individuals each to be appointed by the City Manager, with the approval and consent of Council, is hereby created. A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall adopt its own procedural rules and shall keep a record of its transactions.
(b) Appeals; Alternative Method of Allocation. All rules and regulations and amendments or changes thereto, which are adopted by the Administrator under the authority conferred by this chapter, shall 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 of Administrator, is empowered to substitute alternate methods of allocation. Upon an appeal from the refusal of the Administrator to recommend abatement of penalty and interest, the Board of Review may nevertheless abate penalty or interest or both.
(c) (1) 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 City of Milford, the Administrator shall notify the taxpayer 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.
(2) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the Administrator and who has filed with the City of Milford the required returns or other documents pertaining to the municipal income tax obligation at issue in the decision may appeal the decision to the Board of Review by filing a request with the Board. The request shall be in writing, shall state with particularity why the decision should be deemed incorrect or unlawful, and shall be filed within thirty days after the Administrator has issued the decision.
(3) The imposition of penalty and interest as prescribed in the codified ordinances of the City of Milford is not a sole basis for an appeal.
(4) The Board of Review shall schedule a hearing within forty-five days after receiving the request, unless the taxpayer waives a hearing.
(5) If the taxpayer does not waive the hearing, the taxpayer may appear before the Board and may be represented by an attorney at law, certified public accountant or other representative.
(6) The Board may affirm, reverse, or modify the Administrator's decision or any part of that decision. The Board shall issue a decision on the appeal within ninety days after the Board's final hearing on the appeal, and send notice of its decision by ordinary mail to the petitioner within fifteen days after issuing the decision.
(7) Any person dissatisfied with any ruling or decision of the Board of Review may appeal therefrom to a court of competent jurisdiction as provided by law within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the Board's ruling or decision. For matters relating to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2004, any ruling or decision of the Board of Appeal may be appealed to a court of competent jurisdiction or to the State Board of Tax Appeals.
(8) The Board of Review created pursuant to this section shall adopt rules governing its procedures and shall keep a record of its transactions. Such records are not public records available for inspection under Section 149.43 of the Ohio Revised Code.
(9) Hearings requested by a taxpayer before a Board of Review created pursuant to this section are not meetings of a public body subject to Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code, and the provisions of Section 181.18
(d) with reference to the confidential character of information required to be disclosed by this chapter shall apply.
(d) Law Director Duties. The City Law Director shall serve as legal advisory to the Board. (Ord. 04-346. Passed 1-6-04.)