(A) (1) The legislative authority of the municipality shall maintain a Local Board of Tax Review to hear appeals as provided in R.C. Ch. 718.
(2) The Local Board of Tax Review shall consist of the Village Fiscal Officer, Mayor and legal counsel for the village. 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. Any hearing by the Board may be conducted privately and any provisions in this chapter with reference to the confidential character of information required to be disclosed by the ordinance shall apply to such matters as may be heard before the Board on appeal.
(B) Whenever a Tax Administrator issues an assessment, the Tax Administrator shall notify the taxpayer in writing at the same time of the taxpayer’s right to appeal the assessment, the manner in which the taxpayer may appeal the assessment, and the address to which the appeal should be directed and to whom the appeal should be directed.
(C) Any person who has been issued an assessment may appeal the assessment to the Board by filing a request with the Board. The request shall be in writing, shall specify the reason or reasons why the assessment should be deemed incorrect or unlawful and shall be filed within 60 days after the taxpayer receives the assessment.
(D) The Local Board of Tax Review shall schedule a hearing to be held within 60 days after receiving an appeal of an assessment under division (C) of this section, unless the taxpayer requests additional time to prepare or waives a hearing. If the taxpayer does not waive the hearing, the taxpayer may appear before the Board and/or may be represented by an attorney at law, certified public accountant or other representative. The Board may allow a hearing to be continued as jointly agreed to by the parties. In such a case, the hearing must be completed within 120 days after the first day of the hearing unless the parties agree otherwise.
(E) The Board may affirm, reverse or modify the Tax Administrator’s assessment or any part of that assessment. The Board shall issue a final determination on the appeal within 90 days after the Board’s final hearing on the appeal, and send a copy of its final determination by ordinary mail to all of the parties to the appeal within 15 days after issuing the final determination. The taxpayer or the Tax Administrator may appeal the Board’s final determination as provided in R.C. § 5717.011.
(F) The Local Board of Tax Review created pursuant to this section shall adopt rules governing its procedures, including a schedule of related costs, and shall keep a record of its transactions. The rules governing the Local Board of Tax Review procedures shall be in writing, and may be amended as needed by the Local Board of Tax Review. Such records are not public records available for inspection under R.C. § 149.43. For this reason, any documentation, copies of returns or reports, final determinations or working papers for each case must be maintained in a secure location under the control of the Tax Administrator. No member of the Local Board of Tax Review may remove such documentation, copies of returns or reports, final determinations or working papers from the hearing. Hearings requested by a taxpayer before a Local Board of Tax Review created pursuant to this section are not meetings of a public body subject to R.C. § 121.22. For this reason, such hearings shall not be open to the public and only those parties to the case may be present during the hearing.
(Ord. O-35-2015, passed 12-16-2015)
Statutory reference:
Local Board of Tax Review, see R.C. § 718.11