(a) Procedures. A Board of Review is hereby created and shall consist of a chairman and two other individuals. The chairman shall be appointed by the Mayor and may be an employee of the City, but may not be the director of finance or equivalent officer, or the Tax Administrator or other similar official or employee directly involved in municipal tax matters, or any direct subordinate thereof. The other two individuals, who may not be employees, elected officials, or contractors with the City at any time during their terms or in the five years immediately preceding the date of appointment, shall each by appointed by Council.
(b) Terms and Vacancies.
(1) The term for members of the Board of Review appointed by the Council shall be two years. There is no limit on the number of terms that a member may serve should the member be reappointed by the legislative authority. The board member appointed by the Mayor of the City shall serve at the discretion of the Mayor.
(2) Members of the board of tax review appointed by the legislative authority may be removed by the legislative authority by majority vote for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office. To remove such a member, the legislative authority must give the member a copy of the charges against the member and afford the member an opportunity to be publicly heard in person or by counsel in the member's own defense upon not less than ten days' notice. The decision by the legislative authority on the charges is final and not appealable.
(3) A member of the board who, for any reason, ceases to meet the qualifications for the position prescribed by this Section 181.15 shall resign immediately by operation of law.
(4) A vacancy in an unexpired term shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within sixty days of when the vacancy was created. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of such term. No vacancy on the board shall impair the power and authority of the remaining members to exercise all the powers of the board.
(5) If a member is temporarily unable to serve on the board due to a conflict of interest, illness, absence, or similar reason, the legislative authority or top administrative official that appointed the member shall appoint another individual to temporarily serve on the board in the member's place. The appointment of such an individual shall be subject to the same requirements and limitations as are applicable to the appointment of the member temporarily unable to serve.
(c) 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 proceedings. Any hearing by the Board may be conducted privately and the provisions of Section 181.09 concerning the confidential nature of certain information shall apply to such matters as may be heard before the Board of Review. Records of proceedings are not public records available for inspection under R.C. § 149.43. Hearings requested by a taxpayer before a Board of Review created pursuant to this Section 181.15 are not meetings of a public body subject to R.C. § 121.22.
(d) Powers of the Board. All rules and regulations and amendments or changes thereto, which are adopted by the Tax 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 Tax Administrator, and at the request of the taxpayer or Tax Administrator, is empowered to substitute alternate methods of allocation. The Board, on hearing, has jurisdiction to affirm, reverse, or modify any ruling or decision of the Tax Administrator or any part thereof.
(e) Appeal Procedure.
(1) Whenever the Tax Administrator issues a assessment regarding an income tax obligation or denies a refund claim, the Tax Administrator shall notify the taxpayer in writing at the same time of the taxpayer's right to appeal the assessment or denial and of the manner in which the taxpayer may appeal the decision, and the address to which the appeal should be directed.
(2) Any person who is aggrieved by an assessment of the Tax Administrator may appeal the assessment to the Board of Review by filing a request with the Board. The request shall be in writing, shall state with particularity why the assessment should be deemed incorrect or unlawful, and shall be filed within 60 days after the taxpayer receives the assessment.
(3) The Board of Review shall schedule a hearing within 60 days after receiving the request for appeal, unless the taxpayer requests additional time to prepare or waives a hearing.
(4) 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. 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 one hundred twenty days after the first day of the hearing unless the parties agree otherwise.
(5) The Board may affirm, reverse, or modify the Tax Administrator's decision or any part of that decision. The Board shall issue a decision on the appeal within 90 days after the Board's final hearing on the appeal and send notice of its decision by ordinary mail to the petitioner within 15 days after issuing the decision. (Ord. 01-2018. Passed 2-26-18.)