(a) A Chairperson and two other residents of the city shall constitute a Tax Appeals Committee. Members of the Committee shall be appointed by Council for four-year terms. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum. The Committee shall adopt its own procedural rules and shall keep a record of its transactions. Any hearing by the Committee may be conducted privately and the provisions of § 880.09, with reference to the confidential character of information required to be disclosed by this chapter, shall apply to such matters as may be heard before the Committee on appeal.
(b) The Committee shall hear and pass on appeals from any ruling or decision of the Administrator, and, at the request of the taxpayer or the Administrator, is empowered to substitute alternative methods of allocation.
(c) Any person dissatisfied with any ruling or decision of the Administrator which is made under the authority conferred by this chapter, or any other ruling or decision of the Administrator concerning any other tax imposed by this chapter or any other municipal ordinance, may appeal therefrom to the Tax Appeals Committee. For the tax years beginning after 2003, the taxpayer shall be notified in writing, at the same time of the decision, of their right to appeal the decision of the Administrator and the manner in which the taxpayer may appeal the decision. The appeal shall be in writing and shall state with particularity why the decision should be deemed incorrect or unlawful and shall be filed within 30 days from the announcement of such ruling and decision by the Administrator. The Tax Appeals Committee shall schedule a hearing with 45 days after receiving the request, unless the taxpayer waives the hearing. If the taxpayer does not waive the hearing, the taxpayer may appear before the Committee and may be represented by an attorney at law. Other representatives such a CPAs may appear as witnesses. The Committee shall, on hearing, have jurisdiction to affirm, reverse or modify such ruling or decision, or any part thereof. The Tax Appeals Committee shall issue a decision on the appeal within 90 days after the Committee’s final hearing on the appeal, and send notice of its final decision by ordinary mail to all parties to the appeal within 15 days after issuing the decision. For tax years beginning after 2003, the taxpayer or the Tax Administrator may appeal the Committee’s decision to either Common Pleas Court or the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.
(Am. Ord. 06-14, passed 1-26-2006)
(d) All references to the Board of Tax Appeals which appear in ordinances, resolutions, motions, policies, procedures or any other document of the City of Xenia, Ohio, shall mean the Tax Appeals Committee.
(Ord. 99-6, passed 3-11-1999; Am. Ord. 04-33, passed 8-12-2004)