(a) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) "Last known address" means the address the Tax Administrator has at the time a document is originally sent by certified mail, or any address the Tax Administrator can ascertain using reasonable means such as the use of a change of address service offered by the postal service or an authorized delivery service under ORC 5703.056.
(2) "Undeliverable address" means an address to which the postal service or an authorized delivery service under ORC 5703.056 is not able to deliver an Assessment of the Tax Administrator, except when the reason for non-delivery is because the addressee fails to acknowledge or accept the Assessment.
(b) Service.
(1) Subject to division (c) of this section, a copy of each Assessment shall be served upon the person affected thereby either by personal service, by certified mail, or by a delivery service authorized under ORC 5703.056.
(2) With the permission of the person affected by an Assessment, the Tax Administrator may deliver the Assessment through alternative means as provided in this section, including, but not limited to, delivery by secure electronic mail. Delivery by such means satisfies the requirements for delivery under this section.
(c) Return of Certified Mail.
(1) A. If certified mail is returned because of an undeliverable address, the Tax Administrator shall utilize reasonable means to ascertain a new last known address, including the use of a change of address service offered by the postal service or an authorized delivery service under ORC 5703.056. If, after using reasonable means, the Tax Administrator is unable to ascertain a new last known address, the Assessment shall be sent by ordinary mail and considered served. If the ordinary mail is subsequently returned because of an undeliverable address, the Assessment remains appealable within sixty (60) days after the Assessment's postmark.
B. Once the Tax Administrator or other City official, or the designee of either, serves an Assessment on the person to whom the Assessment is directed, the person may protest the ruling of that Assessment by filing an appeal with the Board of Tax Review within sixty (60) days after the receipt of service. The delivery of an Assessment of the Tax Administrator under division (c)(1)A. of this section is prima facie evidence that delivery is complete and that the Assessment is served.
(2) If mailing of an Assessment by the Tax Administrator by certified mail is returned for some cause other than an undeliverable address, the Tax Administrator shall resend the Assessment by ordinary mail. The Assessment shall show the date the Tax Administrator sends the Assessment and include the following statement:
"This Assessment is deemed to be served on the addressee under applicable law ten (10) days from the date this Assessment was mailed by the Tax Administrator as shown on the Assessment, and all periods within which an appeal may be filed apply from and after that date."
Unless the mailing is returned because of an undeliverable address, the mailing of that information is prima facie evidence that delivery of the Assessment was completed ten (10) days after the Tax Administrator sent the Assessment by ordinary mail and that the Assessment was served.
(3) If the ordinary mail is subsequently returned because of an undeliverable address, the Tax Administrator shall proceed under division (c)(1)A. of this section. A person may challenge the presumption of delivery and service under this division in accordance with division (d) of this section.
(d) Appeal Based on Presumption of Delivery.
(1) A person disputing the presumption of delivery and service under division (c) of this section bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the address to which the Assessment was sent was not an address with which the person was associated at the time the Tax Administrator originally mailed the assessment by certified mail. For the purposes of this section, a person is associated with an address at the time the Tax Administrator originally mailed the Assessment if, at that time, the person was residing, receiving legal documents, or conducting business at the address; or if, before that time, the person had conducted business at the address and, when the Assessment was mailed, the person's agent or the person's affiliate was conducting business at the address. For the purposes of this section, a person's affiliate is any other person that, at the time the assessment was mailed, owned or controlled at least twenty percent (20%), as determined by voting rights, of the addressee's business.
(2) If a person elects to appeal an Assessment on the basis described in division (d)(1) of this section, and if that Assessment is subject to collection and is not otherwise appealable, the person must do so within sixty (60) days after the initial contact by the Tax Administrator or other City official, or the designee of either, with the person. Nothing in this division prevents the Tax Administrator or other official from entering into a compromise with the person if the person does not actually file such an appeal with the Board of Tax Review.
(e) Personal Service. Nothing in this section prohibits the Tax Administrator or the Tax Administrator's designee from delivering an Assessment by personal service.
(f) Stay of Collection Action. Collection actions taken upon any assessment being appealed under division (c)(1)B. of this section shall be stayed upon the pendency of an appeal under this section. If an appeal is filed pursuant to this section on a claim that has been delivered for collection, the collection activities with respect to the assessment shall be stayed.
(g) Additional Rules. Additional regulations as detailed in the Rules and Regulations shall apply.
(Source: ORC 718.18)
(Ord. 2020-10. Adopted 04/23/20; Ord. 2023-31. Adopted 11/21/23)