(a) Board of Tax Review.
(1) The Board of Tax Review shall consist of three (3) members.
A. Two (2) members shall be appointed by City Council and may not be employees of, elected officials of or contractors with the City at any time during their term or in the five (5) years immediately preceding the date of appointment.
B. One (1) member shall be appointed by the City Manager. This member 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 an employee directly involved in City tax matters, or any direct subordinate thereof.
(2) The term for members of the Board of Tax Review appointed by City Council shall be two (2) years. There is no limit on the number of terms that a member may serve should the member be reappointed by City Council. The Board member appointed by the City Manager shall serve at the discretion of the City Manager.
(3) Members of the Board of Tax Review appointed by City Council may be removed by City Council by majority vote for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office. To remove such a member, City Council 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 City Council on the charges is final and not appealable.
(4) A member of the Board who, for any reason, ceases to meet the qualifications for the position prescribed by this section shall resign immediately by operation of law.
(5) A vacancy in an unexpired term shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within sixty (60) 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.
(6) If a member is temporarily unable to serve on the Board due to a conflict of interest, illness, absence or similar reason, City Council or the City Manager, whichever appointed the member shall appoint another individual to temporarily serve on the Board in the member's place. This appointment of such individual shall be subject to the same requirements and limitations as are applicable to the appointment of the member temporarily unable to serve.
(7) No member of the Board of Tax Review shall receive compensation, fee, or reimbursement of expenses for service on the Board.
(b) Notice of Right to Appeal an Assessment. Whenever the Tax Administrator issues an Assessment regarding an underpayment of municipal income tax 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, the manner in which the taxpayer may appeal the Assessment or denial, and the address to which the appeal should be directed, and to whom the appeal should be directed.
(c) Appeal. Any person who has been issued an Assessment may appeal the assessment to the Board of Review 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 sixty (60) days after the taxpayer receives the Assessment.
(d) Hearing. The Board of Tax Review shall schedule a hearing to be held within sixty (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 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 (120) days after the first day of the hearing, unless the parties agree otherwise.
(e) Determination by the Board of Review. The Board of Review 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 ninety (90) days after the Board's final hearing on the appeal, and shall send a copy of its final determination, by ordinary mail, to all of the parties to the appeal within fifteen (15) days after issuing the final determination. The taxpayer or the Tax Administrator may appeal the Board's final determination as provided in ORC 5717.011.
(Source: ORC 718.11(A) – (E))
(f) Rules and Regulations of the Board of Review.
(1) 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 Board.
(2) Records of transactions of the Board are not public records available for inspection under ORC 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 Board of Tax Review may remove such documentation, copies of returns or reports, final determinations or working papers from the hearing.
(3) Hearings requested by a taxpayer before the Board of Tax Review created pursuant to this section are not meetings of a public body subject to ORC 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.
(Statutory reference: ORC 718.11(F))
(Ord. 2020-10. Adopted 04/23/20; Ord. 2023-31. Adopted 11/21/23)