Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 2009, Appellants acquired by way of a deed the surface rights to certain land in Harrison County. The deed did not convey to Appellants all of the mineral rights underlying their surface property. But after an oil and gas company inquired about leasing the mineral rights to the land, Appellants initiated procedures under the Dormant Mineral Act to have the mineral interests deemed abandoned and vested in them along with their surface ownership. Less than one month after Appellants published a notice of abandonment of the mineral interests underlying their property, John Croskey recorded a quitclaim deed for mineral interests underlying the property. The trial court determined that the Croskey affidavit preserved the mineral-rights holders’ interests for purposes of the Dormant Mineral Act and thus concluded that Appellants could not establish a claim for the abandonment of the oil and gas rights underlying their surface property. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a mineral-interest holder’s claim to preserve filed pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 5301.56(H)(1)(a) is sufficient to preclude the mineral interests from being deemed abandoned if filed within sixty days after notice of the surface owner’s intent to declare those interests abandoned. View "Dodd v. Croskey" on Justia Law

Appellant sought to develop a subdivision consisting of forty-four single-family homes on property zoned R-1 residential. Appellant applied to Granger Township Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for variances for each of the forty-four proposed lots. The BZA denied the variance application. The county court of common pleas affirmed. Appellant filed a complaint for a declaratory judgment seeking a declaration that Granger’s zoning resolution establishing the R-1 zoning classification was unconstitutional and beyond Granger’s authority because Granger enacted the zoning resolution without enacting a separate comprehensive plan. The trial court denied Appellant’s claims, declaring that Granger had complied with Ohio Rev. Code 519.02’s requirement that a zoning resolution be adopted in accordance with a comprehensive plan. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a comprehensive plan pursuant to section 519.02 may be included within a township’s zoning resolution and need not be a separate and distinct document. View "Apple Group, Ltd. v. Granger Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals" on Justia Law

The City of Cincinnati owned several golf courses that were operated under a management contract by a private, for-profit contractor. Paul Macke, a private golf-course operator who owned taxable real property, challenged the ongoing exemption of the golf courses as public property used exclusively for a public purpose in complaints filed in 2009 and 2010. In each case, the tax commissioner granted the complaint and denied exemption. The City appealed. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) consolidated the cases and reversed the tax commissioner’s denial of exemptions. The tax commissioner appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the BTA acted reasonably and lawfully by determining that the City did not forfeit its exemption under Ohio Rev. code 5709.08(A) when it hired a private management company to manage its golf courses. View "City of Cincinnati v. Testa" on Justia Law

In 2010, Bank filed a foreclosure action against Defendants for allegedly defaulting on a promissory note. The trial court granted Bank’s motion for summary judgment and issued a decree of foreclosure in Bank’s favor. Defendants appealed, asserting four assignments of error, none of which challenged the court’s conclusion that Bank had standing to bring the foreclosure suit. Rather than considering Defendants’ assignments of error, the court of appeals sua sponte considered the issue of standing and held that Bank lacked standing to bring this foreclosure action. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Bank had standing to file the foreclosure action against Defendants at the time that it filed the complaint in 2010. Remanded. View "Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Horn" on Justia Law

A property owner appealed a valuation of its real property. After the Board of Tax Appeals issued its decision on August 29, 2013, the property owner appealed. The notice of appeal was filed on September 30, 2013, but the property owner failed to initiate service of the notice of appeal on the tax commissioner. On October 24, 2013, the property owner served the tax commissioner with the appeal. On November 4, 2013, the appeal was returned from mediation to the regular docket. That order specified that Appellant’s brief was due forty days from the date of the order. On November 12, 2013, the school board filed a motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the property owner failed to initiate service of the notice of appeal on the tax commissioner, a necessary party, within the thirty-day appeal period. View "Columbus City Schs. Bd. of Educ. v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

The two property owners of two different parcels of real property, one of which was situated in the Dublin City School District and the other in the Columbus City School District, filed claims for tax exemption on the basis that Columbus State Community College was a tenant in each of the buildings and provided educational services to students at each location. The tax commissioner denied the applications. The Board of Tax Appeals partially granted exemptions, concluding that the Supreme Court’s decision in Cleveland State Univ. v. Perk permitted exemptions under Ohio Rev. Code 5709.07(A)(4) when the public college leased the property from a landlord. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the BTA erred by construing section 5709.07(A)(4) to allow exemption, as Perk’s holding did not apply to the facts in this case. View "Equity Dublin Assocs. v. Testa" on Justia Law

Canal Winchester MOB, LLC (“MOB”), the ground lessee of a medical office building, filed a complaint challenging the tax-year-2010 valuation of the building. The Board of Revision retained the auditor’s valuation. MOB, together with the record owner of the property, appealed. In its decision, the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”) sua sponte considered the jurisdictional validity of the complaint and held that MOB did not have standing to file the complaint. Accordingly, the BTA ordered dismissal. The Supreme Court vacated the BTA’s decision, holding that the BTA should have afforded MOB the opportunity to plead and prove its standing. Remanded. View "Diley Ridge Med. Ctr. v. Fairfield County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

This case involved the tax-year-2009 value of a parcel of property and presented the question of whether an auction sale price can ever be regarded as evidence of a property’s value and, if so, under what circumstances. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) found that the auction sale in this case was a voluntary, arm’s-length transaction, and therefore, that the sale price was the best evidence of the true value of the property. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Ohio Rev. Code 5713.04, read in conjunction with former Ohio Rev. Code 5713.03, requires the taxing authorities to presume that an auction sale price is not a voluntary, arm’s-length transaction, but that presumption may be rebutted by evidence that a particular sale was in fact voluntary and did occur at arm’s length; and (2) the record supported the BTA’s finding that this particular auction sale was voluntary and occurred at arm’s length. View "Olentangy Local Sch. Bd. of Educ. v. Delaware County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

In an underlying partition action, Appellant objected to a magistrate’s decision. Judge Nancy Russo of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court affirmed the magistrate’s decision. Judge Russo subsequently issued a final judgment ordering a sheriff’s sale and setting the terms of distribution of the proceeds. Rather than appealing the final order, Appellant sought a writ of mandamus directing Judge Russo to issue a final, appealable order on her adoption of the magistrate’s decision. The court of appeals denied a writ. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law by way of appeal, and therefore, Appellant could not satisfy the elements required for a writ of mandamus. View "State ex rel. Luoma v. Russo" on Justia Law

Kohl’s Illinois, Inc. filed a valuation complaint challenging the tax year 2010 valuation of a Kohl’s store in Marion County. The Board of Revision (BOR) dismissed the case, finding that the complaint was void because the property was subject to a tax-increment-financing (TIF) agreement that contained a covenant prohibiting the filing of a complaint against the value. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirmed the decision of the BOR. The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the BTA, holding (1) any bar to the complaint that arises from the TIF agreement is not a jurisdictional restriction, and therefore, the complaint was not void; (2) the beneficiaries of the covenant had the burden to assert the covenant as a defense against Kohl’s complaint; and (3) because the beneficiaries did not shoulder the burden to prove their entitlement to a dismissal of Kohl’s complaint, the decision of the BTA must be vacated. Remanded. View "Kohl’s Ill., Inc. v. Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law