Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Buckeye Hospitality, Inc, the owner of a Comfort Inn hotel property located in Franklin County, filed a complaint seeking a reduction of the value assigned to its property. The Columbus City Schools Board of Education filed a countercomplaint seeking retention of the auditor’s valuation. The Franklin County Board of Revision (BOR) adopted the lower value set forth by Buckeye’s appraiser, with an adjustment. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) found that the valuation analysis of Buckeye’s appraiser was supported by the evidence and adopted the BOR’s approach. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the BTA, holding that the record contained sufficient evidence to support the decision of the BOR and the BTA. View "Columbus City Schs. Bd. of Educ. v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

Veolia Water North American Operating Services, Inc., the private owner and operator of a waste-water-treatment plant that serves both communities and certain manufacturers, sought exemption of real-estate improvements and all the personal property at the plant. The basis for its exemption claim was the treatment of industrial waste water generated by its manufacturing customers. The tax commissioner granted the exempt-facility certificate for a percentage of the personal property that reflected the amount of inflow that was industrial waste water but did not include the amount of residential waste water generated by the communities. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the BTA’s conclusion that certain property was not entitled to the partial exemption was both reasonable and lawful; and (2) the tax commissioner did not violate its duty to give some of Veolia’s supplemental documentation to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. View "Veolia Water N. Am. Operating Servs., Inc. v. Testa" on Justia Law

503 South Front Street, LP, a for-profit corporation, owned 30,000 square feet of commercial space and leased the property for a term of thirty years to ShadoArt Productions, a nonprofit organization. ShadoArt filed an application for exemption under Ohio Rev. Code 5709.12 and 5709.121, which statutes articulate the substantive requirements for public-use and charitable-use exemptions. The tax commissioner denied the request. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirmed. On appeal, ShadoArt argued that because Ohio Rev. Code 5715.27, which permits certain long-term lessees to file applications for exemption, authorizes it to file an application for exemption, it was also entitled to receive an exemption under sections 5709.12 and 5709.121. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the BTA, holding (1) amended section 5715.27 did not alter the substantive requirements for any specific exemption under chapter 5709; and (2) ShadoArt’s claim for exemption did not satisfy the requirements set forth in sections 5709.12 and 5709.121 because the property does not belong to a charitable institution. View "ShadoArt Prods., Inc. v. Testa" on Justia Law

Rural Health Collaborative of Southern Ohio, Inc. owned a facility in Adams County that was operated under lease by Dialysis Clinic, Inc. Rural Health filed a charitable-use exemption application for the property. The tax commissioner denied the exemption. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) concluded that Rural Health qualified as a charitable institution under Ohio Rev. Code 5709.121(A)(2) and granted the exemption. The Supreme Court vacated the BTA’s grant of exemption and remanded, holding (1) the BTA did not abuse its discretion in determining that Rural Health qualifies as a charitable institution; but (2) BTA erred in granting the exemption because the BTA did not fully analyze the claim under Ohio Rev. Code 5709.121(A)(1). Remanded. View "Rural Health Collaborative of S. Ohio, Inc. v. Testa" on Justia Law

In 2010, the Washington County Auditor determined a value of $9,091,000 for a Lowe’s Home Center store in Marietta. Lowe’s filed a complaint before the Washington County Board of Revision (BOR) seeking a reduction to $3,600,000. The BOR retained the auditor’s valuation. On appeal, Lowe’s and the County presented competing appraisals. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) adopted the County’s appraisal, concluding that the County’s comparables were more appropriate. Lowe’s appealed, arguing that the BTA misapplied the Supreme Court’s decision in Meijer Stores Ltd. Partnership v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision by adopting the type of appraisal in this case that the BTA rejected in Rite Aid of Ohio, Inc. v. Washington County Bd. of Revision. The Supreme Court explained the significance of Meijer Stores in its decision in the Rite Aid appeal, also issued today. The Supreme Court vacated the BTA’s decision in the instant case, holding that reading the BTA decision in light of that explanation identified a significant omission in the BTA’s analysis. Remanded. View "Lowe's Home Ctrs., Inc. v. Washington County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

In 2010, New Thistledown, LLC, which owned Thistledown Racetrack, petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief. Thistledown was purchased at an auction for $43,000,000. The bankruptcy court authorized the sale, stating that the sale price constituted reasonably equivalent value and fair consideration of the purchased assets. For tax year 2010, the Cuyahoga County fiscal officer assigned a value of $14,264,000 to the parcels comprising Thistledown. The Board of Education of Warrensville Heights City School District filed a complaint with the board of revision (BOR) seeking an increase in valuation. The BOR retained the fiscal officer’s initial valuation. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) rejected the 2010 sale price as evidence of value and valued the real property at $13,800,000. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the BTA reasonably and lawfully determined that the 2010 sale did not establish the true value of Thistledown; and (2) the evidence supported the BTA’s finding that Thistledown was worth $13,800,000 as of the tax-lien date. View "Warrensville Heights City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Cuyahoga County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

In 2010, the Talawanda City School District Board of Education (BOE) filed its application to exempt property located within the district. The tax commissioner granted an exemption for all of the property except for a parcel being farmed pursuant to lease, concluding that the pecuniary benefit realized by the farmer disqualified the land from exemption because that portion was not used for school purposes. The Board of Tax Appeals affirmed. the Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) following its amendment in 2010, Ohio Rev. Code 3313.44 does not contain a restriction requiring that the property owned by the BOE be used exclusively for school purposes; and (2) the entire property described in the BOE’s application shall be exempt for the year at issue. View "Talawanda City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Testa" on Justia Law

At issue in this appeal was a 2010 assessment of personal property issued by the Pike County auditor against Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc. (LMES) for tax year 1993. The tax commissioner canceled the assessment. LMES prevailed before the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) on appeal. LMES prosecuted its appeal to the Supreme Court based on the BTA’s failure to address its contentions that the auditor issued the assessment frivolously and in bad faith. The county auditor cross-appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the BTA lacked the authority to make a finding of frivolous conduct or bad faith on the auditor’s part; (2) LMES had standing as an aggrieved party to prosecute its appeal to the Supreme Court; and (3) the tax commissioner properly canceled the assessment, as affirmed by the BTA, because LMES was never shown to qualify as a “taxpayer” as that term is statutorily defined for purposes of the personal property tax. View "Snodgrass v. Testa" on Justia Law

Appellee challenged the auditor’s valuation of a parcel of residential real estate for tax year 2012. The Columbus City Schools Board of Education (school board) sought retention of the auditor’s valuation. The Franklin County Board of Revision dismissed the complaint. Appellee appealed to the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) from the dismissal order. On the notice of appeal, Appellee marked “yes” in response to a question asking whether the case should be referred to the small-claims docket. Accordingly, the case was placed on the small-claims docket. The school board filed a motion to return the case to the regular docket. The BTA denied the motion. The Supreme Court exercised its jurisdiction to review the interim order and affirmed the BTA’s denial of the school board’s motion, holding that the BTA did not err in denying the school board’s motion to have the case returned to the BTA’s regular docket. Remanded. View "Megaland GP, LLC v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

Platinum Lodging, LLC, the former owner of the property at issue in this appeal, was a party throughout proceedings challenging a real property valuation for the tax year 2008. The Franklin County Board of Revision (BOR) reduced the valuation. Platinum Lodging and the current property owners appealed to the common pleas court. The common pleas court remanded the matter to the BOR. On remand, the BOR dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the complainant lacked standing. The Columbus City Schools Board of Education and Platinum Lodging appealed. The Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) dismissed the appeals on the grounds that, because the first appeal had been filed in the common pleas court, the BTA lacked jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from the BOR’s dismissal order on remand. The Supreme Court reversed the BTA’s order or dismissal as to Platinum Lodging, holding that Platinum Lodging acted properly in filing its notice of appeal at the BTA instead of in the common pleas court. Remanded to the BOR with instructions that it determine the value of the property in accordance with the earlier remand order issued by the common pleas court. View "Columbus City Schs. Bd. of Educ. v. Franklin County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law