5715.27 Application for exemption - rights of board of education - complaint against exemption.
5715.27 Application for exemption - rights of board of education - complaint against exemption.
(A) Except as provided in section 3735.67 of the Revised Code, the owner, a vendee in possession under a purchase agreement or a land contract, the beneficiary of a trust, or a lessee for an initial term of not less than thirty years of any property may file an application with the tax commissioner, on forms prescribed by the commissioner, requesting that such property be exempted from taxation and that taxes, interest, and penalties be remitted as provided in division (C) of section 5713.08 of the Revised Code.
(B) The board of education of any school district may request the tax commissioner to provide it with notification of applications for exemption from taxation for property located within that district. If so requested, the commissioner shall send to the board on a monthly basis reports that contain sufficient information to enable the board to identify each property that is the subject of an exemption application, including, but not limited to, the name of the property owner or applicant, the address of the property, and the auditor’s parcel number. The commissioner shall mail the reports by the fifteenth day of the month following the end of the month in which the commissioner receives the applications for exemption.
(C) A board of education that has requested notification under division (B) of this section may, with respect to any application for exemption of property located in the district and included in the commissioner’s most recent report provided under that division, file a statement with the commissioner and with the applicant indicating its intent to submit evidence and participate in any hearing on the application. The statements shall be filed prior to the first day of the third month following the end of the month in which that application was docketed by the commissioner. A statement filed in compliance with this division entitles the district to submit evidence and to participate in any hearing on the property and makes the district a party for purposes of sections 5717.02 to 5717.04 of the Revised Code in any appeal of the commissioner’s decision to the board of tax appeals.
(D) The commissioner shall not hold a hearing on or grant or deny an application for exemption of property in a school district whose board of education has requested notification under division (B) of this section until the end of the period within which the board may submit a statement with respect to that application under division (C) of this section. The commissioner may act upon an application at any time prior to that date upon receipt of a written waiver from each such board of education, or, in the case of exemptions authorized by section 725.02, 1728.10, 5709.40, 5709.41, 5709.411, 5709.62, 5709.63, 5709.632, 5709.73, 5709.78, 5709.84, or 5709.88 of the Revised Code, upon the request of the property owner. Failure of a board of education to receive the report required in division (B) of this section shall not void an action of the commissioner with respect to any application. The commissioner may extend the time for filing a statement under division (C) of this section.
(E) A complaint may also be filed with the commissioner by any person, board, or officer authorized by section 5715.19 of the Revised Code to file complaints with the county board of revision against the continued exemption of any property granted exemption by the commissioner under this section.
(F) An application for exemption and a complaint against exemption shall be filed prior to the thirty-first day of December of the tax year for which exemption is requested or for which the liability of the property to taxation in that year is requested. The commissioner shall consider such application or complaint in accordance with procedures established by the commissioner, determine whether the property is subject to taxation or exempt therefrom, and certify the commissioner’s findings to the auditor, who shall correct the tax list and duplicate accordingly. If a tax certificate has been sold under section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the Revised Code with respect to property for which an exemption has been requested, the tax commissioner shall also certify the findings to the county treasurer of the county in which the property is located.
(G) Applications and complaints, and documents of any kind related to applications and complaints, filed with the tax commissioner under this section, are public records within the meaning of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(H) If the commissioner determines that the use of property or other facts relevant to the taxability of property that is the subject of an application for exemption or a complaint under this section has changed while the application or complaint was pending, the commissioner may make the determination under division (F) of this section separately for each tax year beginning with the year in which the application or complaint was filed or the year for which remission of taxes under division (C) of section 5713.08 of the Revised Code was requested, and including each subsequent tax year during which the application or complaint is pending before the commissioner.
Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 2008 HB160 06-20-2008