1. Organization
(A) The Board of Revision shall herein
be referred to as the “Board”. The
office of the Board shall be at 138 East Court Street, Room 304, County
Administration Building, Cincinnati, Ohio
45202 and shall be open every day from eight a.m. to four p.m.,
Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays excepted.
(B) The Board shall consist of the Auditor, Treasurer, and
President of the
(C) The Board shall be in continuous session and open for the transaction of business during the business hours herein provided. All sessions shall be open to the public and sessions of the Board shall stand and be adjourned without further notice thereof on its records.
(D) All of the proceedings of the Board shall be a public record and each member’s vote shall be recorded on the record as cast.
2. Service
(A) All pleadings, briefs, papers and other documents filed by a complainant with the Board, subsequent to the filing of the complaint, shall be served upon all parties.
(B) Said pleadings, briefs, papers and other documents shall contain a certificate of service indicating that the required service has been made, the manner in which service was made, and the names and addresses of the parties or attorneys upon whom service was made.
(C) Service upon an attorney or party shall be made by delivering or mailing a copy to the attorney’s or the party’s last known address. Service by mail is complete upon mailing.
3. Copies
Any document (excluding the complaint-DTE Form 1) that is
filed with the Board shall be filed with three conforming copies in addition to the
original.
4. Appearance And
Practice Before The Board
(A) Following the holdings of the Board of Tax Appeals, only attorneys
at law and owners of record of affected properties will be permitted to file
complaints for a reduction in value. If
the property is in a name other than
your individual name,
including if the property is held in your name as trustee, in almost all cases
the complaint should be filed by an attorney.
The Board of Revision is following the directive of the Ohio Supreme
Court in dismissing complaints filed by non-attorneys on behalf of spouses,
persons holding powers of attorney, trustees, corporations, LLCs
and similar entities. Questions about
your specific situation must be directed to your attorney.
(B) Persons authorized to practice law in jurisdictions other than
(C) Attorneys representing parties will not be permitted to testify or appear in any capacity other than as counsel.
5. Complaints-Filings
(A) The complaint filing period is
January 1 through March 31. Complaints
filed after the March 31 deadline will be dismissed by the Board. The complaint (DTE Form 1) must be filled out in its entirety; failure
to do so may result in a dismissal. THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON THE COMPLAINANT. Any complainant shall file with the complaint
or at a time not later than ten working
days before the date of scheduled hearings the following information:
(1) For complaints on Residential Property the following information should be submitted:
a. Closing statements, purchase contract, and a copy of the conveyance statement, if applicable.
b. Photographs of the property, if available.
c. Construction cost of new building (certified by the builder), if applicable. These should include both hard and soft costs.
d. Appraisal Report if such is intended to be offered as evidence.
e. Certified estimates from a contractor for repairs cited on the complaint.
f. Any
other supporting documents.
(2) For complaints on
Commercial/Industrial Property the following information should be submitted:
a. Closing statement, purchase contract and a copy of the conveyance statement, if applicable.
b. Lease agreements and/or rent rolls, if applicable.
c. Photographs, Income and Expense Statements or appropriate schedules of the complainant’s Federal Income Tax Return.
d. Construction cost of new building, if applicable (certified by the builder). These should include both hard and soft costs.
e. Appraisal report if such is intended to be offered as evidence.
f. Certified estimates from a contractor for repairs cited on the complaint.
g. Any
other supporting documents.
(3)
For complaints on
a. Closing statement, purchase contract and a copy of the conveyance statement, if applicable.
b. Topography Map (may be obtained from the Hamilton County Engineer).
c. Acreage total.
(4) Only one
complaint per parcel may be filed in one triennial period unless the complainant
alleges that one of the exceptions on Line 14 of DTE Form 1 applies, or unless
an exception outlined in R.C. 5715.19 applies.
A complaint filed, even though dismissed or voluntarily withdrawn, is
considered a filing under this Section.
(5) If the
complainant bases his complaint on a Market Data Analysis, all comparable sales
conveyance statements evidencing such sales should be presented in addition to
any reports, documents, exhibits or other evidence of any kind intended to be
produced at the hearing.
(B) Failure to produce documentation in the
manner required by Rule 5(A) may result in materials being held inadmissible by
the Board.
6. Preliminary Motions
(A) Any preliminary motion made by a party shall be
presented to the Board at least ten days before the scheduled hearing.
(B) The Board may refer motions to its statutory
counsel (the Hamilton County Prosecutor) for his opinion on the merits.
7. Hearings
(A) The Board’s secretary will schedule each
complaint for a hearing and written notice thereof shall be given to the
parties or their representatives of the time and place of the hearing by
certified mail. In rare circumstances,
for good cause shown, the Board may continue hearings at a party’s request. Requests for continuances should be directed
to the Board by calling within seven calendar days of receipt of the notice of
the scheduled hearing.
(B) All hearings shall be open to the public and
shall be recorded
for later transcription or stenographically reported.
8. Order Of
Hearing
(A) The complainant shall present his evidence,
which may include witnesses testifying on the complainant’s behalf, first.
Any counter-complainant shall proceed next. The Auditor’s office will be represented by a
qualified witness who shall testify last unless the choice is made by the
Auditor not to present testimony.
(B) The Board or its counsel may interrupt or
examine the parties and their witnesses at any time.
(C) Limited cross-examination will be permitted
between parties at the Board’s discretion.
All questions and comments will be addressed to the Board’s chairman.
9. Evidence
The Board need not consider any document or exhibit not
specifically enumerated in these rules and which is offered for purposes of the
hearing and has been prepared by a person not present at the hearing and
capable of being cross-examined by the Board.
10. Continuance In
Progress By The Board
The Board may continue a hearing in progress for the purpose
of additional investigation of disputed matters or the purpose of taking
matters under advisement for opinions from statutory counsel.
11. Briefs
(A) At any time prior to the issuance of a final
decision and order on a complaint, the Board may require briefs from the
parties. Briefs shall be filed within
the time limits set by the Board. If any
party fails to submit a brief within the time limit, the Board may exclude the
brief from its consideration.
(B) Three complete and accurately conformed
copies of each brief shall be filed with the signed original.
12. Voluntary Withdrawal
The complainant may voluntarily withdraw a complaint by
filing a written notice of withdrawal at any time before the commencement
of testimony. The notice of withdrawal
is with prejudice. However, a voluntary
withdrawal of an original complaint shall not affect the validity of a timely
filed counter-complaint.
13. Dismissal For
Failure To Prosecute
The Board may journalize an order dismissing a complaint when
the complainant fails to appear at a duly scheduled hearing and fails to notify
the Board that the hearing of additional evidence is waived.
14. Decisions
All decisions by the Board will be made on the record at a
public hearing. Copies of said decisions
will be mailed to all parties by certified mail.
15. Documents
Pursuant to Revised Code Section 5715.07, all documents of
any kind presented to the Board of Revision shall be open to public inspection.
16. Fees
Anyone requesting a copy of any document of this Board shall
be charged a reasonable fee therefor as set by the
Board.
(Approved
BOARD OF
REVISION
(513) 946-4035
Room 304
APPROVED –
Board of Revision
Rules of Practice & Procedure
Phil Heimlich
Robert A. Goering
Dusty