Blatt v. Hamilton County Board of Revision

2009 Ohio 5260, 916 N.E.2d 1065, 123 Ohio St. 3d 428
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 8, 2009
Docket2008-2332
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2009 Ohio 5260 (Blatt v. Hamilton County Board of Revision) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blatt v. Hamilton County Board of Revision, 2009 Ohio 5260, 916 N.E.2d 1065, 123 Ohio St. 3d 428 (Ohio 2009).

Opinions

Lanzinger, J.

{¶ 1} This case involves a property tax appeal from the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”) determination of a residential property value for tax year 2005. The [429]*429Hamilton County Auditor appeals the BTA’s valuation, which is substantially less than either the auditor’s original valuation or the modified valuation of the property found by the Hamilton County Board of Revision (“BOR”). The auditor contends that the BTA’s decision is unreasonable and unlawful because the BTA rejected the probative record evidence of the taxpayer and of the BOR’s additional appraiser and adopted a value unsupported by the record. The auditor also contends that the BTA overstepped its statutory authority when it ordered the BOR to submit property record cards from earlier tax years.

{¶ 2} We affirm the BTA’s decision and defer to the board’s determination of appropriate evidence in this case.

Facts

{¶ 3} Appellee Gina Blatt filed a complaint against the auditor’s valuation of her residential property for tax year 2005. Blatt had purchased the property on January 2, 2004, for $534,000 and demolished the existing house the same month. She and her husband entered into an agreement to construct a new house at the site for $400,000. The auditor had concluded a value of $1,041,300,1 adopting the property’s $534,000 purchase price and adding $507,300 for improvements. Blatt sought to establish $775,000 as the true value of her property. At the BOR, Blatt presented a valuation analysis through her counsel. First, counsel derived a per-square-foot value by examining the auditor’s land values for other properties along the same avenue. This procedure yielded a land value of $215,047. Next, counsel predicated value on cost of construction and land improvements at $550,000, for a total value of approximately $765,000.

{¶ 4} In contrast, the auditor presented the report and testimony of an appraiser, William A. Grauvogel. Grauvogel’s report used the January 2, 2004 purchase price of $534,000 as the land value and added $484,500 as the building value (a value derived from sales-comparison and reproduction-cost approaches) for a total value of $1,018,500.

{¶ 5} The BOR rejected Blatt’s methodology and adopted a property value of $834,000, reflecting a land value of $534,000 (the January 2004 purchase price for the land and the house) plus 75 percent of the $400,000 actual new construction cost shown by the construction contract. The BOR applied the 75 percent factor with an understanding that the new house was only three-quarters finished as of the tax-lien date; at the BOR hearing, however, Blatt’s counsel (whose statements were made under oath) asserted that as of the lien date, a certificate of occupancy had been issued, and the house was in fact occupied.

[430]*430{¶ 6} Blatt appealed the BOR’s determination to the BTA, where the parties agreed to waive the presentation of additional evidence. On November 12, 2008, the BTA issued an order to the BOR requiring submission of complete property record cards for tax years 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. The BOR complied by letter dated November 14, 2008, and the BTA issued its decision.

{¶ 7} The BTA first found that the property’s January 2, 2004 sale price did not constitute its full value because of the demolition and later construction on the parcel. Blatt v. Hamilton Cty. Bd. of Revision (Nov. 25, 2008), BTA No. 2006-N-1808, at 7, 9. The BTA found that the present case fell within the exception to the use of an arm’s-length sale when an improvement has been added to the property between the time of the sale and the tax-lien date. Id. at 8, citing R.C. 5713.03(B).

{¶ 8} Next, the BTA considered whether Blatt had discharged her burden to show that the value of the property was $775,000. In her brief, Blatt urged the BTA to focus exclusively on the value of the land to the exclusion of the value of her newly constructed house. In fact, Blatt advocated a higher value for the house before the BOR than the value the BOR ultimately adopted.

{¶ 9} The BTA rejected Blatt’s submission because the valuations of surrounding properties appearing on the property record cards were not probative evidence of the subject property’s land value. Id. at 9, 10, citing WJJK Invests., Inc. v. Licking Cty. Bd. of Revision (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 29, 665 N.E.2d 1111. The BTA also stated that it had the duty to value both land and building and could not value the land in isolation. Id. at 11-12.

{¶ 10} Having rejected Blatt’s valuation, the BTA addressed the auditor’s appraisal by Grauvogel. Grauvogel’s cost approach was found unreliable because the actual $400,000 construction contract refuted the appraiser’s $642,388 cost valuation of the new house. The BTA also faulted Grauvogel’s sales-comparison approach, because it failed to adjust comparables for lot size and because one comparable appeared to be significantly older.

{¶ 11} Instead, the BTA valued Blatt’s property by taking the BOR’s determination as its starting point and making two changes. The BTA used the actual cost of the new house as the value of the building and looked to the purchase price of the property for the value of the land. The BTA departed from the BOR’s computation by using the full $400,000 cost of construction rather than $300,000 as 75 percent, because the house was complete on the lien date. In addition, the board determined the land value to be 70 percent rather than 100 percent of the purchase price. The BTA derived the 70 percent factor by looking to the tax year 2003 property record card and applying the same ratio of land value to total value as determined by the auditor for that tax year.2

[431]*431{¶ 12} Finally, the BTA computed the value of the property for tax year 2005 by adding the $400,000 construction-cost figure to the $373,800 (70 percent of $534,000) land-value figure, arriving at a total value of $773,800 for the Blatt property.

Analysis

{¶ 13} Under our cases, “ ‘[t]he BTA is responsible for determining factual issues and, if the record contains reliable and probative support’ ” for the BTA’s decision, this court will affirm. Satullo v. Wilkins, 111 Ohio St.3d 399, 2006-Ohio-5856, 856 N.E.2d 954, ¶ 14, quoting Am. Natl. Can Co. v. Tracy (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 150, 152, 648 N.E.2d 483. More specifically, we “ ‘will not reverse the BTA’s determination on credibility of witnesses and weight given to their testimony unless we find an abuse of * * * discretion.’” Strongsville Bd. of Edn. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision, 112 Ohio St.3d 309, 2007-Ohio-6, 859 N.E.2d 540, ¶ 15, quoting Natl. Church Residence v. Licking Cty. Bd. of Revision (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 397, 398, 653 N.E.2d 240. But “ ‘we will not hesitate to reverse a BTA decision that is based on an incorrect legal conclusion.’ ” Satullo, ¶ 14, quoting Gahanna-Jefferson Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Zaino (2001), 93 Ohio St.3d 231, 232, 754 N.E.2d 789.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 Ohio 5260, 916 N.E.2d 1065, 123 Ohio St. 3d 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blatt-v-hamilton-county-board-of-revision-ohio-2009.