Cardinal Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Cuyahoga County Board of Revision

336 N.E.2d 433, 44 Ohio St. 2d 13, 73 Ohio Op. 2d 83, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 571
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided October 15, 1975·No. No. 74-1117·Published·Cited by 141 cases

Opinion

William B. Bbown, J.

At the outset we direct our attention to the jurisdictional question presented by appellant’s second proposition of law, which reads:

“Full compliance with Ohio Revised Code 5715.19 and 5715.13 is necessary to confer jurisdiction upon a county board of revision, notwithstanding that the complaint seeks an increase rather than a decrease of the taxable value of real estate. ’ ’

[17] In support thereof, appellant relies upon Stanjim Co. v. Bd. of Revision, supra (38 Ohio St. 2d 233), a per curiam opinion, wherein this court stated, at page 235, that: “* * * [F]ull compliance with R. C. 5715.19 and 5715.13 is necessary before a county board of revision is empowered to act on the merits of a claim. ’ ’

The specific citations of statutory noncompliance on the part of appellees city of Cleveland and Cleveland Board of Education, are that the Board of Revision Form No. 1 (hereinafter BTA Form 1), used by both appellees in filing their complaints as to the assessment of real property, allegedly failed to ‘‘state the amount of overvaluation, undervaluation, discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation or incorrect determination complained of” as required by R. C. 5715.19, and failed to show the facts upon which such claims are based, as required by R. C. 5715.13.

R. C. 5715.133 only affects the power of a county board of revision to decrease valuations. Inasmuch as this case involves an increase in valuation, appellees were under no mandate to comply with R. 0. 5715.13 and its concomitant requirement to “show the facts” upon which their claims were based.

In an action to increase land valuation, R. C. 5715.19 requires that “[e]ach complaint shall state the amount of * * undervaluation * * * complained of.” The BTA Form 1 filed by the Cleveland Board of Education concerning parcels 10 and 27 recites a “current assessed value” of $6,880, the “increase asked” as $7,970 and the “taxable value claimed” as $14,850. The BTA Form 1 filed by the city of Cleveland concerning parcel 2 recites a “current assessed value” of $5,180, the “increase asked” as $9,220 and the “taxable value claimed” as $14,400, and contains a notation which reads: ‘ ‘ The requested increase [18] is based upon the sale of the subject property. Further information will be submitted at the time of the hearing.”

It is the opinion of this court that appellees satisfied the requirement of R. 0. 5715.19 to specify “the amount of * * * undervaluation,” when they specified sums for “increase asked.”

In its reply brief, appellant has raised, for the first time, the question of whether the city of Cleveland had standing to file the initial complaint with the board of revision. This court does not consider such tardily presented arguments (Neil House Hotel Co. v. Bd. of Revision [1946], 147 Ohio St. 231, paragraph one of the syllabus; R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. v. Porterfield [1972], 30 Ohio St. 2d 219, 222; Wesleyan University Press v. Donahue [1966] 8 Ohio St. 2d 4, 5), and we therefore proceed to the merits of the appeal.

The ultimate question presented is whether the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals, which increased the assessed valuation of the subject parcels, is unreasonable or unlawful. Buckeye Power v. Kosydar (1973), 35 Ohio St. 2d 137, paragraph one of the syllabus.

In support of their claims for increasing the assessed valuation of parcels 2, 10 and 27, appellees rely upon the prices for which appellant purchased those parcels in July of 1973.

Appellant concedes that those sales were voluntarily negotiated between a willing seller and a willing buyer, but argues that “special or necessitous circumstances” existed which caused the sale prices to exceed the fair market value4 of those parcels.

In determining the value of property for the purpose of taxation, the tax assessor must take into consideration [19] all factors which, affect the value of the property. B. F. Keith Columbus Co. v. Bd. of Revision (1947), 148 Ohio St. 253, paragraph one of the syllabus; Western Industries v. Bd. of Revision (1960), 170 Ohio St. 340, 342; American Steel & Wire Co. of New Jersey v. Bd. of Revision (1942), 139 Ohio St. 388, 392.

The price paid by appellant is one such factor, but “ * * * is not a controlling factor in determining the assessed valuation of the property on the tax duplicate.” (Emphasis added.) Ramsey v. Bd. of Revision (1943), 141 Ohio St. 366, 367. See Bd. of Revision v. One Euclid Co. (1968), 16 Ohio St. 2d 43.

Any other factors which allegedly bear upon the property’s value must be presented to the board by way of competent evidence. Here, appellant produced seven, one-page appraisals which purported to show a variance between the sales price and the fair market value of certain parcels. However, the appraisals contain nothing which might serve to explain any such variance. Previous parcels purchased by appellant are not mentioned as comparable sales under the market-approach analysis to valuation. Also not mentioned is the possible influence on the market, and resultant fair market value, that a buyer determined to purchase an entire tract might have as parcel after parcel is acquired in the purchasing scheme.

This court finds that the board’s apparent unwillingness to base its decision upon the appraisals offered by appellant was not unreasonable. "We need only recall that the board is not required to adopt the valuation fixed by any expert or witness. Hibschman v. Bd. of Tax Appeals (1943), 142 Ohio St. 47, 48, and cases cited therein; Benedict v. Bd. of Revision (1959), 170 Ohio St. 62, 63; and Shaker Square Co. v. Bd. of Revision (1960), 170 Ohio St. 369, 371. Also, the board is vested with wide discretion in determining the weight to be given to evidence and the credibility of witnesses which come before the board (American Steel & Wire Co. of New Jersey v. Bd. of Revision, supra [139 Ohio St. 388], at 393; Shaker Square Co. v. Bd. of Revision, supra [170 Ohio St. 369], at 371; Benedict v. Bd. of Revision, supra [20] [170 Ohio St. 62], at 63), and courts will not disturb such determination unless a patent abuse of discretion is shown. Benedict v. Bd. of Revision, supra, at 63.

In support of its proposition that the true or intrinsic value of property may not be reflected by its sale price where the sale occurs amid “special or necessitous circumstances,” appellant cites the following six cases from other jurisdictions.

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Cardinal Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, 336 N.E.2d 433, 44 Ohio St. 2d 13, 73 Ohio Op. 2d 83, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 571 (Ohio 1975).

336 N.E.2d 433 (Cardinal Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Cuyahoga County Board of Revision) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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