Yesterday, Governor DeWine signed House Bill (HB) 126. The bill’s requirements apply to any complaint or counter-complaint filed for tax year 2022 or any later tax year. Click here to access a synopsis of the changes made by the conference committee, and click here to read the bill text of the changes.
OASBO plans to host a webinar in the near future for members to fully understand the implications of the bill’s changes to the board of revision (BOR) process. To recap, the amended bill:
- Prohibits boards of education (BOE) from filing residential and agricultural complaints.
- Permits BOE to file commercial complaints only when (1) the property was sold in the year before the tax year for which the complaint was filed and (2) the sale price was at least 10 percent and $500,000 more than the auditor’s value. The $500,000 value is for tax year 2022. The amount will be indexed to inflation each year going forward.
- Requires a BOE to provide notice and pass a resolution for each parcel, with the notice going to the tax address and mailing address.
- Requires a BOE to give notice to property owners at least seven days in advance when they plan to vote on a resolution authorizing a valuation challenge.
- Eliminates notice to BOE for counter-complaints, which means:
- BOE will no longer receive notice from the County Auditor when a complaint is filed, which means that districts will have to file counter complaints within 30 days of the date the owner files the original complaint.
- However, property owners must still receive notice of BOE complaints and have 30 days from receipt of that notice to file a counter-complaint.
- Bars settlement agreements entered into after the effective date of the legislation.
- Provides that the BOR must dismiss a case if it is not decided within 1 year of its filing.
- Prohibit a BOE from filing an appeal of a BOR decision.
Thank you for all of your advocacy on this issue. The Legislative Committee will be discussing next steps and possible initiatives in our upcoming meetings.