Huber Hts. City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Revision (Slip Opinion)
Huber Hts. City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Revision (Slip Opinion)
Opinion
*182 {¶ 1} This case involves the tax-year-2013 valuation of a retail property that was split from a larger parcel and sold to appellee Huber Heights ABG, L.L.C., in June 2012. The Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA") determined that the property should be valued according to the sale price. We affirm the BTA's decision.
*183 Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} The subject property consists of 11.496 acres on which a large retail building and a parking lot are situated. In June 2012, Huber Heights ABG purchased the property, which had been part of a larger parcel, for $550,000. The seller retained a small out lot.
{¶ 3} For tax year 2012, the Montgomery County auditor valued the original, undivided parcel at $1,661,130. Huber Heights ABG challenged that valuation, arguing that the undivided parcel should have been valued at $550,000, based on the sale price of the 11.496 acres, which included the existing retail building. The parties seem to agree that the tax-year-2012 case settled, resulting in a valuation of $850,000 for the undivided parcel.
{¶ 4} For tax year 2013, the auditor established a new parcel number for the subject property and valued the property at $2,199,700. Huber Heights ABG filed a valuation complaint with the Montgomery County Board of Revision ("BOR"), asking for a reduction to $850,000-the same value attributed to the undivided parcel for tax year 2012. Appellant, Huber Heights City Schools Board of Education ("the school board"), filed a countercomplaint seeking to retain the auditor's valuation.
{¶ 5} Before the BOR hearing, Huber Heights ABG sent the BOR closing statements showing the June 2012 sale price of $550,000, but it did not send copies of those documents to the school board. Huber Heights ABG did not introduce those or any other documents at the BOR hearing; instead, an employee, Matthew Rentschler, testified that Huber Heights ABG purchased the property for $550,000 in June 2012. Rentschler also testified that between the date of the sale and January 1, 2013, Huber Heights ABG spent about $200,000 improving the property so that it could be used as a Rural King retail store. Rentschler asked the BOR to carry forward a value of $850,000, the prior agreed-upon valuation of the undivided parcel. The BOR instead reduced the new parcel's value to $1,282,740.
{¶ 6} The school board appealed to the BTA, which heard the case on the statutory transcript and the parties' written arguments. On appeal, the school board asked the BTA to reinstate the auditor's original valuation of $2,199,700, while Huber Heights ABG continued to seek a valuation *517 of $850,000. The parties agreed that no evidence supported the BOR's valuation.
{¶ 7} The BTA rejected the BOR's valuation and valued the property at $550,000, finding that the June 2012 sale was a recent arm's-length transaction. The school board appealed to this court.
*184 Analysis
{¶ 8} We must affirm the BTA's decision if it is "reasonable and lawful." R.C. 5717.04. In making this determination, we must consider legal issues de novo,
Akron City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Summit Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 9} In its three propositions of law, the school board argues that the BTA's decision is unreasonable and unlawful because Huber Heights ABG did not meet its initial burden of proof with competent and probative evidence. Central to this argument is the fact that Huber Heights ABG did not ask the BOR or the BTA to value the subject property according to the sale price. According to the school board, Huber Heights ABG's failure to advocate for the sale price was a concession that the sale was not recent in relation to the tax-lien date and, therefore, that the sale price is not the best evidence of the property's value.
{¶ 10} Though it is true that Huber Heights ABG did not seek a valuation of $550,000 in the proceedings below, that does not mean that the BTA acted unreasonably or unlawfully in establishing $550,000 as the property's value. Irrespective of the values advocated by the parties, the BTA has an independent statutory duty to " 'determine the taxable value of the property.' "
Sapina v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 11} Huber Heights ABG had "a relatively light initial burden" to demonstrate that the June 2012 sale was a qualifying sale under R.C. 5713.03.
Lunn v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
*185
Dauch v. Erie Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
*518 {¶ 12} Here, the record contains relatively little documentation of the sale-only the closing statements Huber Heights ABG submitted to the BOR 1 and a property-record card that refers to the parcel split. In addition to this limited documentation, Matthew Rentschler testified that Huber Heights ABG purchased the property in June 2012 for $550,000.
{¶ 13} By itself, this evidence may not have established the presumption of a facially qualifying sale.
See
FirstCal Indus. 2 Acquisitions, L.L.C. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 14} The school board, therefore, had the burden of producing rebuttal evidence showing that the sale either was not at arm's length or not recent in relation to the tax-lien date.
Cincinnati School Dist.
,
{¶ 15} We have held that when substantial changes are made to a property after a sale, the sale may not be recent, even if it was temporally near the tax-lien date.
See
W. Carrollton City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 16} The school board argues that the BTA improperly required it to produce evidence showing that the expenditures materially changed the property. According to the school board, it should not be required to disprove the recency of the sale with evidence of the nature of the improvements to the property, because Huber Heights ABG never advocated for the recency of the sale. The school board emphasizes that only Huber Heights ABG
*519 has access to information about the improvements.
{¶ 17} We reject this argument in view of the discussion above, which explains why the BTA reasonably and lawfully applied the presumption of recency recognized in
Cincinnati School Dist.
,
{¶ 18} Because the BTA properly required the school board to produce evidence rebutting the recency of the sale, the sole question is whether the BTA reasonably and lawfully weighed the evidence. The school board has not shown that the BTA abused its discretion in that regard.
See
Worthington City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 19} As a final matter, the school board cites
Terraza 8, L.L.C. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
Decision affirmed.
O'Connor, C.J., and O'Donnell, Kennedy, French, O'Neill, Fischer, and DeWine, JJ., concur.
The school board argues that the closing statements cannot be considered because they were not introduced or admitted into evidence at the BOR hearing. They were, however, included in the statutory transcript certified to the BTA under R.C. 5717.01. Because the school board did not object to the documents before the BTA, we hold that the school board waived any challenge to the closing statements.
See
RNG Properties, Ltd. v. Summit Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HUBER HEIGHTS CITY SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION, Appellant, v. MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION, Et Al., Appellees.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Taxation-Real-property valuation-Basic facts of subject property's sale undisputed and supported by some evidence in record-Board of Tax Appeals reasonably and lawfully presumed that property's sale met all requirements that characterize true value-Board of Tax Appeals properly required school board to produce evidence rebutting recency of sale-Decision affirmed.