Board of Revision Meeting – February 28, 2024
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Board of Revision met in Regular Session on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 1:00 pm in the Auditor’s Conference Room on the first floor of the Courthouse Annex at 231 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. This meeting was in person with a virtual option via MS Teams. This observer attended virtually.
Agendas: Available through a request to Deputy Auditor Bonnie McKenzie at McKenzie@geauga.oh.gov
Board of Revision Members: The Board of Revision is composed of a County Commissioner, Auditor Charles Walder and Treasurer Christopher Hithcock. All members have designated representatives. See Board Attendance below.
Board of Revision Attendance:
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Christopher Hitchcock - Treasurer
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Charles Walder - Auditor
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Linda Burhenne - Assistant County Administrator, Alternate for the Geauga County Commissioners
Staff Attendance:
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Bonnie McKenzie - Deputy Auditor
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Pam McMahan - Fiscal Office Manager
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Tim Severovich - Appraiser
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Alec Richmond - CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Valuation) Program
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Ron Leyde - Chief Deputy Auditor (virtual)
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IT personnel operating the video
Minutes - After the Hearing portion of the meeting, the Board of Revision approved the minutes for the January 8, 2024 meeting, with Ms. Burhenne abstaining. Minutes are available here.
Background Information
Hearing Rules: Rules are available here, although it is stated that they are under revision. Information about the Board of Revision is available here. There is also a video available that details these procedures here. In general, a complaint for the current tax year must be received by the County Auditor on or before March 31 (or if a Sunday, April 1) of the following tax year.
Tax Consequence: If the taxpayer had already paid the taxes in question, any amount of reduction as a result of the decision of the Board of Revision would be remitted back to the taxpayer.
Description of Process: For each property listed, there was a statement of the current tax value and the requested value, after decrease. The property owner, if present, is sworn in and then invited to give testimony to describe the reasons for the request for a decrease in assessed value. For some cases, there could also be testimony by Tax Assessor Tim Severovich, a Geauga County employee. Mr. Severvich was present for the hearing and available to give testimony. There was one parcel that concerned an agricultural property, and testimony in that case was given by CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Valuation) Program Supervisor Alec Richmond.
Withdrawals: Property owners may withdraw from the process at any point without stating a reason. One claim was withdrawn before today’s hearing. Observer Note: Reasons for withdrawing may include believing a reduction in assessed value will lower the actual resale value or concerns about the hearing process itself.
Decisions of Board: It was announced that decisions by the Board of Revision can be appealed either to the Geauga County Common Pleas Court or to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals. Decisions are mailed to property owners within 30 days by certified mail.
Hearing
Order - Observer Note: The order that was stated in the agenda is not the order that was used during the hearing. In this report, the order that was used in the fearing will be followed.
Parcel # 11-181200; Applicant - Cindy Silver (present) Applicant requested a reduction from $127,500 to $101,000. She detailed many items on the interior (not part of a normal inspection by the County Appraiser), such as fault lines in the foundation. As a result of the description (and photos) of the issues, the Board of Revision suggested that she lower her request to $98,000, which presumably would mean that this is the number they would approve.
Parcel # 16-002900; Applicants Charles and Kathleen Sahyers (present) Applicants asked for a reduction from $220,008 to $175,000. The applicants reviewed the problems inside the property, which primarily centered on their very wet basement (photos were presented). The County AppraIser, Tim Severovich, confirmed that from the exterior he could see that it was a “very wet property.”
Parcel # 15-009900 - Applicant - Mary Lowe (present) - Applicant asked for a reduction from $613,900 to $566,092. She explained that she arrived at this figure by comparing her property to other properties in the area. She had previously submitted an Excel spreadsheet with this information, which was discussed. Mr. Walder said that, although certified appraisers use a different approach, they appreciated her work and did not dispute her findings. Mr. Severovich said that, using his methodology, he came to a figure of $560,000 - $570,000.
Parcel 10-163620 and 10-16360 - Marni Inc. (present) Mr. Newman, the owner of this business, was present. He asked for a decrease in the two properties from $33,800 each to $10,000 each. He provided proof of a recent arms length transaction (meaning no family connection) for the sale of these properties for a total of $20,000 ($10,000 each).
Parcel # 12-095254 and 12-090185; Applicant Brian Hart (CAUV - Current Agricultural Use Valuation) There was an error on the address for the Applicant, and he didn’t get the tax bills for the property until this year. Because of this error, the applicant is able to continue with the Agricultural Use Valuation and penalties will be removed.
Parcel 21-076400; Applicant Peter Formica - Pass Through Agreement - Agreement was reached prior to the hearing due to the fact that there was a recent sale for less than the amount requested.
Parcel 11-388706; Applicants Lisa and Joseph Idamarco - Pass Through Agreement - Agreement was reached to accept the Applicants’ request due to the submission of an appraisal within the 3 year period prior to the hearing.
Parcel 20-014100; Applicant John Herttna - Withdrawn
Mr. Walder said that decisions will be sent within 30 days by Certified Mail to the applicants.
Remissions/Refunds of Late Payment Penalties - The Board of Revision approved remissions of late payment penalties for the second half of Tax Year 2022 in the amount of $3,427 due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect and based on the recommendation of the County Treasurer Christopher P Hitchcock.
Minutes approved - as noted above.
Public Comment: This observer asked a clarifying question regarding the impact of any decision on the taxes owed by the applicant. The information is listed above.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 13 @ 9:00 am in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 231 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Name of Observer: Gail Roussey
Name of Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submitted: 3/6/2024
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