Rules of Procedure

ADOPTED: August 16, 1999
EFFECTIVE: September 1, 1999

INTRODUCTION
It is ordered that the following Rules be, and are hereby adopted for the governance of the practice and procedure of the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, pursuant to the authority granted to it through the Ohio Revised Code Chapter 57, until such time and subject to change by the Board of Revision, which is composed of the County Treasurer, County Auditor, and the President of the Board of County Commissioners.

BOARD R. I. SCOPE OF RULES: APPLICABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION

(A) These rules prescribe the procedure to be followed in the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, and all attorneys, parties, witnesses and other persons appearing before the Board of Revision shall abide by these rules and all rulings of the Board of Revision.

(B) These rules shall be construed and applied by the Board of Revision to affect just results by eliminating delay, unnecessary expense and all other impediments to the expeditious administration of justice.

BOARD R. II. FILING OF COMPLAINTS

A) All complaints shall be filed with the Board of Revision on or before the thirty-first day of March of the ensuing tax year.

(B) If the stated amount of over valuation, under valuation, discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation, or incorrect determination is at least seventeen thousand five hundred dollars ($17,500.00) assessed valuation, the Administrator shall give notice by certified mail to each property owner whose property is the subject of the complaint (unless the complaint was filed by the property owner or the owner's spouse) and to each board of education whose school district may be affected by the complaint. Such notice must be given within thirty (30) days ("Day" for purposes of these rules shall mean calendar day unless stated otherwise.) after the last date for the filing of complaints.

(C) All counter-complaints shall be filed within thirty (30) days after receipt of notice from the Board of Revision that a complaint has been filed.

(D) All complaints and counter-complaints shall be filed at the Board of Revision Administrative Offices, 232 County Administration Building, 1219 Ontario Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.

(E) The Administrator of the Board of Revision shall time and date stamp each complaint and counter-complaint upon its filing with the Board of Revision and shall immediately assign a case number. Case numbers assigned at filing shall be assigned in consecutive numerical order, with a 4 (four) digit prefix to the case number indicating the calendar year of filing.

BOARD R III. CASE DOCKETING

(A) The Board of Revision has multiple hearing Panels appointed to hear complaints and counter-complaints. Each year the Chairperson of each Panel shall be appointed in accordance with the elections held by the Treasurer, Auditor and President of the Board of County Commissioners. Complaints and counter-complaints received by the Board of Revision shall be assigned to the individual Panels as follows:

(1) Complaints and amended complaints regarding commercial and industrial properties, where the requested change in assessed valuation, set out on the complaint or amended complaint, is $250,000 or greater, shall be assigned to Panel A.

(2) Complaints and amended complaints regarding commercial and industrial properties, where the requested change in assessed valuation, set out on the complaint or amended complaint, is $50,000 or greater, but less than $250,000, shall be assigned to Panel B.

(3) Complaints and amended complaints regarding commercial and industrial properties, where the requested change in assessed valuation set out on the complaint is $49,999 or less, shall be assigned to Panel C.

(4) Complaints regarding residential properties shall be assigned to Panel C.

(5) All proposed amendments to complaints shall be submitted to the Board of Revision no later than two (2) weeks prior to the scheduled hearing date. Where an amendment to a complaint results in a change in the requested assessed valuation of the property, the amended complaint shall be reassigned to the appropriate Panel pursuant to the provisions of Subparagraphs (A)(1), (2), and (3) set forth above if appropriate.

(B) Once a complaint or counter-complaint has been assigned to a Panel, any decision rendered on the complaint or counter-complaint, whether procedural, jurisdictional, evidentiary or dispositive in nature, shall be made by the Panel so assigned and shall be the decision of the Board of Revision.

BOARD R. IV. HEARING NOTICE

(A) The Administrator shall notify all parties to the proceedings and property owners by certified mail sixty (60) days prior to the date of hearing, when possible, but under no circumstances less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing.

BOARD R V. CONTINUANCES

(A) No party will be granted a continuance of a scheduled hearing, except in case of emergency, unless good cause is shown and a written request is filed with the Administrator of the Board of Revision not later than fourteen (14) days prior to the hearing. The request must state the reason(s) why a continuance should be granted and shall contain a certification by the requesting individual that, "all facts and reasons given for this request are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge." The written request must be signed by counsel, if the party seeking the continuance has legal representation, or by the party seeking the continuance, if the party is not represented by counsel.

(B) The Administrator shall submit each continuance request to the Chairperson of the Panel to which the complaint or counter-complaint has been assigned. For good cause shown the Chairperson may grant a continuance but not without first setting a date certain for the hearing.

(C) For purposes of this section "good cause" does not include excuses or reasons which are the result of lack of planning after proper notice of hearing on the part of a party and/or his or her counsel, or conflicts due to practitioners or attorneys taking in more cases than they are properly staffed to handle. In all matters "good cause" shall be determined by each individual Chairperson.

(D) If a request for a continuance is not granted, the case will be heard on the scheduled hearing date.

(E) Conflict of hearing/trial assignment dates:

(1) When a continuance is requested because counsel is scheduled to appear before another court, administrative board or other tribunal, the request for continuance must be filed not later than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, and must have attached a copy of the conflicting assignment demonstrating that the matter was scheduled prior to the parties receiving notice of the scheduled Board of Revision hearing.

(2) If an attorney or law ~ has such a number of cases assigned for hearing before the Board of Revision as to cause undue delay in the disposition of such cases, the attorney or law firm is expected to make necessary adjustments to manage his, her or their practice.

BOARD R. VI. PRE-HEARING DOCUMENT SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

(A) A party seeking to change the Auditor's valuation must file the documents it intends to submit into evidence at the hearing, no later than five (5) days prior to the hearing.

(B) Rebuttal documents may be filed with the Board of Revision less than five days prior to the hearing, and including the day of the hearing.

(D) Copies of all documents filed with the Board of Revision shall be served upon all other parties to the proceeding at the same time they are filed with the Board of Revision.

BOARD R. VII. HEARING PROCEDURE

(A) The Secretary of each Panel shall take full minutes of all evidence given to the Panel by tape recording.

(B) All witnesses giving testimony before the Board of Revision shall be sworn.

(C) All attorneys, parties, witnesses, and other persons appearing before the Board of Revision or members of the public observing the Board of Revision shall comply with the rulings and orders of the Chairperson. No attorney, party, witness or other person may engage in conduct that impedes the Board of Revision's ability to conduct an orderly hearing or that is, in the opinion of the Chairperson, disruptive or otherwise prejudicial to the administration of justice. All attorneys appearing before the Board of Revision shall conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Code of Professional Responsibility which has been adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court.

(D) The Chairperson may recess any hearing. When any hearing is recessed, the Chairperson shall state, on the record, the time and date that the hearing will resume.

(E) After introduction of the complaint(s) by the Chairperson of the Panel, the party which first filed its complaint shall present its evidence in support of the complaint.

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(F) Upon completion of the case of the party which filed the first complaint, the opposing party may introduce all evidence in support of its counter-complaint, or in opposition to the opposing party's complaint.

(G) At the hearing, the Panel may request any party to submit additional evidence to the Panel after the hearing, but prior to the Panel's decision. At the hearing, the Panel may also grant a party's request for permission to submit additional evidence in support of its position, after the hearing but prior to the Panel's decision. The request for additional evidence, whether made by the Panel or a party, shall be made on the record. All supplemental evidence and the time of its submission shall be made a part of the record. Copies of all evidence submitted after the hearing shall be served upon all other parties. All evidence received at the hearing or supplemented pursuant to this rule shall be considered by the panel.

(H) Any party may request from the Chairperson of the Panel an opportunity to submit a post-hearing brief. Such request should only be granted in rare instances and for good cause shown. If the request is granted, the Chairperson of the Panel shall order, on the record, a date certain in which post-hearing briefs shall be submitted by the parties to the Panel, and a copy served upon all parties to the hearing. Simultaneous briefs may be ordered, or, at the discretion of the Chairperson, the party initiating the briefing request may be required to file an initial brief with time allowed to any other party to file a reply brief. Failure to submit the post-hearing brief within the time frame ordered by the Chairperson will result in the exclusion of the post-hearing brief from consideration.

(I) All hearings before the Board of Revision shall be open to the public.

(J) The burden of proof at a hearing before the Board of Revision is upon the party seeking a reduction or increase in the Auditor's valuation.

(K) Stipulations between the parties as to valuation for the tax year at issue must be presented at a hearing before the Board of Revision.

(L) Stipulations as to valuation established for prior tax years shall not be deemed as conclusive evidence of valuation for the property for the tax year at issue.

BOARD R. VIII. DECISIONS

(A) Within thirty (30) days after the submission of all evidence in each case, the Panel shall, by certified mail to all parties, issue a decision on each complaint and counter-complaint filed.

(B) A motion for reconsideration of a decision by a Panel shall only be granted in rare situations of mistake or where the Panel's intention has not been communicated by its decision. Such motion must be filed with, and time stamped by, the Administrator of the Board of Revision, and ruled upon by the Panel, no later than the shorter of the following time periods: the thirtieth calendar day following the date the Panel's decision is rendered, or prior to the filing of a notice of appeal by any party.

"This decision of the Board of Revision may be appealed pursuant to Ohio Revised Code section 5717.01 or section 5717.05. The appeal must be filed within 30 days after the date of mailing of this letter."

(D) The decision of each individual Panel shall be the decision of the Board of Revision.

BOARD R. IX. APPEALS

(A) Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code sections 5717.01 and 5717.05, an appeal from a decision of the Board of Revision must be filed with either the Board of Tax Appeals or the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. A copy of the notice of appeal must also be filed with the Board of Revision.

(B) If an appeal is filed with the Board of Tax Appeals the Administrator shall:

(1) Upon receipt of notice of the appeal, notify by certified mail all persons who were parties to the proceeding before the Board of Revision, and shall file proof of such notice with the Board of Tax Appeals, and thereupon;

(2) Certify to the Board of Tax Appeals a transcript of the record of proceedings of the Board of Revision pertaining to the original complaint, and all evidence offered in connection therewith.

(1) Within thirty (30) days after the notice of appeal has been filed with the Board of Revision, certify to the court a transcript of the record of the proceedings of the Board of Revision pertaining to the original complaint and all evidence offered in connection with that complaint.

BOARD R. X. REMANDS

(A) If a case is remanded to the Board of Revision, either by the Board of Tax Appeals, the Court of Common Pleas, or any Appellate Court, the case shall be heard by the Panel which originally heard the case.

BOARD R. XI. TITLE

(A) These rules shall be known as the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision Rules of Procedure and may be cited as "Board Rules" or "Board R. ________"

BOARD R. XII. EFFECTIVE DATE

(A) The rules adopted herein are designed to be in conformity with Chapter 57 of the Ohio Revised Code, and the obligations imposed on each County Board of Revision, and shall take effect on this first day of September, 1999. Any requirements of Chapter 57 of the Ohio Revised Code not specifically addressed in these rules of procedure are not waived by the Board of Revision, and remain binding upon it and all other parties to its proceedings.

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Forms and Downloads

Complaint Form and Instructions