Society Nat. Bank v. Wood County Bd. of Revision

• Decision Date: 22 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-1058,97-1058
• Citation: 692 N.E.2d 148,81 Ohio St.3d 401
• Parties: SOCIETY NATIONAL BANK, Appellant, v. WOOD COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION et al., Appellees.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 401

81 Ohio St.3d 401

692 N.E.2d 148

SOCIETY NATIONAL BANK, Appellant, v. WOOD COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION et al., Appellees.

No. 97-1058.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Oct. 28, 1997.

Decided April 22, 1998.

Arter & Hadden and Karen H. Bauernschmidt, Cleveland, for appellant.

Teaford, Rich & Wheeler and James R. Gorry, Columbus, for appellees Wood County Board of Revision and Wood County Auditor.

PER CURIAM.

Society contends that it met all the requirements of R.C. 5715.13 and 5715.19, and therefore had standing to file a complaint for a decrease in the valuation of the real property. We disagree.

The two statutes of primary importance when considering the standing of a party to file a complaint for a decrease in valuation with a board of revision are R.C. 5715.19 and 5715.13.

R.C. 5715.19(A)(1) provides:

"Any person owning taxable real property in the county or in a taxing district with territory in the county * * * may file such a complaint regarding any such determination affecting any real property in the county * * *." (Emphasis added.)

R.C. 5715.13 provides:

"The county board of revision shall not decrease any valuation complained of unless the party affected thereby or his agent makes and files with the board a written application * * *."

The thrust of Society's argument is that it was a "party affected," within the meaning of R.C. 5715.13, because on the tax lien date, January 1, 1995 (see R.C. 323.11), it was the owner of the property listed in its complaint and because of its contractual obligation to credit the buyer with the prorated taxes for a portion of tax year 1995.

While Society's argument primarily focuses on R.C. 5715.13, we believe that our decision in Middleton v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 226, 658 N.E.2d 267, requires that consideration of this matter start with R.C. 5715.19. In Middleton we stated, "R.C. 5715.19 is a general statute providing who may complain about various actions taken by the auditor." (Emphasis added.) Id. at 227, 658 N.E.2d at 268. A review of the pertinent language of R.C. 5715.19(A)(1), which lists the persons and entities that have standing to file a complaint, shows only one classification for which Society might qualify as a complainant, and that is, "[a]ny person owning taxable real property in the county."

In Am. Restaurant & Lunch Co. v. Glander (1946), 147 Ohio St. 147, 34 O.O. 8, 70 N.E.2d 93, at paragraph one of the syllabus, we held, "Where a statute confers the right of appeal, adherence to the conditions thereby imposed is essential to the enjoyment of the right conferred." In the context of this case the pertinent language of the second paragraph of R.C. 5715.19(A)(1), as quoted above, is clear and unambiguous in restricting the filing of a complaint to persons "owning taxable real property in the county." The use of the present tense in the phrase "owning taxable real property in the county" further requires that the complainant must own taxable real property in the county at the time the complaint is filed. The complainant need not own the subject property as long as the complainant owns taxable real property in the county at the time the complaint is filed. Thus a person who owns no taxable real property in the county at the time he or she files a complaint would not have standing to complain about the valuation of the real property of another.

When a person files a complaint against the property of another, the burden is on that person to prove that he or she has standing. For instance, in Middleton, where a nonowner attempted to file a complaint against the valuation of another's real property, the complainant...