Tax Rules: Final: 5703-25
5703-25-08 Procedure prior to actual
appraisal
(A) Before commencing the appraisal, reappraisal, or
revaluation of real property for the tax purposes in
connection with a sexennial reappraisal, triennial update, or
for annual maintenance each county auditor is required to
appoint and employ the experts, deputies, clerks or other
employees as the auditor deems necessary in the performance
of the auditor's duties as assessor with the approval of the
tax commissioner. The tax commissioner hereby grants such
general approval. All such employees shall be appointed as
deputies under the provisions of section 319.05 of the
Revised Code. The tax commissioner may order any particular
county auditor to seek, in writing, prior approval from the
tax commissioner to appoint and employ any such experts,
deputies, clerks or other employees, as the tax commissioner
deems necessary, in the manner and for the time period the
tax commissioner prescribes.
(B) A county auditor proposing to make an in-house sexennial
reappraisal shall first prepare a detailed plan for making
such appraisal which shall include, but is not limited to,
the following provisions:
(1) Outline of appraisal procedure to be followed.
(2) Number of persons to be employed.
(3) The names and addresses of key persons and supervisors to
be employed and their qualifications.
(4) Compensation and salaries to be paid and estimate of
total cost.
(5) Period of employment.
(6) The date actual appraisal work is to begin.
(7) Date of completion of the appraisal, and the specific tax
year for which the appraised values shall be placed on the
tax duplicate.
(C) Such plan shall be prepared in duplicate, one copy to be
kept in the office of the auditor and open to public
inspection, and one copy to be filed with the department of
taxation as a part of the foregoing application. Such plan,
after being approved by the tax commissioner, shall not be
departed from and there shall be no changes or alterations of
the same without the written approval of an application to
the tax commissioner setting forth specifically the changes,
alterations, additions or subtractions requested by the
county auditor.
(D) Progress of work reports shall be made during the course
of the appraisal as determined and requested by the tax
commissioner.
(E) A county auditor proposing to employ professional
appraisal firms or an individual appraiser to make a complete
or partial appraisal, either for a sexennial reappraisal,
triennial update, or for annual maintenance, is required to
request and obtain approval of the tax commissioner of any
contract entered into with such appraisal firm and to file a
copy of such contract with the tax commissioner as a part of
the application of the county auditor to commence an
appraisal, reappraisal or revaluation of real property for
tax purposes.
(F) Such application shall contain a fully completed
statement on department of taxation form 92, a copy of which
form shall be supplied to each county auditor by the
department of taxation. A contract between a county auditor
and a professional appraisal firm shall include, but is not
limited to, the following provisions:
(1) Date actual appraisal work is to begin.
(2) Date of completion of all appraisals provided for in the
contract and submitting of all reports concerning same to the
county auditor, and the specific tax year for which the
appraised values shall be placed on the tax list and
duplicate. The dates provided in paragraphs (F)(1) and (F)(2)
of this rule shall conform to the dates previously fixed by
the entry and order of the tax commissioner issued pursuant
to rule 5703-25-07 of the Administrative Code and in
accordance with section 5715.34 of the Revised Code.
(3) Provision that the contract shall not be effective until
it is approved by the tax commissioner.
(4) Provision for the support of values and a retention of a
part of the consideration of the contract by the county
auditor as a guarantee of the support of values until all
complaints have been resolved either by the board of revision
or higher authority in an amount deemed to be satisfactory to
the county auditor of not less than two per cent of the total
consideration of the contract entered into. The support of
values before the board of revision shall be by a responsible
and competent employee of the appraisal firm. The support of
values, upon appeals from the board of revision to the board
of tax appeals or to a common pleas court shall be by a
competent witness who can qualify as an expert and who has
personally inspected the real property in litigation and has
made his independent written appraisal thereof.
The following language shall be included in the support of
value clause of all appraisal contracts:
"Within ten days after the filing of a notice of appeal from
a decision of the county board of revision in any valuation
complaint the company or individual appraiser shall be
notified by the county auditor that such notice has been
filed and the company shall see that a competent witness is
well prepared to give proper evidence and testimony at such
time as the appeal is heard by either the board of tax
appeals or the court of common pleas and the witness must be
one who can qualify as an expert and who has personally
inspected the property in litigation and has made an
independent written appraisal thereof."
(5) Provision that the services to be rendered under the
contract, with the exception of the provision regarding the
support of values, are to be completed in time to use the
values of the real property in connection with the tax list
and duplicate for the collection of taxes for the year in
which the work is completed and that ten per cent of the
contract price be retained by the county auditor. Upon
completion of required services, other than support of
values, and delivery of required reports said retainage shall
be paid by the auditor to the appraisal firm less the
retainage provided for the guarantee of support of values in
paragraph (F)(4) of this rule. In the event all such services
covered by the contract, except the support of values, are
not completed upon the date of completion date agreed to, the
contract shall provide that all payments thereafter are to be
suspended at the time and withheld by the county auditor
until there has been full compliance with the terms of the
contract of the appraisal firm. Provisions shall be made in
the contract for a penalty of not less than two hundred
dollars per day as liquidated damages to begin on the day
following the date of completion as agreed to in the contract
and to apply for each and every day thereafter, excepting
Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, up to and including
the date of full and complete compliance by the appraisal
firm of the terms of the contract. In the event that it is
necessary for the county auditor to suspend all payments
under the contract for the failure of the appraisal firm to
complete all the services set forth in the contract on the
date of completion agreed to therein, no further payments
shall be made to the appraisal firm under the contract
without the approval of the county prosecuting attorney and
the approval of the department of taxation being first
obtained.
The contract shall also provide that in the event the
appraisal firm for any reason is unable to start the
appraisal on the date set in the contract, then the firm
shall immediately notify the tax commissioner and shall
appear before the tax commissioner to explain, under oath,
the reason or reasons it is unable to start the appraisal.
(6) The contract shall specifically provide that in the event
that the appraisal firm maintains that the appraisal could
not be completed within the time set in the contract because
of an act of God or because of elements not within the
control of the firm such as riots, war, organized work
stoppage, or other delay not caused by the appraisal firm,
then the tax commissioner shall hear the matter and if, in
the tax commissioner's opinion, which shall be final, the
delay was actually caused by any of the above stated reasons
or for any other good reason over which the appraisal firm
had no control, then the penalty herein provided for in the
contract shall be dispensed with.
(7) As an alternate to the retainage for the guarantee of the
support of values, required by paragraph (F)(4) of this rule
and the ten per cent retainage and the minimum two hundred
dollars a day penalty required by paragraph (F)(5) of this
rule a performance bond for the full amount of the contract
satisfactory to the county auditor, approved by the county
prosecuting attorney and the tax commissioner will be
accepted. The performance bond must provide for the
completion of the contract including the guarantee of the
support of values. A copy of the performance bond must be
filed with the tax commissioner at the time of filing the
appraisal contract.
(8) Provision that the employees of the appraisal firm meet
the approval of the county auditor and that such employees
shall be appointed deputies of the county auditor for the
purpose of the reappraisal as well as acting as agents for
the appraisal firm.
(9) Provision that clearly recites that there is to be no
departure from the terms of the contract or no change or
alterations of the same without the written approval of the
tax commissioner being first obtained.
(10) Provision that progress of work reports shall be made
during the course of the appraisal referred to in the
contract as determined and requested by the tax commissioner
on D.T.E. form 108.
(11) Provision that there is to be no subcontracting of all
or any part of the services provided under the contract
without the written consent of the county auditor and tax
commissioner obtained prior to execution of the subcontract.
(G) A general sexennial reappraisal or revaluation of real
property for tax purposes shall include all of the real
property situated in the county and all types and classes of
such real property shall be accounted for in a contract
contained in the application on form 92 or in a detailed plan
filed by the auditor pursuant to this rule as set forth
above. No such application and no such sexennial reappraisal
or revaluation of real property shall be approved by the tax
commissioner unless all types and classes of real property
(land, buildings, structure improvements and fixtures) are to
be, or are, appraised, reappraised or revalued and placed on
the tax list and duplicate for the same tax year.
(H) Each employee engaged in field work, including the
employees furnished by an appraisal firm, shall be provided
with a proper identification card by the county auditor.
(I) Paragraphs (A) to (H) of this rule are not to be
construed as a prohibition or limitation upon the authority
of the county auditor to include in a contract with an
appraisal firm any additional provisions which, in the
judgment of the auditor, will insure that the appraisal be
performed and completed in the best possible manner, provided
however, that such additional provisions shall be in writing
and shall be included as a clause in the written contract.
(J) Professional appraisal firms or individual professional
appraisers, prior to contracting with a county auditor to
make a complete or partial appraisal either for a general
reappraisal or for annual maintenance for real property tax
purposes as provided by these rules, shall have submitted to
the tax commissioner the following documents:
(1) A list of officers and management with their
qualifications as of the fiscal year preceding the
thirty-first of December of the year in which submitted; or
if a newly formed corporation or partnership, a list of
present officers and management with their qualifications.
(2) A list of all regional or project appraisal supervisors,
or equivalent, that operate in Ohio.
(3) A list of taxing authorities with addresses for which the
firm or individual professional appraiser has completed a
general reappraisal of real property in the last ten years or
the appraisal is currently in progress.
(4) A list of references from financial institutions.
(5) After the initial submission of such lists the firm or
individual appraiser shall file such documents by the
thirty-first of December of each year.
(K) After receiving the documents submitted by the appraisal
firms and individual appraisers, the tax commissioner shall
create a file of the same. The tax commissioner shall review
the documents and may require an informal discussion with the
representatives of each firm or individual appraiser who has
filed such documents. After this review is complete, the tax
commissioner shall issue an entry in the month of February of
each year, listing all appraisal firms and individual
appraisers that have created a proper file for that year.
This file will be used by the tax commissioner when
considering the approval or disapproval of a county auditor's
application requesting authority to employ an appraisal firm
or individual appraiser. This file will also be available to
the county auditors for their use when selecting an appraisal
firm or an individual appraiser.
(L) Nothing set out in this chapter shall be construed as a
prohibition on the county auditor with respect to the
auditor's duty to revalue and assess at any time all or any
part of the real property in the county where the auditor
finds that the same has changed in value or is not on the tax
list at its taxable value as provided by section 5713.01 of
the Revised Code.
(M) For purposes of seeking approval of assessment contracts
by filing the form 92 with the tax commissioner, the county
auditor should seek approval only for appraisal-related
contracts, which include contracts for the following
appraisal purposes: general reappraisal, triennial update,
annual maintenance and new construction, consulting, current
agricultural use valuation compliance, exempt study,
land-based and aerial photography used directly for appraisal
purposes, sales review, split-parcel appraisal, support of
valuation, soil study, manufactured home appraisal, and any
other appraisal services. The tax commissioner hereby grants
approval to the county auditors, without having to file the
form 92, to enter into assessment-related contracts that are
not for appraisal services, which include contracts for the
following purposes: mapping, aerial photography used in
mapping, computers (hardware, software, and maintenance),
Internet, technical support, copiers, fiber optics,
microfilm, bond or debt service contracts, and any other
assessment-related contracts that are not for appraisal
services. The tax commissioner may order any particular
county auditor to seek, in writing, prior approval from the
tax commissioner to enter into assessment-related contracts
that are not for appraisal services, as the tax commissioner
deems necessary, in the manner and for the time period the
tax commissioner prescribes.
Effective: 11-18-04
Promulgated under: 5703.14
Authorized by: 5703.05
Amplifies: 5713.01, 5715.01
Prior effective dates: 12-28-73, 11-1-77, 10-20-81 as
5705-3-04, 9-18-03