Build On This!

Real estate attorney David J. Lindner reports that the Ohio Supreme Court has held that seller financing does not affect the true value for tax purposes of real property that is sold in an arm's length transaction. In Lakota Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. V. Butler Cty. Bd. of Revision (2006), 108 Ohio St. 3d 310, the Board of Education appealed a reduction in the taxable value of certain commercial property. The property was previously valued at $1,878,740, but the property owner presented evidence to the Board of Revision that it had purchased the property in an arm's length transaction for $1,134,000. The Board of Revision found that $1,134,000 was the true value of the property and the Board of Education appealed. On appeal, the Board of Tax Appeals found that the property owner had not presented sufficient evidence to merit the reduction. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the Board of Tax Appeals, holding that the burden of proof was on the Board of Education to come forward with evidence showing that the sale was not an arm's length transaction. The mere fact that the sale was seller financed was not, as the Board of Education had suggested, evidence that the sale was not at arm's length. Absent such evidence, the Board of Revision was correct in reducing the tax value of the property to the sale price.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that State Senator Timothy Grendell led an 11 member panel that heard opinions on both sides of the issues. Homeowners, academics and municipal officials all weighed in on the controversial topic.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority has voted to use the power of eminent domain to take property needed for a proposed redevelopment of the east bank of the Flats. The Port Authority stated that eminent domain will only be used if negotiated sales cannot be achieved. Some property owners, however, feel that the vote was premature because negotiations for sales have only just begun.