Case Title: Columbus Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision

Citation: 1996-Ohio-432

Docket Number: 19951098

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 1996-07-03T00:00:00Z

Document:
Columbus Board of Education, Appellant, v. Franklin County Board of 
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Revision; Nestle Foods Corporation, Appellee. 
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[Cite as Columbus Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision (1996), 
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______ Ohio St.3d ______.] 
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Taxation -- Real property valuation -- Board of Tax Appeals’ failure 
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to find true value based upon its own independent analysis of 
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the evidence is unreasonable and unlawful. 
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(No. 95-1098 -- Submitted January 4, 1996 -- Decided July 3, 1996.) 
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Appeal from the Board of Tax Appeals, No. 93-H-435. 
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On February 4, 1991, appellee, Nestle Foods Corporation (“Nestle”), 
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acquired all the assets of Big Drum, Inc., a division of Alco Standard 
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Corporation (“Alco”).  On the same day, Nestle filed a real property 
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conveyance fee statement with the Franklin County Auditor and a limited 
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warranty deed transferring title to five parcels of real property (parcel Nos. 
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010-55339, 010-62089, 010-66816, 010-87942 and 010-99102) with the 
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recorder.  The consideration stated in the conveyance fee document for the 
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five parcels was $1,575,000. 
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On March 12, 1992, the appellant, Columbus Board of Education, 
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filed two complaints with the Franklin County Board of Revision (“BOR”).  
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The first complaint related to parcel Nos. 010-55339, 010-62089, 010-
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66816 and 010-87942.  The second complaint related to parcel no. 010-
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99102.  Two complaints were necessary because parcel No. 010-99102 was 
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not contiguous to the other four parcels.  Nestle was listed as the owner on 
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both complaints.  The complaints alleged that the five parcels had been 
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transferred in a recent arm’s-length transaction for a true value of 
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$1,575,000.  The Franklin County Auditor had previously assessed the five 
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parcels at a total true value of $694,900.   
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Counter-complaints were filed by Nestle in which it alleged that it 
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had acquired six parcels of real property in the Alco-Nestle transaction, not 
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five, for $1,575,000.  The six parcels included the five listed on the 
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Columbus Board of Education’s complaints, plus parcel No. 010-133737.  
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Parcel No. 010-133737 was listed on the tax map under the name of 
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Franklin County and was assessed by the auditor at a true value of 
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$1,788,686.   
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Nestle presented to the BOR tax bills for the six parcels, five of 
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which were addressed to Nestle Foods Corporation.  The sixth tax bill, for 
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parcel No. 010-133737, showed the name “Franklin County Comm[.]” and 
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was addressed to Big Drum, Inc. 
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A hearing was held by the BOR on October 15, 1992.  Prior to the 
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hearing, the Columbus Board of Education submitted copies of the 
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conveyance fee statement and the limited warranty deed. 
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A representative from Nestle, who had not participated in the 
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transaction, testified that to the best of his knowledge six parcels had been 
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transferred in the Alco-Nestle transaction.  No conveyance fee statement or 
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deed for parcel No. 010-133737 was introduced into evidence at the BOR 
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hearing by either party.  The BOR had the Franklin County Engineer’s 
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Office verify that the limited warranty deed, introduced by the Columbus 
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Board of Education, included only the five parcels listed in the complaints.   
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At the end of the BOR hearing Nestle was invited to submit 
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additional information.  Nestle apparently submitted a copy of an unsigned, 
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undated document described as an “Assignment and Assumption 
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Agreement” between Nestle and Alco.  The agreement assigned to Nestle all 
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of Alco’s right, title, and interest to a lease agreement and other IRB 
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(industrial revenue bond) financing documents between Big Drum, Inc. and 
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Franklin County.  In addition, Nestle submitted part of an unidentified 
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document which stated that Nestle was to receive a leasehold interest in real 
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property subject to an “IRB Agreement” with Franklin County.   
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The BOR rejected the evidence of the Columbus Board of Education 
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and stated that Nestle also provided insufficient facts.   As a result, the BOR 
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let the valuations for the six parcels stand as assessed by the auditor.   
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The Columbus Board of Education appealed to the BTA which 
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affirmed the decisions of the BOR.   
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This cause is now before the court upon an appeal as of right. 
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Teaford, Rich, Coffman & Wheeler, Jeffrey A. Rich and Karol Cassell 
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Fox, for appellant. 
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Wayne E. Petkovic, for appellee. 
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Per Curiam.  The Columbus Board of Education contends that the 
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BTA acted unreasonably and unlawfully when it presumed the BOR’s 
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decisions to be valid.  We agree. 
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A review of the BTA’s decision in this matter makes it clear that the 
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standard of review which the BTA applied was incorrect. 
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R.C. 5717.01 provides that upon the filing of an appeal from a 
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decision of the county board of revision, the board of revision “shall 
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thereupon certify to the board of tax appeals a transcript of the record of the 
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proceedings of the county board of revision * * * and all evidence offered in 
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connection therewith.”  R.C. 5703.02(A)(2) provides that for appeals from a 
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board of revision, the BTA is to “hear and determine all appeals of 
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questions of law and fact.”  With this background we turn to a consideration 
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of the present case.  
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The parties herein apparently waived presentation of further evidence 
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and agreed that only the evidence presented to the BOR was to be 
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considered by the BTA.  The situation faced by the BTA in this case is 
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analogous to that faced by the common pleas court in Black v. Cuyahoga 
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Cty. Bd. of Revision (1985), 16 Ohio St.3d 11, 16 OBR 363, 475 N.E.2d 
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1264. The court in Black had before it an appeal from a board of revision 
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under R.C. 5717.05, the alternative appeal provision to R.C. 5717.01.  The 
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only evidence before the common pleas court was the statutory transcript 
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from the board of revision.  We stated in Black that the common pleas court 
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was not required to hold an evidentiary hearing or a trial de novo, but that 
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the common pleas court “has a duty on appeal to independently weigh and 
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evaluate all evidence properly before it.  The court is then required to make 
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an independent determination concerning the valuation of the property at 
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issue.  The court’s review of the evidence should be thorough and 
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comprehensive, and should ensure that its final determination is more than a 
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mere rubber stamping of the board of revision’s determination.”  Id. at 13-
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14, 16 OBR at 365, 475 N.E.2d at 1267.  Our conclusion in Black was that 
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R.C. 5717.05 “contemplates a decision de novo.  “(Emphasis sic.)  Id. at 14, 
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16 OBR at 365, 475 N.E.2d at 1268. 
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The duty of both the BTA and the common pleas court upon an 
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appealis to “determine the taxable value of the property.”  See R.C. 5717.03 
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and 5717.05.  We find that the BTA in this case is required to meet the 
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standard enunciated in Black.  Thus, if the only evidence before the BTA is 
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the statutory transcript from the board of revision, the BTA must make its 
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own independent judgment based on its weighing of the evidence contained 
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in that transcript.   
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When the BTA reviews a decision from a board of revision, its duty is 
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to establish the taxable value of the property.  Coventry Towers, Inc. v. 
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Strongsville (1985), 18 Ohio St.3d 120, 18 OBR 151, 480 N.E.2d 412.  In 
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Ratner v. Stark Cty. Bd. of Revision (1986), 23 Ohio St.3d 59, 61, 23 OBR 
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192, 193, 491 N.E.2d 680, 681, we stated that “[a]lthough the sale price is 
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the ‘best evidence’ of true value of real property for tax purposes it is not 
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the only evidence.”  Therefore, once the Columbus Board of Education 
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introduced into evidence a copy of the deed and conveyance fee statement, 
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which listed the five parcels being transferred for $1,575,000, the burden to 
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prove a lesser value shifted to Nestle.  Springfield Local Bd. of Edn. v. 
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Summit Cty. Bd. of Revision (1994), 68 Ohio St.3d 493, 628 N.E.2d 1265.  
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The BTA must then independently weigh the evidence which the parties 
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have introduced.  The result of the BTA’s review of the evidence, like that 
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of a common pleas court, is a determination of the “taxable value of the 
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property.”  R.C. 5717.03 and 5717.05. 
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In this case the BTA yielded its independent role to the BOR. For 
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instance, the BTA stated that, “although again the proof is not conclusive * 
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* * [it] was apparently sufficient to convince the Board of Revision * * *.”  
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In Amsdell v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 572, 
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574, 635 N.E.2d 11, 13, we stated, “While a determination of the true value 
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of real property by a board of revision is entitled to consideration by the 
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BTA, such determination is not presumptively valid.”  One reason for the 
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lack of any presumption of validity was set forth in Alliance Towers, Ltd. v. 
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Stark Cty. Bd. of Revision (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 16, 25, 523 N.E.2d 826, 
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834, wherein we stated that “[w]hile the decision of the board of revision 
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should not be colored with partiality, the General Assembly recognized the 
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possible conflict inherent in the roles of the board members as officials who 
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conduct the affairs of the county, and provided for an appeal to the BTA or 
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the court of common pleas.” 
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As a result of the BTA’s presumption of validity, its decision was 
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internally inconsistent.  See Ridgeview Ctr., Inc. v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of 
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Revision (1989), 42 Ohio St.3d 30, 536 N.E.2d 1157.  The result reached by 
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the BTA does not match its findings of fact as set forth in the decision.  For 
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instance, in the course of its decision, the BTA stated that “[t]he Statutory 
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Transcripts in the two cases contain very convincing proof that only five 
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parcels were actually transferred on February 4, 1991, and they are the five 
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parcels appellant seeks to revalue upward via its complaints.”  Further into 
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its decision the  BTA stated that “[q]uite clearly the deed did not transfer 
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parcel no. 010-133737 as Nestle appeared to contend at the Board of 
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Revision hearing, but instead involved only the five parcels contested by 
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Appellant.”   
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The Columbus Board of Education also contends that the BTA relied 
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on hearsay and testimony in documents not in evidence.  After the BTA 
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hearing, Nestle submitted a copy of a resolution and quitclaim deed by the 
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Franklin County Commissioners.  Because these documents were not part 
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of the orginal record from the BOR and were submitted after the BTA 
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hearing, they must be disregarded by the BTA.  The rest of the evidence is 
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to be weighed independently by the BTA.  See Orange City School Dist. 
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Bd. of Edn. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 415, 
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659N.E.2d 1223. 
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The BTA’s failure to find true value based upon its own independent 
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analysis of the evidence was unreasonable and unlawful.  The decision of 
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the BTA is reversed, and the cause is remanded, to it.  On remand the BTA 
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is to independently weigh the evidence and state the reasons for its decision.  
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See Howard v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 195, 
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524 N.E.2d 887. 
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Decision reversed 
 
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and cause remanded. 
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MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER and COOK, 
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JJ., concur. 
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WRIGHT, J., not participating. 
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