A March 6 decision by the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals would free the city of Cincinnati from property tax liability on its six golf courses. In an appeal filed April 7, Tax Commissioner Joseph Testa said the ruling was “unreasonable and unlawful,” citing nine errors of fact and law.
The Ohio Tax Commissioner has appealed a March ruling that could free the city of Cincinnati from property-tax liability on its six golf courses, sending the matter to the Ohio Supreme Court for review, WCPO Cincinnati reported.
As WCPO reported last month, the March 6 decision by the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals would save the city about $450,000 a year in in taxes and could bolster its case that Duke Energy Convention Center should also be exempt from taxation.
Tax Commissioner Joseph Testa said the March decision was “unreasonable and unlawful” in an April 7 appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court. The appeal cited nine errors of fact and law in the March decision, including a failure to recognize the operating control that Billy Casper Golf has over city courses, WCPO reported.
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruling on March 6 reversed an earlier decision by Tax Commissioner Joseph Testa that determined Cincinnati had surrendered its tax-exempt status for the golf courses when it hired contractors to run the courses, WCPO reported.
The appeals board instead concluded that the courses are still exempt because Cincinnati maintains significant control over operations through its management contract and because it doesn’t lease the property to the operators, WCPO reported.
“I’ve researched this for five years, and I think that the decision is so flawed and in such error it would totally shock me if the tax commissioner’s office did not appeal it,” said private golf course operator Paul Macke after the March decision. “That is my firm belief.”
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