Remission of Penalty Information
Property owners who do not timely pay their property taxes are subject to a late payment penalty. Owners who claim the penalty was improperly imposed may attempt to have it cancelled by filing a Remission of Penalty Application with the county treasurer. The Remission of Penalty Application can be found using this link.
The county treasurer considers whether the owner is entitled to remission of the penalty under any of five late payment exceptions set forth in R.C. 5715.39(B). After completing the review, the treasurer then forwards his/her determination and recommendation to the county auditor.
Upon receipt of the treasurer’s recommendation, the auditor is required to consider whether the taxpayer has met any of the five late payment exceptions, including those that were not asserted by the taxpayer. If the auditor, “upon consultation with the county treasurer” determines that any of the exceptions were met, then the auditor is required to remit (cancel) the late payment penalty. If, however, the auditor determines that the remission application has not established any of the five exceptions set for in R.C. 5715.39(B), and that remission of the penalty should be denied, then the auditor must present the remission of penalty application to the Board of Revision for consideration.
The auditor alone cannot use reasonable cause to remit a late payment penalty. There is no provision in the Revised Code that requires the auditor to notify the taxpayer of the auditor’s denial; nor is there any provision that requires notification to the taxpayer that the application is being forwarded to the Board of Revision. The forwarding of the Remission of Penalty Application to the Board of Revision is automatic and requires no taxpayer action.
The Board of Revision will then determine whether any of the five exceptions apply. In addition, the Board of Revision will also consider whether the owner’s untimely payment was due to “reasonable cause and not willful neglect.” If so, then the penalty must be remitted. The Board of Revision must notify the applicant and the property owner (if the applicant is not the owner) of its decision by completing the section at the bottom of the application form and returning a copy of the completed form to the taxpayer via certified mail.