Section 4503.066 - Applying for reduction(A)(1) To obtain a tax reduction under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code, the owner of the home shall file an application with the county auditor of the county in which the home is located. An application for reduction in taxes based upon a physical disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a physician, and an application for reduction in taxes based upon a mental disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a physician or psychologist licensed to practice in this state. The certificate shall attest to the fact that the applicant is permanently and totally disabled, shall be in a form that the department of taxation requires, and shall include the definition of totally and permanently disabled as set forth in section 4503.064 of the Revised Code. An application for reduction in taxes based upon a disability certified as permanent and total by a state or federal agency having the function of so classifying persons shall be accompanied by a certificate from that agency. An application by a disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran for the reduction under division (B)(1) or (2) of section 4503.065 of the Revised Code shall be accompanied by a letter or other written confirmation from the United States department of veterans affairs, or its predecessor or successor agency, showing that the veteran qualifies as a disabled veteran.
An application by the surviving spouse of a public service officer killed in the line of duty for the reduction under division (C) of section 4503.065 of the Revised Code shall be accompanied by a letter or other written confirmation from an officer or employee of the board of trustees of a retirement or pension fund in this state or another state or from the chief or other chief executive of the department, agency, or other employer for which the public service officer served when killed in the line of duty affirming that the public service officer was killed in the line of duty.
(2) Each application shall constitute a continuing application for a reduction in taxes for each year in which the manufactured or mobile home is occupied by the applicant. Failure to receive a new application or notification under division (B) of this section after an application for reduction has been approved is prima-facie evidence that the original applicant is entitled to the reduction calculated on the basis of the information contained in the original application. The original application and any subsequent application shall be in the form of a signed statement and shall be filed on or before the thirty-first day of December of the year preceding the year for which the reduction is sought. The statement shall be on a form, devised and supplied by the tax commissioner, that shall require no more information than is necessary to establish the applicant's eligibility for the reduction in taxes and the amount of the reduction to which the applicant is entitled. The form shall contain a statement that signing such application constitutes a delegation of authority by the applicant to the tax commissioner or the county auditor, individually or in consultation with each other, to examine any tax or financial records that relate to the income of the applicant as stated on the application for the purpose of determining eligibility under, or possible violation of, division (C) or (D) of this section. The form also shall contain a statement that conviction of willfully falsifying information to obtain a reduction in taxes or failing to comply with division (B) of this section shall result in the revocation of the right to the reduction for a period of three years.(3) A late application for a reduction in taxes for the year preceding the year for which an original application is filed may be filed with an original application. If the auditor determines that the information contained in the late application is correct, the auditor shall determine both the amount of the reduction in taxes to which the applicant would have been entitled for the current tax year had the application been timely filed and approved in the preceding year, and the amount the taxes levied under section 4503.06 of the Revised Code for the current year would have been reduced as a result of the reduction. When an applicant is permanently and totally disabled on the first day of January of the year in which the applicant files a late application, the auditor, in making the determination of the amounts of the reduction in taxes under division (A)(3) of this section, is not required to determine that the applicant was permanently and totally disabled on the first day of January of the preceding year. The amount of the reduction in taxes pursuant to a late application shall be treated as an overpayment of taxes by the applicant. The auditor shall credit the amount of the overpayment against the amount of the taxes or penalties then due from the applicant, and, at the next succeeding settlement, the amount of the credit shall be deducted from the amount of any taxes or penalties distributable to the county or any taxing unit in the county that has received the benefit of the taxes or penalties previously overpaid, in proportion to the benefits previously received. If, after the credit has been made, there remains a balance of the overpayment, or if there are no taxes or penalties due from the applicant, the auditor shall refund that balance to the applicant by a warrant drawn on the county treasurer in favor of the applicant. The treasurer shall pay the warrant from the general fund of the county. If there is insufficient money in the general fund to make the payment, the treasurer shall pay the warrant out of any undivided manufactured or mobile home taxes subsequently received by the treasurer for distribution to the county or taxing district in the county that received the benefit of the overpaid taxes, in proportion to the benefits previously received, and the amount paid from the undivided funds shall be deducted from the money otherwise distributable to the county or taxing district in the county at the next or any succeeding distribution. At the next or any succeeding distribution after making the refund, the treasurer shall reimburse the general fund for any payment made from that fund by deducting the amount of that payment from the money distributable to the county or other taxing unit in the county that has received the benefit of the taxes, in proportion to the benefits previously received. On the second Monday in September of each year, the county auditor shall certify the total amount of the reductions in taxes made in the current year under division (A)(3) of this section to the tax commissioner who shall treat that amount as a reduction in taxes for the current tax year and shall make reimbursement to the county of that amount in the manner prescribed in section 4503.068 of the Revised Code, from moneys appropriated for that purpose.
(B)(1) If in any year for which an application for reduction in taxes has been approved the owner no longer qualifies for the reduction, the owner shall notify the county auditor that the owner is not qualified for a reduction in taxes.(2) If the county auditor or county treasurer discovers that an owner not entitled to the reduction in manufactured home taxes under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code failed to notify the county auditor as required by division (B)(1) of this section, a charge shall be imposed against the manufactured or mobile home in the amount by which taxes were reduced under that section for each tax year the county auditor ascertains that the manufactured or mobile home was not entitled to the reduction and was owned by the current owner. Interest shall accrue in the manner prescribed by division (G)(2) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code on the amount by which taxes were reduced for each such tax year as if the reduction became delinquent taxes at the close of the last day the second installment of taxes for that tax year could be paid without penalty. The county auditor shall notify the owner, by ordinary mail, of the charge, of the owner's right to appeal the charge, and of the manner in which the owner may appeal. The owner may appeal the imposition of the charge and interest by filing an appeal with the county board of revision not later than the last day prescribed for payment of manufactured home taxes under section 4503.06 of the Revised Code following receipt of the notice and occurring at least ninety days after receipt of the notice. The appeal shall be treated in the same manner as a complaint relating to the valuation or assessment of manufactured or mobile homes under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code. The charge and any interest shall be collected as other delinquent taxes.(3) During January of each year, the county auditor shall furnish each person whose application for reduction has been approved, by ordinary mail, a form on which to report any changes in total income, ownership, occupancy, disability, and other information earlier furnished the auditor relative to the application. The form shall be completed and returned to the auditor not later than the thirty-first day of December if the changes would affect the person's eligibility for the reduction.(C) No person shall knowingly make a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a reduction in taxes under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code.(D) No person shall knowingly fail to notify the county auditor of any change required by division (B) of this section that has the effect of maintaining or securing a reduction in taxes under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code.(E) No person shall knowingly make a false statement or certification attesting to any person's physical or mental condition for purposes of qualifying such person for tax relief pursuant to sections 4503.064 to 4503.069 of the Revised Code.(F) Whoever violates division (C), (D), or (E) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.Amended by 135th General Assembly, SB 43,§1, eff. 10/27/2023, app. to tax years beginning on or after the effective date of this section.Amended by 134th General Assembly, HB 110,§101.01, eff. 9/30/2021.Amended by 133rd General Assembly, HB 17,§1, eff. 1/15/2021, op. for tax year 2021 and every tax year thereafter.Amended by 132nd General Assembly, HB 292,§1, eff. 9/13/2018.Amended by 132nd General Assembly, HB 49,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.Amended by 130th General Assembly, HB 85,§1, eff. 9/11/2014, applicable to tax year 2014 and each tax year thereafter.Amended by 130th General Assembly, HB 59,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007; 2008 HB130 04-07-2009. See 132nd General Assembly, HB 292, §14.