143 Ohio St. 3d 359
Ohio2015Background
- Metamora Elevator owned grain-processing property with concrete silos, corrugated metal storage bins, tanks, and buildings; it challenged county real-property tax treatment of the storage bins.
- Metamora filed complaints with the Fulton County Board of Revision (BOR) seeking removal of the bins from the real-property assessment; BOR denied relief.
- Metamora appealed to the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) for one parcel; BTA found the storage bins were temporary and/or business fixtures and thus personal property, reducing the assessed real-property value by the auditor’s allocated value for the bins.
- The county appealed the BTA’s reversal, arguing the bins are improvements/fixtures under the Ohio Constitution and R.C. 5701.02 and therefore taxable as real property.
- The Supreme Court reviewed de novo the statutory classification under R.C. 5701.02 and 5701.03 and affirmed the BTA, relying on the 1992 statutory definition that expressly lists storage bins as “business fixtures.”
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether grain storage bins are real property (fixture/improvement) or personal property | Bins are impermanent, modular, removable; thus not real property and should be classified as business fixtures | Bins are assembled/affixed on site, provide shelter, and constitute constitutional “improvements”/fixtures that must be taxed as real property | Classified as personal property: R.C. 5701.03(B) defines business fixtures to include storage bins, so they are personal property and not subject to real-property tax |
| Whether the statutory classification conflicts with Article XII, §2 of the Ohio Constitution | Statutory category of business fixtures is valid and reflects distinction between items benefiting business vs. realty | The Constitution’s term “improvements” controls; legislature cannot reclassify constitutional improvements as personal property | Statutory scheme is constitutionally sound: prior case law (e.g., Roseville) and R.C. 5701.03(B)’s focus on whether an item primarily benefits the business supports the statute’s validity |
Key Cases Cited
- Funtime, Inc. v. Wilkins, 105 Ohio St.3d 74 (2004) (framework for analyzing R.C. 5701.02 and 5701.03 and treating business-dedicated items as business fixtures)
- Roseville Pottery, Inc. v. Muskingum Cty. Bd. of Revision, 149 Ohio St. 89 (1948) (industrial kilns held personal property where peculiarly adapted to the business and removable)
- Green Circle Growers, Inc. v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of Revision, 35 Ohio St.3d 38 (1988) (prefabricated greenhouses treated as realty under earlier definitions)