AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF OHIO, INC., APPELLEE, v. LYNCH, APPELLANT.
No. 2011-0337
Supreme Court of Ohio
Submitted January 18, 2012—Decided May 8, 2012.
132 Ohio St.3d 92, 2012-Ohio-1975
LUNDBERG STRATTON, J.
See: West‘s Ohio Digest, Administrative Law and Procedure 651.
I. Introduction
{¶ 1} The issue before the court is whether a single notice of appeal of an administrative decision under
II. Facts
{¶ 2} Appellee, AT&T Communications of Ohio, Inc., applied to the city of Cleveland for an income-tax refund for 1999 through 2002. Appellant, Nassim Lynch, the city‘s income-tax administrator, dismissed AT&T‘s application for the refund for 1999, finding that the statute of limitations on the request for the refund had expired. The administrator further determined that any refund that AT&T was claiming for tax years 2000 through 2002 was offset in part by its
{¶ 3} AT&T appealed to the Cleveland Board of Income Tax Review. The board affirmed the dismissal of the taxpayer‘s application for a refund for 1999, agreeing that the statute of limitations had expired. However, the board determined that the administrator had erred in denying part of the taxpayer‘s refund for the tax years 2000 through 2002 and decided that AT&T should receive the entire refund requested for those years.
{¶ 4} AT&T appealed the board‘s decision to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, asserting that the board had erred in concluding that the statute of limitations barred AT&T‘s refund claim for 1999. The administrator did not file a notice of appeal. He did, however, file a brief asserting two assignments of error regarding the board‘s decision to order a refund for 2000, 2001, and 2002.
{¶ 5} AT&T filed a motion to strike the administrator‘s assignments of error, arguing that because the administrator did not file a notice of appeal or cross-appeal, the court of common pleas lacked jurisdiction to consider his arguments. Asserting jurisdiction over AT&T‘s one assignment of error and the administrator‘s two assignments of error, the court of common pleas upheld the administrator‘s position on all three assignments. AT&T Communications of Ohio, Inc. v. Lynch, C.P. No. CV-06-608252 (Nov. 4, 2009).
{¶ 6} On appeal to the court of appeals, AT&T asserted, among other assignments of error, that the court of common pleas lacked jurisdiction to consider the administrator‘s assignments of error because the administrator did not file a notice of appeal. The court of appeals agreed and reversed the common pleas court‘s judgment in favor of the administrator regarding AT&T‘s refund for 2000 through 2002. AT&T Communications of Ohio, Inc. v. Lynch, 8th Dist. No. 94320, 2011-Ohio-302, 2011 WL 1315937, ¶ 33. The court of appeals otherwise affirmed the judgment of the court of common pleas. Id. at ¶ 38.
{¶ 7} The administrator appealed, and AT&T cross-appealed. We accepted the administrator‘s discretionary appeal for review, but we denied AT&T‘s cross-appeal. AT&T Communications of Ohio, Inc. v. Lynch, 128 Ohio St.3d 1556, 2011-Ohio-2905, 949 N.E.2d 43.
III. Analysis
{¶ 8} We begin by examining the authority of the court of common pleas to review certain administrative decisions. “The courts of common pleas * * * shall have * * * such powers of review of proceedings of administrative officers and agencies as may be provided by law.”
{¶ 9}
{¶ 10} The administrator asserts the following proposition of law: “In a Chapter 2506 administrative appeal, the filing of a single notice of appeal vests jurisdiction in the common pleas court over the final decision of the administrative body and all issues therein without the necessity of each party filing a separate notice of appeal.” Here, the administrator argues that an appellant‘s notice of appeal vests the court of common pleas with jurisdiction to consider any assignment of error that seeks to reverse a portion of the board‘s decision. We have never ruled on this exact issue.
{¶ 11} Citing
A. Courts of Common Pleas Exercise Appellate Jurisdiction under R.C. 2506.01
{¶ 12} We recognize that under
{¶ 13} However, while an appeal under
{¶ 14} In reviewing the administrative body‘s decision, a court of common pleas is authorized to determine whether the agency‘s decision is “unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or unsupported by the preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence.”
{¶ 15} Therefore, although an
{¶ 16} Even though we have determined that in the appeal of an administrative decision, a court of common pleas operates more like a court of appeals than a trial court, our analysis is not yet complete. We now look to the procedure for filing an administrative appeal in a court of common pleas pursuant to
{¶ 17} “Jurisdiction over an administrative appeal does not vest in a common pleas court unless and until an appeal is perfected.” John Roberts Mgt. Co. v. Obetz, 188 Ohio App.3d 362, 2010-Ohio-3382, 935 N.E.2d 493, ¶ 10 (10th Dist.). See also Richards v. Indus. Comm., 163 Ohio St. 439, 444, 127 N.E.2d 402 (1955) (“Section 2505.04 is clearly a jurisdictional statute“).
{¶ 18} “When construing a statute, we first examine its plain language and apply the statute as written when the meaning is clear and unambiguous.” MedCorp, Inc. v. Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 121 Ohio St.3d 622, 2009-Ohio-2058, 906 N.E.2d 1125, ¶ 9. However, “[w]hen a statute is susceptible of more than one interpretation, courts seek to interpret the statutory provision in a manner that most readily furthers the legislative purpose as reflected in the wording used in the legislation.” State ex rel. Toledo Edison Co. v. Clyde, 76 Ohio St.3d 508, 513, 668 N.E.2d 498 (1996), citing United Tel. Co. v. Limbach, 71 Ohio St.3d 369, 372, 643 N.E.2d 1129 (1994), and Harris v. Van Hoose, 49 Ohio St.3d 24, 26, 550 N.E.2d 461 (1990). Further, when interpreting a statute, courts must “avoid an illogical or absurd result.” State ex rel. Shisler v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Retirement Sys., 122 Ohio St.3d 148, 2009-Ohio-2522, 909 N.E.2d 610, ¶ 34 (Pfeifer, J., dissenting), citing In re T.R., 120 Ohio St.3d 136, 2008-Ohio-5219, 896 N.E.2d 1003, ¶ 16.
{¶ 19} Nowhere in the aforementioned provisions is there any express indication whether a single appeal vests the court of common pleas with authority to hear any and all challenges to the underlying administrative decision.
{¶ 20} We find that the purpose served in perfecting an appeal is instructive in deciding this issue. “The purpose of a notice of appeal * * * is to ‘* * * apprise
{¶ 21} While Maritime Mfrs. applied the rules of appellate procedure and addressed the appeal of a trial court‘s judgment to a court of appeals, we have similarly held that the filing of a notice of appeal in an
{¶ 22} An appeal of an administrative decision to a court of common pleas alerts the opposing party that an appeal of the underlying decision is being taken. Requiring an appellee who seeks to change or reverse a portion of the decision to file a separate appeal also serves that purpose. Accordingly, we hold that in an administrative appeal to a court of common pleas pursuant to
IV. Conclusion
{¶ 23} In the instant case, AT&T perfected an appeal of the administrative decision in the court of common pleas, setting forth a single assignment of error that pertained to the 1999 refund request. The administrator did not perfect an appeal in the court of common pleas, but in his appeal brief, he asserted two assignments of error that sought reversal of the board‘s decision regarding the taxpayer‘s refund request for 2000 through 2002. Because the administrator failed to perfect a separate appeal, the common pleas court lacked jurisdiction to consider the administrator‘s assignments of error. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
Judgment affirmed.
O‘CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, O‘DONNELL, LANZINGER, CUPP, and MCGEE BROWN, JJ., concur.
Robert J. Triozzi, Cleveland Law Director, and Linda L. Bickerstaff, Assistant Law Director, for appellant.