60 Ohio Law. Abs. 49 | B.T.A. | 1950
This cause and matter is before the Board of Tax Appeals on an application under §5624-16 GC, filed herein under date of July 8, 1947, by National Tube Company, a New Jersey corporation doing business in the State of Ohio, for the remission of certain alleged delinquent real property taxes and penalties thereon for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944, which alleged delinquent taxes and penalties were theretofore on April 11, 1947, assessed and extended by the county auditor of Lorain County, Ohio, on the then current 1946 tax list and duplicate as back taxes for said years on certain property then and theretofore owned by said company and described as "buildings added” on Original Lot 88, 70.40 acres, Lorain-Sheifield taxing district, in the City of Lorain, Lorain County, Ohio.
It is stated in the application that said back taxes for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944 and penalties thereon, aggregating in amount the sum of $99,808.76, were illegally assessed by the county auditor and were assessed in consequence of his negligence and error in that the property against which the assessment of back taxes and penalties thereon was made, to wit: Two certain rebuilt blast furnaces (3 and 4) and certain named accessory and appurtenant structures and installations constituting a part of such blast furnace units,
In said application and as an independent and additional ground for the remission of the taxes and penalties therein complained of, it is alleged that such taxes and penalties were assessed illegally and in consequence of the negligence and error of the county auditor in that said blast furnaces and accessory structures on which such back taxes were assessed for said tax years, were and are personal property and were not, therefore, legally assessable as real property.
The case was submitted to the Board of Tax Appeals bn said application, upon a stipulation of some of the facts in the case, upon the evidence offered and introduced by and on behalf of the applicant and by and on behalf of the county auditor on a hearing of the case before an attorney examiner of the Board and on the briefs of counsel. On consideration of the case as thus submitted, the Board of Tax Appeals on June 22, 1948, and thereafter again on July 21, 1948, made and entered its decision and order dismissing this application for the remission of such taxes and penalties for want of jurisdiction in the Board to grant the relief requested therein, and this for the reasons stated in said decision and order. Thereafter, the Supreme Court ’of this State, on appeal of. the case to that court, reversed this decision and order of the Board of Tax Appeals and remanded the case to the Board for a hearing and determination of the- questions presented by said application. See National Tube Company v. Ayres, Auditor, 152 Oh St 255.
Following this decision of the Supreme Court, the case was again submitted to the Board of Tax Appeals on said application and on the stipulation and evidence originally offered and introduced on the hearing of the case, and on additional briefs filed herein by the parties. Following this submission of the ease, the members of the Board viewed said blast furnaces and accessory structures, as well as other property of the applicant, at this location.
On a consideration of the case as thus resubmitted to the Board, it appears that for many years the appellant has
It appears that for the tax years 1940 and 1941, the land comprised in Original Lot 88 and the buildings and structures taxed as real property in this plant were assessed on the tax list and duplicate of the county at aggregate determined tax valuations in stated amounts without any breakdown between land and “building” valuations. For the tax year 1942 and for each of the other tax years here in question, there was a segregation of the land valuation of said Lot 88 and of the aggregate valuation of the buildings and structures of the plant assessed as “buildings”; as is illustrated by the entry on the tax list and duplicate for the tax year 1942: “1942s Original Lot 88 Description; OL 88 inside fence 70.40 acres, Pearl Avenue, Land 101,380, Buildings 11,704,880, Total 11,806,260.” For the tax years 1943 to 1946, inclusive, the assessed land and “buildings” valuations of the company’s plant and of the buildings and structures taxed as real property thereof were: 1943, land $101,380, buildings $11,704,880, total $11,806,260; 1944, land $101,380, buildings $11,746,560, total $11,847,940; 1945, land $98,560, buildings $17,914,290, total, $18,012,850; at no time, however, in any of the tax years above noted were there separately assessed valuations of any of the more than 200 separate buildings, structures and other items of fixed machinery and equipment of this plant; but they were assessed together on a lump sum valuation thereof, as above indicated, and not otherwise. And as to this, it is stipulated that prior to the detailed appraisal of this plant
As above noted, the back taxes and penalties which are the subject under consideration on this application for the remission thereof, were assessed by the county auditor on two certain blast furnaces (3 and 4) and accessory structures of the appellant for the'tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944, on the tax list for the then current 1946 tax year; which taxes were so assessed on the view that such blast furnaces and other structures were omitted property within the purview of §§5573 and 5564 GC, and were assessable as such. As to this, it appears that the company owns and operates five blast furnaces together with accessories thereof; two of which (1 and 2) were originally constructed in 1893 and 1899, two more (3 and 4) in 1904, and one (no. 5) in 1907. Blast furnaces Nos. 1, 2 and 5 are located contiguously in a designated area in this lot or tract of land, while blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 are located together in another area in this same lot, a comparatively short distance west of the other blast furnaces. Prior to the times here in question each and all of these blast furnaces had been either wholly or partially rebuilt at intervals of 12 to 15 years, while the refractory blocks and bricks forming th'e inner lining of the stack shell had been tom out and replaced every 5 or 6 years. In February, 1940, the company commenced the work of rebuilding blast furnace No. 3 by demolishing the old furnace and by constructing a new furnace on a new concrete mat or foundation at the same location. The new construction included the stack of the
Likewise, in the year 1941 the,company constructed or rebuilt a number of other small houses or structures which, although they are used in connection with the operation of blast furnace No. 3, were not included with the blast furnace as to valuation or otherwise in the assessment of the back taxes on the furnace herein complained of; but they were separately assessed as omitted property for said tax years. The structures referred to are: A skip-hoist house, a concrete clay house and a brick pump house. In this connection, it is pertinent to note that in 1940 the company constructed or rebuilt a sintering plant, so-called, which is a building or .structure in which metallic dust recovered from the gases escaping from the company’s several furnaces, is reduced to the form of a cinder which is recharged with the iron ore into these furnaces. .
In 1942, and between the months of January and June of said year, the company rebuilt bla.st furnace No. 4. The work on this blast furnace and on the several units thereof was as to new construction, or otherwise, quite identical with the work done in rebuilding blast furnace No. 3. And blast furnace No. 4, as rebuilt, likewise has a production of 1150 tons of iron per day as compared with the 800 ton capacity of the old furnace. Likewise, in connection with the rebuilding of blast furnace No. 4 in 1942, the company in the same year constructed a number of small houses or other structures which are here referred to as a skip-hoist house, a concrete clay house, a brick pump house, a brick pyrometer house, a brick sub-station and a Crocker-Wheeler generator unit.
In the year 1943 there were erected as a part of the steel plant three comparatively small sanitary buildings and there were also constructed or installed certain gas lines, so-called, all of which were separately assessed as omitted property for' the tax year 1944.
At the time blast furnace No. 3 was built, the City of Lorain,, Ohio, where this steel plant is located, did not have-a system of building registration and inspection; and no permit was issued by the city either for the demolition of old furnace No. 3 or for the construction of the new furnace. However, as to this, it appears that sometime early in the year 1941 Mr. C. S. Kelser, the then county auditor of Lorain County, was-advised in some manner of the construction by the company of this blast furnace and of the sintering plant, above referred to. By reason of this knowledge on his part of the-rebuilding of such structures, and by reason of the view entertained by him that there was a general appreciation of building values, Mr. Kelser, as county auditor, sought and obtained a conference with representatives of the company in regard-to a proposed increased building valuation of the buildings and structures to be assessed on and as a part of this parcel of land. This conference, which was held in the year 1941, and sometime after the month of April of said year, at the-office of the company at Lorain, was attended by Mr. Kelser, Mr. C. A. Horn, then chief deputy county auditor, and Mr. W. J. Wright, county treasurer representing the county, and by Mr. Ed Price, general superintendent of the plant, and by. Mr. J. A. Daniel, the company’s tax representative, on behalf of the company. It appears that at this conference the county-auditor made the suggestion that for the reasons above stated1 there should be a very substantial increase in the building valuation of this plant — the increase suggested by the county auditor being greatly in excess of that thereafter agreed upon by him and by the representatives of the company. From the ■evidence in the case, it appears that the amount of the increase in the buildings valuation of the plant thus agreed upon was $1,300,000 or, perhaps, an amount slightly in excess of this-figure. This increase so agreed upon is apparently reflected in the aggregate assessed valuation of the land and buildings-for said tax year — $11,806,260 which is $1,370,480 in excess-.
This, building valuation, of $11,704,880 is, by way of coincidence or otherwise, the same as the buildings valuation of this parcel for the tax year 1930.
When blast furnace No. 4 was rebuilt during the forepart of the year 1942 the City of Lorain did have a system of building registration and inspection — the ordinance providing therefor having been passed October 20, 1941. Acting under the authority of this ordinance, the building inspector of the city issued a permit for the demolition of old blast furnace No. 4. However, no permit was issued for the construction of the new furnace and this for the reason that the authorities of the city decided that no permit was necessary for this purpose. As to this, it appears, however, that both Mr. Kelser, the then county auditor, and Mr. Frank Ayres, who was then auditor of the City of Lorain and who succeeded Mr. Kelser as county auditor in March, 1943, were then advised of the construction of this new blast furnace No. 4; for both of these men attended a celebration of some kind in the City of Lorain which was had in connection with the “blowing-in” of this blast furnace sometime after its completion in June, 1942.
With respect to this blast furnace No. 4, as rebuilt, Mr. Kelser, as a witness at the hearing of the case before the examiner, and in answer to a question as to whether or not he made any specific additions to the assessment of the company’s property on account of' any added value that might have accrued to the plant by reason of said new blast furnace, said: “I don’t recall that we added anything on that.” And the valuation of these blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 and all of the other buildings and structures of the plant in the aggregate were assessed on and with respect to said parcel of land (OL 88) for the tax year 1942 at a “buildings” valuation of $11,704,880 which, together with the assessed land value of this' parcel for said tax year, $101,380, amounted to $11,806,260; and the assessed land and buildings valuations of this parcel for the tax year 1943 were identically the same as those for the tax year 1942. With respect to the assessed buildings valuation of this parcel of land for the tax years 1942 and 1943 at the lump sum figure of $11,704,880, as above noted, it is pertinent, perhaps, to further note that according
Land $ 98,560.
Buildings 17,914,290.
Total 18,012,850.
The assessed land and buildings valuation of and with respect to this parcel of land for the tax year 1946 were identically the same as those for the tax year 1945. The taxes extended by the county auditor on this parcel of land for each and all of said several tax years at the land and buildings valuation thereof above noted for said tax years were billed to the company in regular course from year to year, and such taxes were paid by the company as the same were billed.
On April 11, 1947, Mr. Frank Ayres, who succeeded Mr. C. S. Kelser as county auditor ' of said county in the month of March, 1943, and who as county auditor determined the land and buildings valuations of the company’s plant property for the tax years 1943 to 1946, inclusive, as above noted, and extended taxes on this parcel of land at such determined land and buildings valuation of the property for said several tax years, made an assessment of back taxes on said blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 and on certain buildings and structures accessory thereto for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944; which assessment of back taxes on said property was made by the county auditor on the view that such buildings and structures were omitted property for and with respect to said tax years.
“No. 3 Blast Furnace $834,816.
Skip-Hoist House 26,496.
Concrete Clay House 3,041.
Brick Pump House 1,178.”
Back taxes were extended on blast furnace No. 4 and its accessory and auxiliary buildings and structures for the tax years 1943 and 1944 at the following valuations:
“Blast'Furnace No. 4 $886,992.
Skip-Hoist House 27,072.
Concrete Clay House 3,041.
Brick Pump House 1,203.
Brick Pyrometer House 1,480.
Brick Sub-station 790.
Crocker-Wheeler Generator Unit 22,960.”
Back taxes were extended for the tax year 1944 on the three sanitary buildings built by the company in 1943 at valuations of $5,544, $6,019, and $7,524, respectively; and like taxes were extended on the coke oven gas lines, so-called, at a valuation of $1,832. The total amount of the back taxes assessed and extended against all of said buildings and structures for said tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944 in the aggregate amounted to $66,539.24; and the aggregate amount of the tax penalties assessed thereon was $33,269.52: and the total amount of the back taxes and penalties which were so assessed and which are put in question by this application for the remission of such taxes and penalties is $99,808.76 and, as may be inferred, no payment of these taxes and penalties has as yet been made by the company.
The question presented by this application is whether such back taxes and penalties were properly assessed on these rebuilt blast furnaces and upon the other buildings and structures above noted as buildings and structures omitted from the tax assessments for the tax years 1942, 1943 and
“Sec. 5624-10 GC. The tax commission of Ohio (Board of Tax Appeals) may remit taxes and penalties thereon, found by it to have been illegally assessed, and such penalties as have accrued or may accrue, in consequence of the negligence or error of an officer required to perform a duty relating to the assessment of property for taxation, or the levy or collection of taxes. It may correct an error in an assessment of property for taxation or in the tax list or duplicate of taxes in a county, but its power under this section shall not extend to taxes levied- under the provisions of subdivision 2 of chapter 15 of title 2, part second of the General Code.”
As above noted, the back taxes and penalties thereon here in question were assessed and extended by the county auditor under §§5573 and 5564 GC; which sections, together with §5576 GC, read as follows:
“Sec. 5573 GC. If the county auditor discovers that any building or structure, tract of land, or any lot or part of either, has been omitted, he shall add it to the list of real property, with the name of the owner, and ascertain the value thereof and place it opposite such property. In such case he> shall add to the taxes of the current year the simple taxes of each and every preceding year in which such property has escaped taxation, hot exceeding, however, five years, unless in the meantime the property has'changed ownership, in which case only the taxes chargeable since the last change of ownership shall be added; or the owner thereof, if he desires, may pay the amount of such taxes into the county treasury, on the order of the auditor.”
“Sec. 5584 GC. For the purpose of enabling the county auditor to determine the value and location of buildings and other improvements every individual, partnership, incorporated company, or otherwise, except railroads and public utilities whose property is valued for taxation by the state tax commission, who shall erect or construct any building or other improvement costing over two hundred ($200.00) dollars upon any lot or land within any of the various townships, villages or municipalities not having and requiring a system of building registration and inspection shall within sixty days after said building or other improvement shall have been*60 commenced, notify the auditor of the county within which such land or lot is located, that said building or improvement has been, completed or is in process of construction. Said notice shall be in writing and contain an estimate of the cost of said building or improvement and such description of the lot or land and ownership thereof as will identify the lot or tract of land on said auditor’s duplicate.
“Upon failure to give notice as herein provided, and upon said improvement not being returned for taxation' as otherwise provided by law, and upon the discovery of such building or improvement by the county auditor after the same has been erected or- constructed, the said building or improvement shall b’e appraised by the county auditor at its true value in money and placed upon the duplicate together with a tax penalty of fifty per cent for each of the years from the date of the erection or construction to the date of discovery.
“Said county auditor may enter, by himself, or deputy, within reasonable hours, and fully examine all buildings and structures of every kind, which are by this title either liable to or exempt from taxation.”
Sec. 5576 GC. “Such county auditor, if he ascertains that a mistake was made in the value of an improvement or betterment of real property, or that the true value thereof was omitted, shall return the correct value, having first given notice to the owner or agent thereof, of his intention so to do."
In this connection, it is pertinent to note that inasmuch as these back taxes and penalties were assessed and extended as taxes on real property, no question is now made as to the jurisdiction and authority of the Board of Tax Appeals to consider and determine the merits of the questions presented on this application. (National Tube Co. v. Ayres, Auditor, 152 Oh St 255.) It may be further noted that these back taxes and penalties thereon on the buildings and structures here in question as omitted property for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944-were included by the county auditor on the then current tax list and duplicate of the county for the tax year 1946; and no procedural question is here presented with respect to this method of assessing the taxes and penalties herein complained of. See Aetna Co. v. Ginder, Treas., 114 Oh St 52. It may be likewise observed that there is no suggestion in this case of any clerical error on the part of the county auditor with respect to the tax assessments on this parcel of land and on the determined land and building valuations thereof for said tax years. And in this view, no application can be made of the provisions of §§2588 and 2589 GC, referred
The first question arising on the facts of this case is whether blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 and the auxiliary buildings above referred to, were omitted from the assessment of the company’s plant property for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944, However, aside from this and the other questions in the case and, apparently, irrespective of the same, counsel for the applicant contends that the back taxes on these buildings and structures were illegally assessed by the county auditor for the reason that no prior notice was given to the company of and with respect to the county auditor’s action in making such assessment. As to this, counsel advance the view that §§5573 and 5576 GC, are in pari materia and that, for this reason, the requirement as to prior notice provided for in §5576 GC, should, by construction, be given effect with respect to the action of the county auditor in assessing back taxes on omitted property under the provisions of §5573 GC.
On the hearing of this case, it was conceded by the county auditor that he had erroneously assessed as omitted property the sanitary buildings above referred to. And the first question here presented, as above noted, is whether blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 and the auxiliary buildings and structures above
As to the question here presented, there is some evidence in this case that the county auditor in determining that these blast furnaces and other structures were omitted from the tax assessments of this parcel of land for said prior tax years, acted on a suggestion of some kind made to him by a Mr. Woodward, an appraisal engineer, who was employed by the County Board of Revision of said County to assist it in the consideration and determination of a complaint filed by this company with respect to the taxable valuation of the real property of this plant for the tax year 1946. Although Mr. Woodward attended the hearing of this case for one or more days, he was not called as a witness. And the Board is without knowledge of the facts, if any, which might have led him to make a suggestion of this kind to the county auditor. From the testimony of the county auditor who made the assessment herein complained of, it appears that he made his determination that these blast furnaces and other structures were omitted properties on the fact that no building permit had been issued for the construction thereof and on the further fact, as stated by him that: “our records showed that no increase in values had been made in those years.” As to this, it may be observed that no permits were issued for the reconstruction of these blast- furnaces for the reason that the City of Lorain, in which this property is located, did not provide for or require the issue of permits for the rebuilding of the furnaces. Moreover, it may be noted that the only purpose that would have been served by the issue of permits for the reconstruction or rebuilding of these blast furnaces, would be to make available to the county auditor information of the fact that the blast furnaces were to be rebuilt. In this connection, it appears, however, that Mr. Kelser, as county auditor, had actual knowledge of the rebuilding of blast furnace No. 3, which was completed in 1941 and of the rebuilding of blast furnace No. 4, which was completed in 1942. It
Por the tax year 1944, there was an increase of something more than $40,000 in the assessed lump sum valuation of the company’s buildings, structures and other items of fixed equipment. What particular item or items accounted for this small increase in the over-all buildings valuation of this property, does not appear; although it is pertinent to note in this connection that the net additions to the plant property for the tax year 1943 were, at book cost, the sum of $225,387 as reported by the company in its balance sheet filed with the Tax Commissioner. In the assessment of this parcel of land for the tax year 1945, the buildings, structures and other items of fixed machinery and equipment of the plant were included, as before at an over-all tax valuation; but in this year, for the first time, this over-all valuation was the aggregate of the valuations of the separate buildings, structures and other
In our further review of the evidence in this case, it is pertinent to note that counsel in the case have different views as to the significance, with respect to the question here presented, of the fact that the company in filing its annual intangible and personal property tax returns for the several tax years here in question, gave to the Tax Commissioner information relevant to changes in the value of the real property owned by it (§5372-1 GC) in the balance sheets filed with such tax returns rather than in and by forms in the tax return more especially provided for with respect to information of this kind. However, as we see it, the only purpose that could be served by this information, however given, would be as an available source of information to the county auditor as to additions to or removals from the plant property'. As to this, it may be observed, as above noted, that as to the rebuilt blast furnaces here in question, the county auditor in assessing this property had 'full knowledge of the fact that such blast furnaces had been rebuilt.
However, as we view this case, the question whether these rebuilt blast furnaces and auxiliary buildings and structures were omitted from the assessment of this, parcel of land for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944 is to be determined upon undisputed facts as they appear in the case as the same was presented to the Board. Blast furnaces 3 and 4, as rebuilt, and the accessory and auxiliary buildings and structures, here referred to, are located on Original Lot 88, a parcel of 70.40 acres. In the assessment of this parcel of land for each of the then current tax years here in ’question, the assessment in each instance, as appears from the county auditor’s entries on the tax lists and duplicates for said several tax years, was on said parcel of land, as above designated, and as to everything “inside fence”; which expression, as to buildings, structures and other items of real property, included, to the knowledge of the county auditor and as shown by the undisputed evidence in the case, these rebuilt blast furnaces and every other building, structure and fixed equipment taxed as real .property in this steel plant; and it further appears without question that the “buildings valuation” of this parcel
In this situation, we are of the view that these blast furnaces and other structures here in question were not omitted from taxation in the assessment of said parcel of land for the tax years 1942, 1943 or 1944. For, as to each of these tax years, the buildings, structures and other items of fixed equipment included by the county auditor in the assessment of this parcel of land were identically those which he intended to assess as a part of this parcel; and his tax valuation of the same was that intended by him. Upon these facts it may be observed, as noted in the opinion of, the Supreme Court of this state in the case of Heuek, county auditor, v. the Cincinnati Model Home Co., supra that in a situation of this kind “there is no omitted property which may be supplied.”
As to the further question here suggested as to whether the value or increased value of these reconstructed blast furnaces and auxiliary buildings and structures were ' reflected, or fully reflected in the over-all and lump sum tax valuations of all of the buildings and structures of the plant property for said several tax years, this is, quite obviously, a different question from that presented in this case. And it may or may not be that the county auditor, as to any or all of the tax years here in question, might have made a correction in the tax valuation of the plant property by reason of the unreflected increase, if any, in the value of such reconstructed blast furnaces and other structures here referred to, by timely proceedings therefor under §5576 GC, and after giving notice to the company as therein provided.
However this may be, it is quite certain that where, as in this case, the buildings and structures in question were actually included in the assessment of the parcel of land on which they were located, the county auditor was without authority to assess back taxes on such buildings and structures as omitted property on the view that the increased value of such buildings and structures were not reflected, or fully reflected, in the over-all valuation of all of the buildings and structures of the company’s plant. See Humphreys v. The
We are of the opinion, therefore, on the questions above noted, that the back taxes and penalties thereon assessed by the county auditor on said blast furnaces 3 and 4 and auxiliary buildings and structures, above referred to, for the tax years 1942, 1943 and 1944, were illegally assessed by said officer in consequence of his error in finding that such build- ings and structures were omitted property for said tax years.
As above noted herein, the National Tube Company in and by this application for tax- and penalty remission, contends that the back taxes and penalties thereon assessed on blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4 and auxiliary structures, above referred to, as omitted property, were assessed as real property taxes on the fax list and duplicate of the county; that these blast furnaces and auxiliary structures by reason of their construction, use and operation,, were and are personal property, and that for this additional reason the taxes and penalties herein complained of are illegal. Sometime after this application for tax and penalty remission was filed with the Board of Tax Appeals, the company, by its motion filed herein, withdrew from the consideration of the Board, with respect to this question, such auxiliary structures referred to as skip-hoist houses, clay houses, pump houses, and a pyrometer house and substation which were operated in connection with said blast-furnaces; and we assume that so far as this hearing before the Board is concerned, the company now concedes that these auxiliary structures were and are real property.
This leaves for our consideration the question as to whether these blast furnaces and certain accessory structures and equipment which were appraised and assessed as integral and component parts of the several blast furnaces, were and are personal property. These particular blast furnaces, referred to as Nos. 3 and 4, are part of an integrated steel plant owned and operated by the company at this location, the end products of which are, for the most part, butt welded and seamless pipes. The initial operation in the production of the steel from which these pipes are made, is the manufacture of iron in the blast furnaces of the company, of which the two here in question are a part. In this connection, it is pertinent to state that the iron, after it is produced in the blast furnaces, is taken to either the Bessemer or open hearth converter where the iron is converted into steel; which is poured into
A prime consideration with respect to the question as to whether blast furnaces Nos. 3 and 4, and their component parts were and are personal property is that relating to the construction, operation and use of the blast furnaces; and as to which there is no dispute in evidence in this case. These blast furnaces are substantially identical as to size; construction, operation and capacity and as to the accessory structures and equipment constituting component parts thereof. A review of the evidence in this case discloses that the facts relating thereto are accurately stated in the brief of counsel for the applicant as follows: “The blast furnace proper, or stack as it is sometimes called, rests' on a concrete pad or foundation about 60 feet in diameter which extends about 3 feet above and 9 feet below ground. The blast furnace itself is divided into the following sections beginning at the foundation pad: hearth, bosh, shell and top structure. The blast furnace hearth is laid on the foundation pad and the pad also supports the columns which in turn support the stack or shell of the furnace. The hearth wall is constructed of refractory brick extending vertically approximately 12 feet above the pad, in which case iron coils are set, through which water circulates. The inside diameter of the hearth is 26 feet. The bricks laid in the hearth are called ‘hearth blocks,’ which are 18 inches by 9 inches by iVz inches and are laid on end and are wedged in. They are bonded by a very light bond of grout which is a mixture of fire clay powder and water of about the consistency of thick pea soup. It is not cement. The wall of the hearth is approximately 3 feet thick. Carbon brick about 4 inches thick are also laid in the bottom of the furnace to prevent the erosion of iron.
“Immediately above the hearth, starting about the tuyeres (the nozzle apertures through which hot air is forced into the furnace), is a section called the ‘bosh,’ having an outward taper or batter and extending approximately 12 feet above the hearth. The diameter of the top of the bosh of the furnace at the mantle line is 29 feet 6 inches, and this because of the flare-out of the bosh. The bosh walls are constructed of refractories in which are inserted cooling boxes through which water circulates, u'he reason for this construction is that this is the hottest part of the furnace, the temperature running up to a little over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and if cooling elements were not employed, the refractory
“At the top of the bosh wall is the mantle plate of the furnace shell which forms the bottom plate of the shell, and is supported by steel columns which are anchored to the furnace foundation. They are shrouded by a casing with a flared-out base to give them support. They are held in place by an encircling ring from column to column which joins them and keeps them in position and in place. The shroud is to protect the steel columns in the event of a break-out of the furnace, and the shroud protects the column and prevents the same from being burned off under such circumstances. Brick is also used around the base of the columns to protect them against the flow of molten iron if it should break out any place. The brick used are refractory brick and have no structural function.
“The stack shell starts at the mantle ring and extends straight upward for about 9 feet and then converges inward to the top of the shell approximately 71 feet to the deck ring. The inside diameter at the top of the shell is 20 feet. The shell is conical in shape and is constructed of boiler plate approximately 1 inch thick, which is butt welded in.place. The stack shell is lined with • refractories approximately 4 feet in thickness and has copper cooling boxes inserted in the refractory lining for about 1/3 of the way up the stack. The over-all height of the furnace from the bottom of the furnace to the extreme top is 219 feet. The weight of the shell, including all of the brick lining and all of the top structure of the furnace, is supported by the columns which support the mantle so that it is possible to remove the hearth and the bosh of the furnace without affecting the furnace proper about the mantle ring. It is necessary to reline blast furnaces about every five or six years of operation. This requires the removal of all of the refractories from the furnace and the putting in of new refractories.
“At the top of the shell is located the machinery for charging the raw materials into the furnace. The lower part of this apparatus consists of a cylindrical hopper with a slight inward slope fitted into the throat of the shell and supported by the deck ring. Setting against the bottom of the hopper is a large conical bell. .Extending into the top of the sealed chamber is a cylindrical structure designated as the ‘barrel/ In the bottom of the barrel is a second conical bell which is
As to the accessory structures which were appraised and assessed as a part of these blast furnaces in the assessment of back taxes herein complained of, the first of such structures above.' noted are the skip hoists. The skip hoist is a steel structure extending on an incline from the stock house at the base of the furnace to the top structure of the furnace, and upon the double track of which inclined structure ore, coke and limestone, as raw materials, are carried from the storage bins to the top of the blast furnace where they are charged into the furnace by means of the bell and barrel arrangement above mentioned. As other accessories each of these blast furnaces has connected therewith a cast house, a dust catcher, gas washers and precipitators,' stoves, as well as gas burners and blowers and blowing engines. The cast house is a structure made of boiler plate which is built around the lower section of the blast furnace. It is supported by steel columns fastened to the blast furnace foundation by stud bolts and nuts; and serves the purpose of protecting the runways which receive the molten iron after the same has been tapped from the furnace. The dust catcher is a cylindrical structure approxi
The facts above stated as to the construction of these blast furnaces and of their accessory structures, sufficiently indicate
In connection with evidence offered and introduced in the case relating to the construction of these blast furnaces and of their accessory structures, evidence was likewise received as to the removability of blast furnaces. As to this, it appears from the evidence that blast furnaces, ponderous as they are, may be and have been removed from one location to another, in and out of this State, from State to State, and from one country to another.
Upon the considerations above noted the Board is of the view that the blast furnaces and accessory structures here in question were and are personal property and taxable only as such; and that for this additional reason this particular property was illegally assessed by the county auditor in the assessment complained of in said application for tax and penalty remission. And we are of this view notwithstanding the fact that the Tax Commissioner, by his Rule No. 7 adopted under date of July 5, 1939, has classified blast furnaces and accessory structures and equipment of the kind herein referred to as real property; for, as to this, it is obvious that this rule of the Tax Commissioner cannot have the binding force of law in our decision on this question as the same is presented in this case. Roseville Pottery, Inc., v. Comity Board of Revision, supra.
Upon all of the considerations above noted and discussed the Board of Tax Appeals finds that the back taxes and penalties herein complained of were illegally assessed by reason of the error of the county auditor in the' respects above noted; and it is, therefore, considered and ordered that the back taxes and penalties complained of in the application filed herein by said company be, and the same hereby are, remitted.
It is further by the Board considered and ordered that a copy of this order and entry be directed to the county auditor of Lorain County, Ohio, to the end that he may correct his tax records in accordance with the finding and order of the Board herein made.
I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and correct copy of the action of the Board of Tax Appeals of the Department of Taxation this day taken with respect to the. above. matter.
Joseph D. Bryan, .
Secretary.