(A) The county auditor shall make a list of all real and personal property in the auditor's county that is exempted from taxation. Such list shall show the name of the owner, the value of the property exempted, and a statement in brief form of the ground on which such exemption has been granted. It shall be corrected annually by adding thereto the items of property which have been exempted during the year, and by striking therefrom the items which in the opinion of the auditor have lost their right of exemption and which have been reentered on the taxable list, but no property shall be struck from the exempt property list solely because the property has been conveyed to a single member limited liability company with a nonprofit purpose from its nonprofit member or because the property has been conveyed by a single member limited liability company with a nonprofit purpose to its nonprofit member. No additions shall be made to such exempt lists and no additional items of property shall be exempted from taxation without the consent of the tax commissioner as is provided for in section 5715.27 of the Revised Code or without the consent of the housing officer under section 3735.67 of the Revised Code, except for property exempted by the auditor under that section, property owned by a community school and subject to the exemption authorized under division (A)(1) of section 5709.07 of the Revised Code for tax years after the tax year for which the commissioner grants an application under section 5715.27 of the Revised Code, as described in division (I) of that section, or qualifying agricultural real property, as defined in section 5709.28 of the Revised Code, that is enrolled in an agriculture security area that is exempt under that section.

The commissioner may revise at any time the list in every county so that no property is improperly or illegally exempted from taxation. The auditor shall follow the orders of the commissioner given under this section. An abstract of such list shall be filed annually with the commissioner, on a form approved by the commissioner, and a copy thereof shall be kept on file in the office of each auditor for public inspection.

An application for exemption of property shall include a certificate executed by the county treasurer certifying one of the following:

(1) That all taxes, interest, and penalties levied and assessed against the property sought to be exempted have been paid in full for all of the tax years preceding the tax year for which the application for exemption is filed, except for such taxes, interest, and penalties that may be remitted under division (C) of this section;

(2) That the applicant has entered into a valid delinquent tax contract with the county treasurer pursuant to division (A) of section 323.31 of the Revised Code to pay all of the delinquent taxes, interest, and penalties charged against the property, except for such taxes, interest, and penalties that may be remitted under division (C) of this section. If the auditor receives notice under section 323.31 of the Revised Code that such a written delinquent tax contract has become void, the auditor shall strike such property from the list of exempted property and reenter such property on the taxable list. If property is removed from the exempt list because a written delinquent tax contract has become void, current taxes shall first be extended against that property on the general tax list and duplicate of real and public utility property for the tax year in which the auditor receives the notice required by division (A) of section 323.31 of the Revised Code that the delinquent tax contract has become void or, if that notice is not timely made, for the tax year in which falls the latest date by which the treasurer is required by such section to give such notice. A county auditor shall not remove from any tax list and duplicate the amount of any unpaid delinquent taxes, assessments, interest, or penalties owed on property that is placed on the exempt list pursuant to this division.

(3) That a tax certificate has been issued under section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the Revised Code with respect to the property that is the subject of the application, and the tax certificate is outstanding.

(B) If the treasurer's certificate is not included with the application or the certificate reflects unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest that may not be remitted, the tax commissioner or county auditor with whom the application was filed shall notify the property owner of that fact, and the applicant shall be given sixty days from the date that notification was mailed in which to provide the tax commissioner or county auditor with a corrected treasurer's certificate. If a corrected treasurer's certificate is not received within the time permitted, the tax commissioner or county auditor does not have authority to consider the tax exemption application.

(C) Any taxes, interest, and penalties which have become a lien after the property was first used for the exempt purpose, but in no case prior to the date of acquisition of the title to the property by the applicant, may be remitted by the commissioner or county auditor, except as is provided in division (A) of section 5713.081 of the Revised Code.

(D) Real property acquired by the state in fee simple is exempt from taxation from the date of acquisition of title or date of possession, whichever is the earlier date, provided that all taxes, interest, and penalties as provided in the apportionment provisions of section 319.20 of the Revised Code have been paid to the date of acquisition of title or date of possession by the state, whichever is earlier. The proportionate amount of taxes that are a lien but not yet determined, assessed, and levied for the year in which the property is acquired, shall be remitted by the county auditor for the balance of the year from date of acquisition of title or date of possession, whichever is earlier. This section shall not be construed to authorize the exemption of such property from taxation or the remission of taxes, interest, and penalties thereon until all private use has terminated.

Amended by 133rd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 166, §101.01, eff. 10/17/2019.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.64, HB 225, §1, eff. 3/22/2012.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 2008 HB160 06-20-2008; 2008 HB289 07-18-2008 .

Related Legislative Provision: See 129th General AssemblyFile No.64, HB 225, §4 .