Request for Assessment Review Process Summary
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District offers a Request for Assessment Review process to those parcel owners who wish to provide additional evidence regarding their MWCD maintenance assessment after reviewing the MWCD Maintenance Assessment Billing Policies. There are three types of review available to the parcel owner. They are:
1. Adjacency Review
According to MWCD Billing Policy 4, for the purposes of the MWCD maintenance assessment, parcels with an Assessment Use Code of residential (R), agricultural (A) or vacant (V), and owner(s) whose name(s) match exactly and are adjacent to each other, may be consolidated and billed one (1) Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU).
Parcel owners who feel their properties meet these requirements, but have not been consolidated, may file for an adjacency review. An MWCD Assessment Specialist will then review the additional evidence to determine whether Billing Policy 4 should be applied, and, if justified, modify the charge accordingly.
2. Impervious Area Review
According to MWCD Billing Policy 15.5, parcel owners who believe the impervious area computations (set forth in Billing Policy 14) are not representative of the actual impervious area on their parcel may submit additional information for re-evaluation, and if justified, the charge will be modified accordingly.
Parcel owners who feel impervious area computations are not representative of the actual impervious area on their parcel may file an impervious area review. Additional information, such as, but not limited to, up-to-date aerial photography or a site plan showing the dimensions of all impervious surfaces, should be submitted along with the Request for Assessment Review. An MWCD Assessment Specialist will review the additional evidence to determine the amount of impervious area and, if justified, modify the charge accordingly.
Because the MWCD recognizes that such additional information can be difficult or inconvenient for the parcel owner to obtain, we offer an alternative method of review as a service to the parcel owner. This alternative consists of an MWCD Assessment Specialist researching the amount of impervious area present on the parcels in question through the use of additional information including, but not limited to, aerial photography, improvement dimensions reported by the county of record or on-site inspections. On-site inspections are performed solely at the discretion of the MWCD. The Assessment Specialist will review the additional evidence and, if justified, modify the charge accordingly.
3. Property Use/Ownership Change
Parcel owners with a recently acquired parcel, or a parcel with a recent Property Use Code change, may file a property use/ownership change review. Documentation from the county of record must be provided by the parcel owner as proof of the change. MWCD Assessment Specialist will then review the documentation and modify the charge accordingly.
**NOTE** When requesting a review of an assessment based on Property Use/Ownership Changes, it is important to keep in mind key dates in the assessment process. The MWCD Board of Appraisers has set an annual date of April 1 to receive data from each county within the Watershed. Ohio Revised Code section 6101 requires the Watershed to levy the assessment record on or before September 30 each year. With proper evidence of a property use and/or ownership change, the MWCD may modify the county record, which is received on April 1, up until September 30. Any transaction of ownership and/or use code that occurs after the assessment record is levied will not be changed until the following calendar year. In a situation where the ownership of a parcel changes after the assessment is levied, the buying and selling parties are responsible for the settlement of the prorated assessment.
Upon the completion of a Request for Assessment Review, the parcel owner will receive a notice stating whether or not a change will be made and exhibits that document the details of their case. If a change is to be made, an Assessment Correction Order will be forwarded to the county of record as authorization to adjust the assessment on the parcel owner’s tax bill.
If a review results in a change, that change will be reflected in future assessments, provided the details of the case do not change in any way. It is important to note that a Request for Assessment Review is for a review of the current year assessment(s) only. If the parcel owner believes they have overpaid assessments for previous years, an Assessment Payment Verification Form and supporting documentation in the form of proof of payment must be submitted with the Request for Assessment Review. The Assessment Payment Verification Form and a list of accepted types of Proof of Payment are available by clicking here.
Please contact an Assessment Specialist toll free at (866) 755-6923 if you have any questions regarding the Request for Assessment Review process.