Posted July 22, 2015
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that grain storage bins are personal property pursuant to state law and may not be taxed as real property, according to a Court News Ohio article available here. Toledo Blade also published an article here.
The court’s unanimous decision confirmed a ruling of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA), which determined that the actual value of property owned by Metamora Elevator Company in Fulton County was $738,240 instead of the auditor’s assessed value of more than $1.8 million that included the storage bins.
The court observed that historically the distinction between fixtures that were real property and those that were personal property was elusive. But, in 1992, the General Assembly clarified that storage bins are personal property.
Justice O’Donnell wrote that the General Assembly amended the definitions of “real property” and “personal property.”
“In promulgating R.C. 5701.03, the General Assembly has expressly defined the term ‘business fixture’ to include storage bins, and therefore, they are personal property not subject to real property tax,” Justice O’Donnell explained.
Metamora Elevator Company successfully argued that the bins were temporary business fixtures and not part of the permanent property subject to local real estate taxation, according to Toledo Blade.
How the county taxes the bins has historically been a minor issue, but in 2005, the state began to phase out its tangible personal property tax, an unpopular tax that targeted business equipment, inventory and fixtures. That tax is now gone for nearly all businesses in the state.
For more information on agricultural finance and credit, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
Share: