Westerville City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Delaware Cty. Bd. of Revision

[Cite as Westerville City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Delaware Cty. Bd. of Revision, 2024-Ohio-2963.]

COURT OF APPEALS DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

WESTERVILLE CITY SCHOOL JUDGES: DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J. Hon. William B. Hoffman, J. Appellant Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J.

-vs- Case No. 24 CAE 01 0006 DELAWARE COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION, ET AL.,

Appellees OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS: Appeal from the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 23 CV F 10 0805

JUDGMENT: Affirmed DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: August 2, 2024 APPEARANCES: For Appellant For Westar Polaris III, LLC

MARK H. GILLIS EDWARD F. HIRSHBERG KELLEY A. GORRY Ryan Law Firm, PLLC Rich & Gillis Law Group, LLC 301 Grant Street, Suite 270 5747 Perimeter Drive, Suite 150 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Dublin, OH 43017 For County Appellees

MICHAEL P. CAVANAUGH Delaware County Prosecutor's Office 145 North Union Street, 3rd Floor P.O. Box 8006 Delaware, OH 43015

Delaware County, Case No. 24 CAE 01 0006 2

Hoffman, J. {¶1} Appellant Westerville City Schools Board of Education appeals the

judgment entered by the Delaware County Common Pleas Court dismissing its administrative appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Appellee is Westar Polaris III, ILC.1

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

{¶2} On March 21, 2023, Appellee filed an original complaint with the Delaware County Board of Revision (hereinafter “BOR”) seeking to decrease the value placed on a parcel of property owned by Appellee by the Delaware County Auditor from $14, 657, 100 to $13, 450,000. On September 27, 2023, the BOR adopted Appellee’s opinion of value. Appellant appealed this decision to the Delaware County Common Pleas Court.

{¶3} In the trial court, Appellant sought to stay the proceedings due to the pendency of numerous appeals by other school districts in this Court which raised the same issues. The trial court denied the motion to stay, and sua sponte dismissed Appellant’s administrative appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding Appellant did not have standing to appeal the BOR’s decision to the Court of Common Pleas. It is from the January 2, 2024 decision of the Delaware County Common Pleas Court Appellant prosecutes this appeal, assigning as error:

I. THE DELAWARE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS COURT ERRED

IN HOLDING THAT R.C. 2506.01 DOES NOT CREATE AN

INDEPENDENT RIGHT OF APPEAL IN DIRECT CONTRAVENTION OF

1 Appellees Delaware County Auditor and Delaware County Board of Revision did not file a brief in the instant appeal. Delaware County, Case No. 24 CAE 01 0006 3

THE PLAIN LANGUAGE OF THE STATUTE AND SUPREME COURT

PRECEDENT.

II. THE DELAWARE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS COURT

COMMITTED LEGAL ERROR IN CITING JRB HOLDINGS, HAMER, AND

NKANGINIEME AS SUPPORT FOR ITS HOLDING THAT R.C. 2506.01

DOES NOT CREATE AN INDEPENDENT STATUTORY RIGHT OF

APPEAL.

III. THE DELAWARE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS COURT ERRED

IN HOLDING THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION LACKED STATUTORY

STANDING TO APPEAL PURSUANT TO R.C. 2506.01.

I., II., III.

{¶4} This Court has previously considered the legal issues raised by Appellant in the instant appeal. The assignments of error are overruled for the reasons stated in Westerville City School Dist. Bd. of Education v. Delaware Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2024-Ohio-1567 (5th Dist.); Olentangy Local School Dist. Bd. of Education v. Delaware Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2024-Ohio-1564 (5th Dist.); and Delaware City Schools Bd. of Education v. Delaware Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2024-Ohio-1565 (5th Dist.). Delaware County, Case No. 24 CAE 01 0006 4

{¶5} The judgment of the Delaware County Common Pleas Court is affirmed.

By: Hoffman, J. Gwin, P.J. and Baldwin, J. concur