Cleveland County Tax Roll Correction Board Regular Meeting - August 27, 2026

The Cleveland County Tax Roll Correction Board met in regular session on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in Suite 200 of the Cleveland County Office Building, 201 South Jones, Norman, Oklahoma. Chairman Rusty Grissom presided; Vice-Chairman Chuck R. Thompson and Member Douglas Warr were present, constituting a quorum. The meeting notice was posted on August 25, 2026. The board unanimously approved the July 30, 2026, minutes and the 2027 meeting schedule, struck two petitions submitted in error, approved a batch of Moore Urban Renewal Authority correction petitions, and then divided votes on four postponed First Presbyterian Church exemption requests, with three 2-1 votes and one unanimous decision.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of minutes (July 30, 2026): Approved unanimously by roll call.
• 2027 schedule of meetings: The Notice of Schedule of Regular Meetings of the Cleveland County Tax Roll Correction Board for the 2027 calendar year was approved unanimously; copies of the schedule were distributed.
• Erroneous assessment petition list: The board unanimously struck petitions 4032 and 4033 from the agenda after the Chairman stated they had been submitted in error. Petitions 4031 and 4034 through 4050 were then approved as submitted by unanimous roll call. Member Warr explained the petitions concern the Moore Urban Renewal Authority, which buys lots in an undeveloped Moore addition and often does not come forward to notify the county, so the lots are sometimes taxed even though they should be exempt; the corrections remove those erroneous taxes.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No one signed up to speak during the initial public comment period.
• Jan Meadows, representing First Presbyterian Church of Norman, spoke on the four postponed parcels and distributed a handout with the assessor's map, lease information, and case law. She argued the tracts should be viewed as one property covered by a single lease between the church and a hotel (rendered as 'the noun hotel' in the transcript), that the church retains the right to use the parking when needed, and that the presence of rental income should not determine taxability. She cited the Oklahoma case Emmanuel Baptist Church v. Glass (1972) for the proposition that the exemption is not restricted to property used exclusively for public worship but embraces property primarily used for religious purposes, with exclusive use related to time of use. She also stated the church did not receive the initial assessment notices for the fourth parcel and did not receive a tax bill for it until March 2026.

Discussion Items - Postponed First Presbyterian Church Properties (Unfinished Business)

The board took up four complaints of erroneous assessment and petitions for correction for First Presbyterian Church parcels near 546-548 S University Boulevard and 0 Elm Avenue in Norman. The parcels had been leased to the hotel and placed on the tax rolls as commercial property. The central disagreement was whether lease-based commercial use - paid-parking signage, QR codes, hotel and student parking - overrides the religious-purpose exemption when the church retains access rights.

• Item 1 - Parcel 33222 (pink area, 0 Elm Ave): Member Warr said the lot is used approximately 99 percent by the hotel and is fenced off from the other lots; Meadows responded that the bollards are removable and the church can arrange with the hotel to use the lot for events. Chairman Grissom moved to deny the correction, and the motion carried 2-1, with Grissom and Warr in favor and Thompson dissenting.
• Item 2 - Parcel 33201 (blue area, 548 S University Blvd): The parcel includes yellow areas signed 'reserved church parking' from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and red areas; Warr noted students currently park there and must pay. Grissom moved to grant the exemption, and it carried 2-1 (Grissom and Thompson in favor, Warr opposed).
• Item 3 - Parcel 33200 (orange area, 546 S University Blvd): The one-row orange strip is entered through the same driveway as the blue lot, has hotel parking signage, and is covered by the lease but available to the church. The board initially became confused about whether a motion to 'approve' meant granting or denying the correction; Grissom clarified his intent was to grant the exemption. The motion carried 2-1 (Grissom and Thompson in favor, Warr opposed).
• Item 4 - Parcel 33199 (green area, O S University Blvd): Thompson observed the parcel is largely inside the hotel's courtyard, has no parking spaces, and is not freely usable by church members. All three members voted to deny the correction, keeping the parcel taxable.

Vice-Chairman Thompson explained the standard guiding his votes: if property is available to church members whenever they need or want it, even if it is otherwise leased or used commercially, he considers it church property and not taxable; if members are fenced out or cannot access it, it is taxable. Warr maintained all four parcels should be taxable because the signed leases changed the use from exempt to commercial, the lots display paid-parking signage, and state law requires only notice by regular mail to the last known address. He also noted the assessor's office applies the same use-based test in other situations, such as a shopping center leased to a church where only the portion used by the church is exempt. Meadows countered that parking-lot rental is inherently temporary, unlike renting building space, and that income is not the proper standard.

Key Outcomes

• Item 1 (Parcel 33222): Correction denied - parcel remains taxable. Vote to deny: 2-1 (Grissom and Warr in favor; Thompson opposed).
• Item 2 (Parcel 33201): Correction granted - parcel exempt from taxation. Vote to grant: 2-1 (Grissom and Thompson in favor; Warr opposed).
• Item 3 (Parcel 33200): Correction granted - parcel exempt from taxation. Vote to grant: 2-1 (Grissom and Thompson in favor; Warr opposed).
• Item 4 (Parcel 33199): Correction denied - parcel remains taxable. Vote to deny: 3-0 (Grissom, Thompson, and Warr all in favor).
• In board member statements, Thompson urged the Assessor's office to carefully consider 'incidental uses' of church parking lots, such as QR-code paid-parking programs, and to conduct reasonable outreach to churches before changing taxable status rather than relying solely on mailed notices; he noted that First Presbyterian Church's leadership includes well-known community figures. The board then adjourned unanimously.