COLUMBUS, Ohio— The city of Cleveland properly collected income tax in 2008 from then-Indianapolis Colts player Jeff Saturday for a game he missed at Cleveland Browns Stadium due to injury, a state tax board has ruled.

The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals accepted arguments by city lawyers that forcing tax officials to determine when a visiting athlete or other out-of-towner missed scheduled work in the city would amount to an "administrative burden."

The case, which also challenges Cleveland's unusual and lucrative method of calculating pro athletes' municipal income tax – a so-called "jock tax" – could soon end up before the Ohio Supreme Court.

In its decision, the tax appeals board found that Cleveland's per-game method of calculating Saturday's taxable income didn't violate any state law or earlier court rulings. The board reached the same conclusion last month in another challenge filed by a former Chicago Bears player.

In Saturday's case, the three-member board also upheld the city’s decision to tax the All-Pro center for a 2008 game versus the Cleveland Browns, though he was undergoing injury rehabilitation in Indiana at the time and never set foot in Cleveland.

The board, however, said it lacked the power to rule on whether Cleveland’s jock tax is constitutional.

Saturday retired from the NFL last year after 14 years in the league. He currently works as an ESPN analyst.

The Jan. 28 ruling came two weeks after the board rejected a similar lawsuit by former Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer. Both cases may soon be appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, according to Stephen Kidder, the NFL Players Association's tax counsel who is representing the two players.

Cleveland collects its 2-percent income tax from visiting athletes each time their teams play in the city. Unlike most other cities, though, Cleveland calculates the players' taxable incomes for those games by dividing their salaries by the total number of games their teams play.

Hillenmeyer and Saturday say that Cleveland should instead use a “duty-days” method that calculates their taxable salary not by game days, but by all work days – including practices, team meetings, and pre-season training camps.

A duty-days calculation would save most players a modest amount. Hillenmeyer is seeking a total refund of $5,062, while Saturday is asking for $3,294.

But the stakes are much higher for Cleveland: if forced to switch to a duty-days method, the city could stand to lose more than $1 million in revenue per year, according to a "conservative estimate" from the city's tax department.