Working Through the Appeals David Baker, Director Michael Brown NC DOR

Working Through the Appeals

David Baker, DirectorMichael Brown

NC DOR

Levels of Appeals

• Informal Appeal with Assessor— NCGS 105-296(i)

• Formal Appeal with Board of Equalization and Review —NCGS 105-322

• NC Property Tax Commission—NCGS 105-290 • Higher Courts

– NC Court of Appeals – NC Supreme Court

Length of BOER • Convene as early as possible within the statutory

time frame, between the first Monday in April and the first Monday in May.

• For those counties in a reappraisal year, schedule a minimum of three (3) weeks and a maximum of eight ( 8 ) weeks between convening and adjournment dates.

• For those counties in a non-reappraisal year, schedule a minimum of two (2) weeks and a maximum of six (6) weeks between convening and adjournment dates.

Adjournment Date

• Two Meanings:– Last date to file an appeal– Powers under 105-322(g)(1) are removed

BOER—Hearing Tips

• Establish a clean break between the informal and formal appeal process

• “Due process ” and “equal protection under the law. ”

• The hearing process should not appear to be deaf to taxpayer concerns.

• The process should instill in the taxpayer a sense of having been treated fairly.

BOER—Hearing Tips • Greater Weight of the Evidence• Hearing should:

– Not be just one sided, where taxpayer only person to speak

– Different time amount allotted for various property types (not just 5 minutes)

• Room Choice – Avoid small rooms

• Meetings are public meetings• All Properties have been reviewed in the field

NC DOR BOER Member’s Handbook

Steps in Hearing Process

1. Meeting is called to order by the Chairperson. 2. Chair ask that the clerk identify the appellant

and property under appeal. 3. The chair instructs the taxpayer to present

their case through the use of personal testimony, documentary evidence, and the testimony of any other individuals, including expert witnesses.



4. Each board member should be allowed an opportunity to ask questions of the taxpayer and any witnesses concerning the evidence presented. (Examples are within the handbook)



5. Chairperson recognizes individual from the assessor’s office to present the position of the tax office for property that is under appeal.



6. Each board member should be allowed to question the county’s witnesses concerning the evidence presented. (Examples are within the handbook)

• NOTE: Members of the board should not ask questions that appear to imply that a conclusion has been reached.



7. The board should let the appellant and the tax office know what action they are going to take: – evidence and testimony submitted under

consideration, render a decision, and notify the appellant in due course.

– have someone take a look at the property, (either a member or the full board), then decide the case based on that physical inspection and the evidence and testimony submitted, and notify the appellant accordingly.



• NOTE: If property has been reviewed by Assessor’s Office this may prohibit need for visit by board member.



• Request additional information be provided by either the appellant or the tax office within a set time frame, (generally one week to 10 days), with a decision to be reached at the end of that time frame based on the information at hand, and the appellant to be notified accordingly.


Steps in Hearing Process• If a taxpayer fails to appear at a scheduled

hearing, the board shall review any information submitted earlier as evidence, hear the position of the assessor’s office, and make a decision based on these facts alone. If no evidence has been submitted, then the board should decide in favor of the tax office on the grounds that the taxpayer has not attempted to carry his burden of proof.

BOER Decisions Should be Decided

• After both parties have presented evidence the BOER can make a decision from all information presented.

• In a public meeting!

BOER Decisions

• Appeals shall be filed with the PTC within 30 days after the date the board mailed a notice of its decision to the property owner. NCGS 105-290(e)

• Be sure that the date of notice and date mailed are the same.

• New Process for filing with the PTC– Board E&R Notice of Decision Letter (1-2010).doc

New Title for the AV-14 Form

• The form is now called the “Notice of Appeal and Application for Hearing”

• Link to new application:

• http://www.dor.state.nc.us/downloads/fillin/av14_webfill.pdf

When appeals are filed with the PTC

• One step process—Taxpayer can go online and fill out form and mail it in

• Two step process—Taxpayer mails letter to us. We in turn mail them an acknowledgment letter of the appeal plus we include AV-14 form for them to send back to us within 30 days of our letter.

• Note the AV-14 form must be sent to county attorney and assessor also.

• Taxpayer keeps fourth copy of form for their records.

Motions on Late Notice of Appeal

• If the Notice of Appeal is filed late with the Property Tax Commission from the Board of Equalization and Review, the county will need to file the motion to dismiss.

• If dates are included in the second paragraph of the acknowledgement letter, this is a good indication that the appeal was filed late.

• We can not always tell if the appeal is timely.

Motions on Late Application for Hearing

• If the appeal is timely filed but the AV-14 is not filed within the 30 days required by the PTC rules, the Commission will process a late application for hearing on its own motion.

• The county does not need to take action on a failure to file an application or a untimely filed application for hearing.

DOR’s Role• The Department desires to be a resource to the

taxpayers, Commission and local governments in order to help facilitate the efficient management of taxpayer appeals. The Department seeks to encourage communication between the counties and the taxpayers in order to (1) foster better understanding between the parties, (2) help the parties identify and define the pertinent issues, and (3) help the parties illuminate those issues which may be resolved prior to a hearing. The Department seeks to be an information resource to the parties regarding the appeal process and to help guide the parties to a timely hearing when a hearing is required.

DOR’s Role

• Contact both parties• Discuss issues about the appeal• Notify both parties about the important

upcoming periods involved with the appeal:• 50, 20, 10 day periods

• Over 95% of appeals are not heard by the PTC.

Discovery / Interrogatories

• For all appeals that you need additional information from the taxpayer please do not hesitate on making this request.

• Once an appeal is scheduled for hearing the parties are not allowed to continue discovery in the matter.

• Tax Office should let our office be aware that you have filed discovery.

PTC Appeals Received Yearly

(Year and Number of Appeals Received)

2009 1015 1999 587 1989 379 1979 109

2008 912 1998 306 1988 339 1978 77

2007 1114 1997 507 1987 318 1977 113

2006 421 1996 312 1986 342 1976 131

2005 728 1995 599 1985 144 1975 262

2004 614 1994 719 1984 185 1974 55

2003 816 1993 650 1983 365 1973 89

2002 746 1992 1099 1982 138 1972 79

2001 564 1991 415 1981 261 1971 100

2000 431 1990 502 1980 235 1970 22

Avg / Decade 736 570 271 104

Appeals by Year2010 received 783 appeals as of 9/10/2010

Year # of Appeals2009 10152008 9122007 11142006 4212005 7282004 6142003 8162002 7462001 5642000 431

Current Status of Appeals

• Active—793• Contacted—32• Ready to be Heard—310

• We currently schedule around 50 appeals a month for the 50-day calendar

• In January the PTC will start meeting twice a month.

County’s Role:

• Do not put off your appeals on the Property Tax Commission!

• If you are going to settle go ahead and do it!• Be the good guy, why let us wear the white hat?• Take the time to work the appeals before

sending them to our office. If we find that you have put the appeals off on the PTC with out diligently working the appeal then our office will deal with the appeals accordingly.

Reasons Why Taxpayers Appeal

• “No one took the time to explain the issue to me.”

• “No one has listen to me.”• “I do not know where the value came from.”• “I had to present my case, but the county did

not present their case to the BOER.”• “It was not a fair hearing.”

Documents

Working Through the Appeals David Baker, Director Michael Brown NC DOR