§ 105-290. Appeals to Property Tax Commission.
§ 105‑290. Appeals toProperty Tax Commission.
(a) Duty to HearAppeals. In its capacity as the State board of equalization and review, theProperty Tax Commission shall hear and adjudicate appeals from boards of countycommissioners and from county boards of equalization and review as provided inthis section.
(b) Appeals fromAppraisal and Listing Decisions. The Property Tax Commission shall hear anddecide appeals from decisions concerning the listing, appraisal, or assessmentof property made by county boards of equalization and review and boards ofcounty commissioners. Any property owner of the county may except to an orderof the county board of equalization and review or the board of countycommissioners concerning the listing, appraisal, or assessment of property andappeal the order to the Property Tax Commission.
(1) In these cases,taxpayers and persons having ownership interests in the property subject totaxation may file separate appeals or joint appeals at the election of one ormore of the taxpayers. It is the intent of this provision that all owners of asingle item of personal property or tract or parcel of real property be allowedto join in one appeal and also that any taxpayer be allowed to include in oneappeal all objections timely presented regardless of the fact that the listingor valuation of more than one item of personal property or tract or parcel ofreal property is the subject of the appeal.
(2) When an appeal isfiled, the Property Tax Commission shall provide a hearing beforerepresentatives of the Commission or the full Commission as specified in thissubdivision.
a. Hearing byCommission Representatives. The Commission may authorize one or more membersof the Commission or employees of the Department of Revenue to hear an appeal,to make examinations and investigations, to have made from stenographic notes afull and complete record of the evidence offered at the hearing, and to makerecommended findings of fact and conclusions of law. Should the Commissionelect to follow this procedure, it shall fix the time and place at which itsrepresentatives will hear the appeal and, at least 10 days before the hearing,give written notice of the hearing to the appellant and to the clerk of theboard of commissioners of the county from which the appeal is taken. At thehearing the Commission's representatives shall hear all evidence and affidavitsoffered by the appellant and appellee county and may exercise the authoritygranted by subsection (d), below, to obtain information pertinent to decisionof the appeal. The representatives conducting the hearing shall submit to theCommission and to the appellant and appellee their recommended findings of factand conclusions of law. Upon the request of any party, the representatives conductingthe hearing shall also submit to the Commission and to the appellant andappellee a full record of the proceeding. The cost of providing the full recordof the proceeding shall be borne by the party requesting it, unless theCommission determines for good cause that the cost should be borne by theCommission. The Commission shall review the record, the recommended findings offact and conclusions of law, and any written arguments that may be submitted tothe Commission by the appellant or appellee within 15 days following the dateon which the findings and conclusions were submitted to the parties and shalltake one of the following actions:
1. Accept therecommended findings of fact and conclusions of law and issue an appropriateorder as provided in subdivision (b)(3), below.
2. Make new findings offact or conclusions of law based upon the materials submitted by theCommission's representatives and issue an appropriate order as provided insubdivision (b)(3), below.
3. Rehear the appealunder the procedure provided in subdivision (b)(2)b, below, with respect to anyportion of the record or recommended findings of fact or conclusions of law.
b. Hearing by FullCommission. Should the Commission elect not to employ the procedure providedin subdivision (b)(2)a, above, it shall fix a time and place at which theCommission shall hear the appeal and, at least 10 days before the hearing, givewritten notice of the hearing to the appellant and to the clerk of the board ofcommissioners of the county from which the appeal is taken. At the hearing theCommission shall hear all evidence and affidavits offered by the appellant andappellee county and may exercise the authority granted by subsection (d),below, to obtain information pertinent to decision of the appeal. TheCommission shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law and issue anappropriate order as provided in subdivision (b)(3), below.
(3) On the basis of thefindings of fact and conclusions of law made after any hearing provided for bythis subsection (b), the Property Tax Commission shall enter an order(incorporating the findings and conclusions) reducing, increasing, orconfirming the valuation or valuations appealed or listing or removing from thetax lists the property whose listing has been appealed. A certified copy of theorder shall be delivered to the appellant and to the clerk of the board ofcommissioners of the county from which the appeal was taken, and the abstractsand tax records of the county shall be corrected to reflect the Commission'sorder.
(4) Interest onOverpayments. When an order of the Property Tax Commission reduces thevaluation of property or removes the property from the tax lists and, based onthe order, the taxpayer has paid more tax than is due on the property, thetaxpayer is entitled to receive interest on the overpayment in accordance withthis subdivision. An overpayment of tax bears interest at the rate set underG.S. 105‑241.21 from the date the interest begins to accrue until arefund is paid. Interest accrues from the later of the date the tax was paidand the date the tax would have been considered delinquent under G.S. 105‑360.A refund is considered paid on a date determined by the governing body of thetaxing unit that is no sooner than five days after a refund check is mailed.
(c) Appeals fromAdoption of Schedules, Standards, and Rules. It shall be the duty of theProperty Tax Commission to hear and to adjudicate appeals from orders of boardsof county commissioners adopting schedules of values, standards, and rulesunder the provisions of G.S. 105‑317 as prescribed in this subsection(c), and the adoption of such schedules, standards, and rules shall not besubject to appeal under any other provision of this Subchapter.
(1) A property owner ofthe county who, either separately or in conjunction with other property ownersof the county, asserts that the schedules of values, standards, and rulesadopted by order of the board of county commissioners do not meet the truevalue or present‑use value appraisal standards established by G.S. 105‑283and G.S. 105‑277.2(5), respectively, may appeal the order to the PropertyTax Commission within 30 days of the date when the order adopting theschedules, standards, and rules was first published, as required by G.S. 105‑317(c).
(2) Upon such an appealthe Property Tax Commission shall proceed to hear the appeal in accordance withthe procedures provided in subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2), above, and inscheduling the hearing upon such an appeal, the Commission shall give itpriority over appeals that may be pending before the Commission under theprovisions of subsection (b), above. The decision of the Commission upon suchan appeal shall be embodied in an order as provided in subdivision (c)(3),below.
(3) On the basis of thefindings of fact and conclusions of law made after any hearing provided for bythis subsection (c), the Property Tax Commission shall enter an order(incorporating the findings and conclusions):
a. Modifying orconfirming the order adopting the schedules, standards, and rules challenged,or
b. Requiring the boardof county commissioners to revise or modify its order of adoption in accordancewith the instructions of the Commission and to present the order as thusrevised or modified for approval by the Commission under rules and regulationsprescribed by the Commission.
(d) Witnesses andDocuments. Upon its own motion or upon the request of any party to an appeal,the Property Tax Commission, or any member of the Commission, or any employeeof the Department of Revenue so authorized by the Commission shall examinewitnesses under oath administered by any member of the Commission or anyemployee of the Department so authorized by the Commission, and examine thedocuments of any person if there is ground for believing that informationcontained in such documents is pertinent to the decision of any appeal pendingbefore the Commission, regardless of whether such person is a party to theproceeding before the Commission. Witnesses and documents examined under theauthority of this subsection (d) shall be examined only after service of asubpoena as provided in subdivision (d)(1), below. The travel expenses of anywitness subpoenaed and the cost of serving any subpoena shall be borne by theparty that requested the subpoena.
(1) The Property TaxCommission, a member of the Commission, or any employee of the Department ofRevenue authorized by the Commission, is authorized and empowered to subpoenawitnesses and to subpoena documents upon a subpoena to be signed by thechairman of the Commission directed to the witness or witnesses or to theperson or persons having custody of the documents sought. Subpoenas issuedunder this subdivision may be served by any officer authorized to servesubpoenas.
(2) Any person who shallwillfully fail or refuse to appear, to produce subpoenaed documents in responseto a subpoena, or to testify as provided in this subsection (d) shall be guiltyof a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(3) Upon a motion, theProperty Tax Commission, or a member of the Commission may quash a subpoena if,after a hearing, the Commission finds any of the following:
a. The subpoenarequires the production of evidence that does not relate to a matter in issue.
b. The subpoena failsto describe with sufficient particularity the evidence required to be produced.
c. The subpoena issubject to being quashed for any other reason sufficient in law.
(d1) Hearing on Motion toQuash Subpoena; Appeal. A hearing on a motion to quash a subpoena pursuant tosubdivision (d)(3) of this section shall be heard at least 10 days prior to thehearing for which the subpoena was issued. The denial of a motion to quash asubpoena is subject to immediate judicial review in the Superior Court of WakeCounty or in the superior court of the county where the person subject to thesubpoena resides.
(e) Time Limits forAppeals. A notice of appeal from an order of a board of county commissioners,other than an order adopting a uniform schedule of values, or from a board ofequalization and review shall be filed with the Property Tax Commission within30 days after the date the board mailed a notice of its decision to theproperty owner. A notice of appeal from an order adopting a schedule of valuesshall be filed within the time set in subsection (c).
(f) Notice of Appeal. A notice of appeal filed with the Property Tax Commission shall be in writingand shall state the grounds for the appeal. A property owner who files a noticeof appeal shall send a copy of the notice to the appropriate county assessor.
(g) What ConstitutesFiling. A notice of appeal submitted to the Property Tax Commission by ameans other than United States mail is considered to be filed on the date it isreceived in the office of the Commission. A notice of appeal submitted to theProperty Tax Commission by United States mail is considered to be filed on thedate shown on the postmark stamped by the United States Postal Service. If anappeal submitted by United States mail is not postmarked or the postmark doesnot show the date of mailing, the appeal is considered to be filed on the dateit is received in the office of the Commission. A property owner who files anappeal with the Commission has the burden of proving that the appeal is timely.(1939, c. 310,ss. 202, 1107, 1109; 1955, c. 1350, s. 10; 1967, c. 1196, s. 3; 1969, c. 7, ss.1, 2; 1971, c. 806, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 193; 1987, c. 295, ss. 3, 9; c. 680,ss. 4, 5; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1005, ss. 1, 2; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992),c. 1016, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 713; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1997‑205,s. 1; 2007‑251, ss. 3, 4; 2007‑491, s. 44(1)a.)