58.1-2670.1 - Application to court to correct erroneous local assessment ratio.
§ 58.1-2670.1. Application to court to correct erroneous local assessmentratio.
A. Subject to the limitations provided herein, any county, city, or town orpublic service corporation or other entity whose property is assessed by theState Corporation Commission or the Department of Taxation aggrieved by theDepartment of Taxation's ascertainment of the applicable local assessmentratio prevailing for such taxing district as specified in subsection A of §58.1-2604, may petition to the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond forcorrection of such ratio. Such petition must be filed within three monthsafter the Department of Taxation gives notice of the applicable prevailinglocal assessment ratios to all counties, cities, towns, and to the Commissionpursuant to subsection A of § 58.1-2604. This section shall apply only tocounties, cities and towns in which a public service corporation's propertyrepresents twenty-five percent or more of the total assessed value of realestate in such county, city or town.
B. Any proceeding maintained under this section shall name the Department ofTaxation and the applicable public service corporation, other entity whoseproperty is assessed by the State Corporation Commission or the Department ofTaxation, and the county, city or town which is the taxing district, asrespondents. The action shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules ofthe Supreme Court of Virginia applicable to suits in equity, and no trial byjury will be permitted.
C. If the Circuit Court finds the local assessment ratio as ascertained bythe Department of Taxation to be erroneous, it shall determine the correctlocal assessment ratio and shall order the Department of Taxation to adoptthe corrected ratio as its prevailing local assessment ratio and provide suchcorrected ratio to the Commission in accordance with subsection A of §58.1-2604.
D. If a suit is commenced by any party under this section, the period of timefor any county, city, town or public service corporation or other entitywhose property is assessed by the State Corporation Commission in which tofile a petition with the Commission, pursuant to § 58.1-2670, challenging theascertainment of, or the assessment for taxation of, the value of anyproperty of any public service corporation assessed by the Commission, shallcommence to run on the date of the final order entered by the Circuit Courtor, in the event of an appeal, on the date of the final order of the SupremeCourt of Virginia.
(1993, c. 528.)