§ 77-1330 — Property Tax Administrator and Tax Commissioner; guides for assessors; prepare; issue; failure to implement guide; corrective measures; procedures; cost; payment; State Treasurer; duties; removal of county assessor or deputy from office; appeal

Nebraska § 77-1330

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 77: Revenue and Taxation

Text

(1) The
Property Tax Administrator and Tax Commissioner shall prepare, issue, and
annually revise guides for county assessors in the form of property tax laws,
rules, regulations, manuals, and directives. The Property Tax Administrator
and Tax Commissioner may issue such directives without the necessity of compliance
with the terms of the Administrative Procedure Act relating to the promulgation
of rules and regulations. The assessment and appraisal function performed
by counties shall comply with the standards, and county assessors shall continually
use the materials in the performance of their duties. The standards shall
not require the implementation of a specific computer software or hardware
system if the existing software or system produces data and reports in compliance
with the standards.
(2) The Property Tax Administrator, or his or her agent or representative,
may examine or cause to have examined any books, papers, records, or memoranda
of any county relating to the assessment of property to determine compliance
with the laws, rules, regulations, manuals, and directives described in subsection
(1) of this section. Such production of records shall not include the photocopying
of records between January 1 and April 1. Failure to provide such records
to the Property Tax Administrator may constitute grounds for the suspension
of the assessor's certificate of any county assessor who willfully fails to
make requested records available to the Property Tax Administrator.
(3) After an examination the Property Tax Administrator shall provide
a written report of the results to the county assessor and county board. If
the examination indicates a failure to meet the standards contained in the
laws, rules, regulations, manuals, and directives, the Property Tax Administrator
shall, in the report, set forth the facts and cause of such failures as well
as corrective measures the county or county assessor may implement to correct
those failures.
(4) After the issuance of the report of the results of the examination,
the Property Tax Administrator may seek to order a county or county assessor
to take corrective measures to remedy any failure to comply with the materials
described in subsection (1) of this section. Such corrective orders may only
be issued after written notice and a hearing before the Tax Commissioner conducted
at least ten days after the issuance of the written notice of hearing. The
performance of such corrective measures shall be implemented by the county
to which the order is issued. If the county fails to implement such corrective
measures, the Property Tax Administrator may seek to suspend the assessment
function of the county under the terms of subsection (5) of this section and
shall implement the corrective measures pursuant to subsection (6) of this
section. The performance of such corrective measures shall be a charge on
the county, and upon completion, the Property Tax Administrator shall notify
the county board of the cost and make demand for such cost. If payment is
not received within one hundred twenty days after the start of the next fiscal
year, the Tax Commissioner shall report such fact to the State Treasurer.
The State Treasurer shall immediately make payment to the Department of Revenue
for the costs incurred by the department for such corrective measures. The
payment shall be made out of any money to which such county may be entitled
under the Compressed Fuel Tax
Act, Chapter 77, articles 27 and 35, and sections 66-482 to 66-4,149 .
(5) If, within one year from the service of the order, the measures
in the corrective order have not been taken, the Tax Commissioner (a) may,
at any time during the continuance of such failure, issue an order requiring
the county assessor and county board to show cause why the authority of the
county with respect to assessments or any matter related thereto should not
be suspended, (b) shall set a time and place at which the Tax Commissioner
or his or her representative shall hear the county assessor and county board
on the question of compliance by the county assessor or county with the laws,
rules, regulations, manuals, directives, or corrective orders described in
this section, and (c) after such hearing shall determine whether and to what
extent the assessment function of the county shall be so suspended. Such hearing
shall be held at least ten days after the issuance of such notice in the county.
(6) During the continuance of a suspension pursuant to subsection (5)
of this section, the Property Tax Administrator shall succeed to the authority
and duties from which the county has been suspended and shall exercise and
perform the same. Such exercise and performance shall be a charge on the suspended
county. The suspension shall continue until the Tax Commissioner finds that
the conditions responsible for the failure to meet the minimum standards contained
in the laws, rules, regulations, manuals, and directives have been corrected.
(7) The Property Tax Administrator, subject to rules and regulations
to be published and furnished to every county assessor and county board, shall
have the power to petition the Tax Commissioner to invalidate the certificate
of any assessor or deputy assessor who willfully fails or refuses to diligently
perform his or her duties in accordance with the laws, rules, regulations,
manuals, and orders issued by the Tax Commissioner governing the assessment
of property and the duties of each assessor and deputy assessor. No certificate
shall be revoked or suspended except after notice and a hearing before the
Tax Commissioner or his or her designee. Such hearing shall be held at least
ten days after the issuance of such notice in the county. Prior to revocation,
a one-year probationary period, subject to oversight by the Tax Commissioner,
shall be imposed. At the end of the one-year probationary period, a second
hearing shall be held. If assessment practices have improved, the probationary
period shall end and no revocation shall be made. If assessment practices
have not improved, the assessor certificate shall be revoked. If during the
probationary period, the assessor continues to willfully fail or refuse to
diligently perform his or her duties, the Tax Commissioner may immediately
hold the second hearing. If the county assessor certificate of a person serving
as assessor or deputy assessor is revoked, such person shall be removed from
office by the Tax Commissioner, the office shall be declared vacant, and such
person shall not be eligible to hold that office for a period of five years
after the date of removal. The Tax Commissioner shall mail a copy of his or
her written order to the affected party within seven days after the date of
the order.
(8) All hearings described in this section shall be governed by the
Administrative Procedure Act. Any county aggrieved by a determination of the
Tax Commissioner after a hearing pursuant to subsections (4) and (5) of this
section or alleging that its suspension is no longer justified or any assessor
or deputy assessor whose county assessor certificate has been revoked may
appeal within thirty days after the date of the written order of the Tax Commissioner
to the Tax Equalization and Review Commission in accordance with section 77-5013 .

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1969, c. 622, § 6, p. 2514; Laws 1979, LB 159, § 7; Laws 1981, LB 479, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 833, § 3; Laws 1985, LB 271, § 14; Laws 1995, LB 490, § 126; Laws 1999, LB 36, § 30; Laws 1999, LB 194, § 22; Laws 2004, LB 973, § 24; Laws 2007, LB334, § 66; Laws 2011, LB289, § 38. Cross References: Administrative Procedure Act, see section 84-920. Compressed Fuel Tax Act, see section 66-697. Annotations: The guides referred to herein are necessarily no more than guidelines to be employed in arriving at an ultimate assessment against a particular taxable unit which meets the constitutional and statutory requirements that property be taxed uniformly and proportionately, at an amount which does not exceed actual value; the same is true of all things except constitutionally valid property tax laws per se. Beynon Farm Products v. Bd. of Equalization, 213 Neb. 815, 331 N.W.2d 531 (1983). Application of Department of Revenue guidelines for allowance of economic depreciation raises a presumption that the resulting assessment is correct; however, the guidelines must give way to evidence showing that such application will violate the constitutional requirement of uniform and proportionate taxation or the statutory requirement of taxation at actual value. Farmers Co-op Assn. v. Boone County, 213 Neb. 763, 332 N.W.2d 32 (1983).