sb 0170

CHAPTER 211

SB 170-FN-LOCAL - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT making certain changes to the excavation tax and excavation activity tax.

SPONSORS: Sen. Below, Dist 5; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Rep. Patten, Carr 9

I. Repeals the excavation tax appeals board, and provides that, if the assessing officials neglect or refuse to abate on an appeal, the appealing party may petition the board of tax and land appeals for relief.

II. Provides that excavations done by governmental entities, with the material used for their own purposes, are not subject to the excavation tax and excavation activity tax.

III. Authorizes municipalities to assign an operation number in accordance with guidelines provided by the commissioner of revenue administration at the time an intent to excavate is filed with the municipality, rather than having the commissioner of revenue administration assign such operation numbers.

IV. Provides that the department of revenue administration shall be notified if an owner who has filed an intent to excavate no longer owns property in the town where the owner filed such intent.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT making certain changes to the excavation tax and excavation activity tax.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

211:1 New Subparagraph; Excavation Tax and Excavation Activity Tax; Entities Exempted from Tax. Amend RSA 72-B:1, IV by inserting after subparagraph (i) the following new subparagraph:

(j) Excavation by the federal government, state government, cities, towns, school districts, and other political subdivisions which remove earth for their own use, on lands under their ownership and within their own jurisdiction.

211:2 Assessment of the Excavation Tax and the Excavation Activity Tax. Amend RSA 72-B:4, I to read as follows:

I. The excavation tax shall be assessed by the local assessing officials within 30 days after receipt of a report of excavated material form by such officials in the municipality in which the [~~operation~~] excavation took place. Interest as provided in RSA 72-B:6 shall be charged 30 days after the bills are mailed by the tax collector, on any tax which is due and payable and which remains unpaid.

211:3 Excavation Tax and Excavation Activity Tax; Bond. Amend RSA 72-B:5, I to read as follows:

I. If an owner does not own land in the town where such owner intends to excavate and has filed an intent to excavate form with respect to any parcel of land, the assessing officials shall, within 30 days of the receipt of that filing, notify the owner in writing of the amount and conditions of any bond or other security deemed necessary to secure the payment of the excavation tax to be due from the [~~operation~~] excavation described in the notice of intent to excavate. The owner shall provide the bond within 30 days of notice or be guilty of a misdemeanor. No owner who owns land in the town where the owner intends to excavate shall be required to post a bond or other security as a condition for filing an intent to excavate or receiving a permit to excavate, unless the owner is delinquent on town timber taxes, excavation activity taxes, or property taxes.

211:4 Excavation Tax and Excavation Activity Tax; Bond. Amend RSA 72-B:5, III to read as follows:

III. If an owner ceases to own land in the town where such owner is excavating after filing an intent to excavate form, such owner shall notify the assessing officials and the department in writing of the change in ownership within 15 days of such change. An owner who neglects to so notify the assessing official or the department shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

211:5 Notice of Intent to Excavate; Assignment of Operation Number. Amend RSA 72-B:8 to read as follows:

72-B:8 Notice of Intent to Excavate. Every owner, as defined in RSA 72-B:2, VIII, who intends to excavate earth shall, at the beginning of each tax year and prior to excavating, file with the proper assessing officials in the city, town, or unincorporated place where such excavating is to take place a notice of intent to excavate as provided by the commissioner, stating the owner's name; type of ownership; residence; telephone number; tax map, block, and lot number; the town, city, or unincorporated place where the excavating will take place; an estimate of the volume of earth to be excavated; an estimate of the type of earth to be excavated; and such other information as may be necessary to locate, identify, verify, and determine the full extent of the excavation and extent of compliance with RSA 155-E and RSA 485-A:17. A separate intent shall be filed for each separate tract of land as identified by the municipal tax maps. If the excavation is located in more than one municipality, a separate intent to excavate shall be filed with each municipality. A supplemental notice of intent to excavate shall be filed in the same manner stating any additional volume of earth to be excavated in excess of the original estimate within the same tax year. The assessing officials shall, within 30 days of signing a notice of intent to excavate, notify the tax collector that an intent to excavate has been filed. The assessing officials may decline to sign an intent to excavate for noncompliance by the owner with applicable requirements of RSA 72-B:5 relative to bonding, RSA 155-E relative to local regulation excavations, RSA 485-A:17 relative to terrain alterations or RSA 79-A, relative to current use. The notice of intent to excavate shall serve as notice that the land is subject to a tax lien pursuant to RSA 72-B:7. The appropriate copies of all intents to excavate received by a city, town, or unincorporated place shall within 30 days be assigned a number in accordance with the guidelines provided by the commissioner, then forwarded to the commissioner by the assessing officials. Upon receipt of an original intent to excavate, the commissioner shall [~~assign an operation number and~~] furnish to the owner a certificate to excavate and report of excavated material form. Each certificate shall be posted by the owner filing such intent to excavate in a conspicuous place within the area of excavating. Excavating before the appropriate notice of intent to excavate has been filed with the city, town, or unincorporated place and signed by the appropriate municipal officials shall constitute a violation by the owner or any other person doing the excavation, or both. Failure to post the certificate on the job in a conspicuous place upon receipt shall constitute a violation, and failure of the assessing officials to forward the appropriate copies of the intent to excavate to the department within 30 days after receipt shall constitute a violation.

211:6 Excavation Tax Appeal and Abatement. Amend RSA 72-B:13 to read as follows:

72-B:13 Excavation Tax Appeal and Abatement. An owner may, within 90 days of notice of the excavation tax, appeal to the assessing officials in writing for an abatement from the original assessment, but no owner shall be entitled to an abatement unless such owner has complied with the provisions of RSA 72-B:8, RSA 72-B:8-a and RSA 72-B:9. If the assessing officials neglect or refuse to abate, an owner may, at the owner's election within 6 months of notice of such tax and not afterwards, petition the superior court of the county where the operation took place, or the [~~appeals board as provided for in RSA 72-B:14. The~~] board of tax and land appeals. A petition to the board of tax and land appeals [~~board~~] shall be [~~filed with the commissioner~~] accompanied with a $65 filing fee.