HB 0549

HB 549-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to procedures of the department of revenue administration concerning the reassessment of property.

SPONSORS: Rep. Patten, Carr 9

This bill allows the department of revenue administration to petition the board of tax and land appeals for an order of reassessment of valuation of property within a municipality. The bill also allows the department to contract for appraisers to complete reassessments and to receive reimbursement of costs.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to procedures of the department of revenue administration concerning the reassessment of property.

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

1 Revenue Administration; Duties of Commissioner; Reassessment. Amend RSA 21-J:3, XXV to read as follows:

XXV. Petition the board of tax and land appeals to issue an order for reassessment of property pursuant to the board's powers under RSA 71-B:16-19 whenever the valuation of property [~~for equalization purposes~~] in a particular city, town, or unincorporated place is disproportional to the valuation [~~for equalization purposes in other cities, towns, or unincorporated places in the state~~] of other property within that city, town, or unincorporated place.

2 Equalization Procedure; Options. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 21-J:9-a, III to read as follows:

III. If less than 2 percent of the total taxable parcels in a city, town, or unincorporated place has been transferred by an arm's length sale or transfer during the 6 months prior to and 6 months following April 1 of the tax year for which such equalization is made or the commissioner determines the sales are unrepresentative of the property within the municipality, the commissioner may choose one or more of the following options [~~in the order listed~~]:

3 New Sections; Petition for Order of Reassessment; Procedure and Expenses. Amend RSA 21-J by inserting after section 9-a the following new sections:

21-J:9-b Petition for Order of Reassessment. The commissioner, in petitioning for an order of reassessment pursuant to RSA 21-J:3, XXV, may consider any information that indicates that property in a city, town, or unincorporated place is valued disproportionately to other property within that municipality in determining whether to petition the board of tax and land appeals to issue an order for reassessment. Additionally, the commissioner shall petition the board of tax and land appeals to issue an order for reassessment of property if the following criteria are met:

I. The commissioner's most recent annual sales-assessment ratio study indicates that the coefficient of dispersion exceeds 20 employing a 95-percent level of confidence, provided however that if the sample size for a sales-assessment ratio study is less than 30, the commissioner may use a level of confidence as low as 70 percent;

III. A municipality has not contracted for a full revaluation of the property within such municipality to be effective no later than the tax year following such determination.

21-J:9-c Orders for Reassessment. The following provisions shall govern cases in which the board of tax and land appeals has certified an order for reassessment to the department pursuant to RSA 71-B:18:

I. The commissioner may contract for the services of certified appraisers as needed to complete such reassessments in compliance with any certified orders of the board of tax and land appeals.

II. All reasonable expenses incurred by the department in completing a reassessment shall be paid in the first instance from the appropriation for the department, but each city, town, or county in the case of an unincorporated place, shall, upon notification by the commissioner of the amount due, reimburse the department for such expenses incurred as follows:

(a) The expenses for completing a reassessment, including, but not limited to, salaries of staff of the department for such time as the staff have spent on the reassessment, with the exception of expenses incurred by the department in the supervision and monitoring of appraisals pursuant to RSA 21-J:11, shall be reimbursed; and

(b) The amount of such reimbursement to the department shall, without vote of the municipality, be assessed and collected.

4 Property Taxes; What Taxes Assessed; Expenses of Reassessment. Amend RSA 76:5 to read as follows:

76:5 What Taxes Assessed. The selectmen shall seasonably assess all state and county taxes for which they have the warrants of the commissioner of revenue administration and county treasurers respectively; all taxes duly voted in their towns; and all school and village district taxes authorized by law or by vote of any school or village district duly certified to them; and all sums required to be assessed by RSA 33 and RSA 21-J:9-c.

AN ACT relative to procedures of the department of revenue administration concerning the reassessment of property.

The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is unable to complete a fiscal note for this bill as it is awaiting information from an agency.