ENGROSSED HOUSE
BILL NO. 1362	By:	Peters and Grau of the House

			   and

		Brown of the Senate

An Act relating to revenue and taxation; amending 68 O.S. 2001, Section 2844, as last amended by Section 19, Chapter 272, O.S.L. 2006 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2844), which relates to omitted property; specifying penalties applicable to certain omitted property; amending 68 O.S. 2001, Sections 2871, as last amended by Section 2, Chapter 140, O.S.L. 2008 and 2877, as amended by Section 7, Chapter 518, O.S.L. 2004 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Sections 2871 and 2877), which relate to the Ad Valorem Tax Code; authorizing board of tax roll corrections to examine evidence; providing for appeal; authorizing board of tax roll corrections to compel attendance by witnesses and production of certain information; prohibiting certain communications; providing exception; providing for methods of appearance by taxpayers; prohibiting certain communications; providing exception; amending 68 O.S. 2001, Section 2945, as amended by Section 2, Chapter 250, O.S.L. 2007 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2945), which relates to prohibiting certain acts dealing with ad valorem taxation; allowing certain appeals; specifying application of certain rules; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     68 O.S. 2001, Section 2844, as last amended by Section 19, Chapter 272, O.S.L. 2006 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2844), is amended to read as follows:
Section 2844.  A.  If any real, personal, railroad, air carrier or public service corporation property is omitted in the assessment of any prior year or years, and the property thereby escapes just and proper taxation, at any time and as soon as such omission is discovered, the county assessor or the county board of equalization, or the State Board of Equalization in the case of public service corporation property or railroad and air carrier property, whose duty it is to assess the class of property which has been omitted, shall at any time cause such property to be entered on the assessment rolls and tax rolls for the year or years omitted, not to exceed the last fifteen (15) years as to real property and the last three (3) years as to personal property, and shall, after reasonable notice to the parties affected, in order that they be heard, assess such omitted property for said periods and cause to be extended against the same on the tax rolls for the current year all arrearage of taxes properly accruing against it, including therein interest thereon at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum from the time such tax should have become delinquent.
B.  If any tax on property subject to taxation is prevented from being collected for any year or years by reason of any erroneous proceedings, or failure to give notice, or otherwise, the amount of such tax which such property should have paid or should have been paid thereon shall be added to the tax on such property for the current year, and if for want of sufficient time or for any cause such assessment cannot be entered, and the tax thereon extended on the tax rolls for the current year, the same shall be done the following year.
C.  Property which is omitted from assessment in any prior year or years, and assessed and entered on the assessment rolls and tax rolls as provided in subsection A of this section, shall be subject to interest as provided in subsection A of this section, but shall not be subject to the penalties required pursuant to subsection C of Section 2836 of this title.
SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     68 O.S. 2001, Section 2871, as last amended by Section 2, Chapter 140, O.S.L. 2008 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2871), is amended to read as follows:
Section 2871.  A.  After delivery of the tax rolls to the county treasurer of any county, no correction or alteration as to any item contained therein as of such date of delivery shall ever be made, except by the county treasurer and on authority of a proper certificate authorized by law or pursuant to order or decree of court in determination of a tax protest or other proper case.
B.  A board of tax roll corrections is hereby created and shall consist of the chair of the board of county commissioners as chair or, in the chair’s absence, the vice-chair of the board of county commissioners or their statutory designee, the chair of the county equalization board or, in the chair’s absence, the vice-chair of the county equalization board as vice-chair, the county clerk as nonvoting member and secretary, and the county assessor, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum.  The board is hereby authorized to hear and determine allegations of error, mistake or difference as to any item or items so contained in the tax rolls, in any instances hereinafter enumerated, on application of any person or persons whose interest may in any manner be affected thereby, or by his or her agent or attorney, verified by affidavit and showing that the complainant was not at fault through failure to fulfill any duty enjoined upon him or her by law, or upon discovery by the county treasurer or assessor before the tax has been paid or attempted to be paid and disclosure by statement of fact in writing signed by the treasurer or assessor and verified by the assessor or treasurer as the case may be.  Such right shall not be available to anyone attempting to acquire, or who has acquired, the lien of the county for such tax, whether by purchase, assignment, deed or otherwise.  In counties with two county boards of equalization, the chair of each such board shall serve, in alternating years, as the vice-chair of the board of tax roll corrections.  When a complaint is pending before the board of tax roll corrections, such taxes as may be owed by the protesting taxpayer shall not become due until thirty (30) days after the decision of the board of tax roll corrections.  When a complaint is filed on a tax account which has been delinquent for more than one (1) year, and upon showing that the tax is delinquent, the complaint shall be dismissed, with prejudice.  The board of tax roll corrections is hereby authorized and empowered to take evidence and to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, records and papers by subpoena for the purpose of the hearing.  The ruling of the board of tax roll corrections on any objection to a subpoena may be appealed to district court.
C.  If, upon such hearing, it appears that:
1.  Any personal or real property has been assessed to any person, firm, or corporation not owning or claiming to own the same;
2.  Property exempt from taxation has been assessed;
3.  Exemption deductions allowed by law have not been taken into account;
4.  The same property, whether real or personal, has been assessed more than once for the taxes of the same year;
5.  Property, whether real or personal, has been assessed in the county for the taxes of a year to which the same was not subject;
6.  The county board of equalization has, after delivery of the tax rolls, made a finding of fact under authority of law that, after January 1 of any year and before May 1 of the same year, improvements to real estate or other property assessed have been destroyed by fire, or that the value of land has been impaired, damaged or destroyed by floods or overflow of streams, and has made and entered an adjustment to assessments previously made and entered;
7.  Lands or lots have in any manner been erroneously described;
8.  Any valuation or valuations assessed and entered are at variance with the valuation finally equalized;
9.  Any valuation or valuations returned for assessment and not increased by the county assessor have been entered on the assessment rolls for equalization at variance with the value returned, or in the event of increase by either the county assessor or the county board of equalization and no notice thereof was sent; provided, offer of proof of failure to receive notice may not be heard;
10.  Any valuation assessed and entered included, in whole or in part, as of the date of assessment under the law relating thereto, any property that had no taxable situs in the county, did not exist or had been erroneously placed;
11.  Any property subject to taxation as of January 1 of any year was thereafter acquired by conveyance of title, including tax title, by the county, or any city, town or school district therein;
12.  An error resulted from inclusion in the total of levies computed against the valuation entered, a tax levy or levies certified and final for none or part of which such property was liable in fact and the same be self-evident on recomputation, and involve no question of law;
13.  As to personal tax, if there has been an error in the name of the person assessed, or, as to real property, the record owner at the time of assessment desires that his or her name be entered in lieu of whatever other name may have been entered as "owner" upon the roll;
14.  There has been any error in the tax extended against the valuation entered, whether by erroneous computation or otherwise;
15.  There has been any error in transcribing from the county assessor's permanent survey record to the assessment rolls either as to area or value of lands or lots or as to improvements thereon;
16.  The county treasurer has, of his or her own volition, restored to the tax rolls any tax or assessment where the entry upon the tax rolls shows the same theretofore to have been stricken or reduced by certificate issued by constituted authority, except where restored by specific court order or in conformity to general decree of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma invalidating in mass all such certificates of a class certain, and except if the owner of such property demand its restoration and make payment, in which instance the county treasurer shall require that the owner sign on the face of the owner's receipt a statement that the owner "paid voluntarily without demand, request or duress"; or
17.  Any personal property assessment and personal tax charge has been entered upon the assessment and tax rolls except upon proper return of assessment by the taxpayer or increase thereof with due notice, or as a delinquent assessment made by the county assessor or deputies in detail either on view or reliable information; then, in the event any of the grounds stated in this subsection are present, it shall be the duty of the board of tax roll corrections to make and the secretary to enter its findings of fact and to correct such error, if such exists, by issuing its order, in words and figures, to accomplish such:
a.	if such error increases the amount of tax charged, the county clerk shall issue a certificate of error to the county assessor ordering the assessor to certify such correction or increase to the county treasurer for entry on the tax rolls, and
b.	if such error does not increase the amount of tax charged, the county clerk shall issue a certificate of error to the county treasurer if the tax be not paid, stating the amount or other effect of such order, and it shall be the duty of such county treasurer to make and enter such correction upon the tax rolls and, if there be a decrease to the amount of tax charged, to enter a credit, in lieu of cash, for the amount of decrease of tax shown in such certificate.
D.  If, prior to such hearing by the board, as provided by this section, the tax has been paid, no certificate shall issue; but if less than one (1) year shall have elapsed after the payment of the tax and before the filing of such application for correction of error, and after such hearing the findings of fact disclose that less tax was due to have been paid than was paid, then the person who paid the tax, or such person's heirs, successors, or assigns, may execute a cash voucher claim setting forth facts and findings, verify it, and file it with the county clerk, who shall thereupon deliver such claim to the county treasurer for designation of the fund from which the claim must be paid and approval of the claim as to availability of funds by the county treasurer.  If taxes have been paid under protest, the county treasurer must designate the refund to be paid from such protest fund.  If taxes have been paid but not paid under protest and if there are funds available in current collections of the taxing unit which received the taxes paid, then the county treasurer must designate the refund to be paid from such current collections of such taxing unit.  The county clerk shall thereupon issue a cash voucher against the appropriate fund of the county, directing the county treasurer to pay to such person the amount so found to be erroneous.  The word "person" as used in this subsection shall comprehend the person, firm, or corporation who paid such tax and the heirs, assigns or successors, as the case may be.  No such claim for refund shall be allowed and paid unless the same be filed within six (6) months after the effective date of the order of correction.
E.  If there be any error in the taxes collected from any person, the overpayment or duplicate payment of any such taxes collected in error may be recovered by the taxpayer, and the county treasurer may make such payment from the resale property fund of the county if funds are not available as stated in subsection D of this section.
F.  Beginning January 1, 1987, notwithstanding the one-year limitations period for filing a claim for refund as provided in subsection D of this section, if there be any error in taxes collected from any person on property constitutionally exempt under Section 6B of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution, by the county treasurer in counties with a population in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000) persons, according to the latest Federal Decennial Census, to the extent that such county has been reimbursed from the Ad Valorem Reimbursement Fund provided by Section 193 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the overpayment or duplicate payment of any such taxes collected in error may be recovered by the taxpayer as provided by law.
G.  Upon dismissal of a complaint or denial of relief to the taxpayer, the county clerk, as secretary of the board of tax roll corrections, shall prepare a letter order of dismissal or denial which shall be mailed to the taxpayer or person at the address found on the complaint.
H.  Both the taxpayer and the county assessor shall have the right of appeal from any order of the board of tax roll corrections to the district court of the same county.  In case of appeal the trial in the district court shall be de novo.
I.  Notice of appeal shall be served upon the county clerk, as secretary of the board of tax roll corrections, and a copy served upon the county assessor.  The appeal shall be filed in the district court within fifteen (15) days of the date of the mailing of the order of the board of tax roll corrections to the taxpayer.
J.  Communications between the board of tax roll corrections and the county assessor are limited as follows:
1.  A member of the board of tax roll corrections shall not directly or indirectly communicate with the county assessor or any deputy assessor or designated agent on any matter relating to the appraisal of property by the county assessor, except in: 
a.	an open meeting of the board of tax roll corrections or another public forum, or 
b.	a closed meeting of the board of tax roll corrections held to consult with the attorney of the board about pending litigation, at which the presence of the county assessor is necessary for full communication between the board and the attorney of the board; 
2.  A county assessor, deputy assessor or designated agent shall not directly or indirectly communicate with a member of the board of tax roll corrections on any matter relating to the appraisal of property by the county assessor, except in: 
a.	an open meeting of the board of tax roll corrections or another public forum, or 
b.	a closed meeting of the board of tax roll corrections held to consult with the attorney of the board about pending litigation, at which the presence of the county assessor is necessary for full communication between the board and the attorney of the board; and 
3.  Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection do not apply to a routine communication between the county assessor and the board of tax roll corrections that relates to the administration of an appraisal roll, including a communication made in connection with the certification, correction, or collection of an account.  
SECTION 3.     AMENDATORY     68 O.S. 2001, Section 2877, as amended by Section 7, Chapter 518, O.S.L. 2004 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2877), is amended to read as follows:
Section 2877.  A.  Upon receipt of an appeal from action by the county assessor on the form prescribed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the secretary of the county board of equalization shall fix a date of hearing, at which time said board shall be authorized and empowered to take evidence pertinent to said appeal; and for that purpose, is authorized to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, records, and papers by subpoena, and.  The ruling by the board of equalization on any objection to a subpoena may be appealed to district court.  The Board shall also be empowered to confirm, correct, or adjust the valuation of real or personal property or to cancel an assessment of personal property added by the assessor not listed by the taxpayer if the personal property is not subject to taxation or if the taxpayer is not responsible for payment of ad valorem taxes upon such property.  The secretary of the board shall fix the dates of the hearings provided for in this section in such a manner as to ensure that the board is able to hear all complaints within the time provided for by law.  The county board of equalization shall be required to follow the procedures prescribed by the Ad Valorem Tax Code or administrative rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to such Code governing the valuation of real and personal property.  The county board of equalization shall not modify a valuation of real or personal property as established by the county assessor unless such modification is explained in writing upon a form prescribed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.  Each decision of the county board of equalization shall be explained in writing upon a form prescribed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.  The county board of equalization shall make a record of each proceeding involving an appeal from action by the county assessor either in transcribed or tape recorded form.
B.  In all cases where the county assessor has, without giving the notice required by law, increased the valuation of property as listed by the taxpayer, and the taxpayer has knowledge of such adjustment or addition, the taxpayer may at any time prior to the adjournment of the board, file an appeal in the form and manner provided for in Section 2876 of this title.  Thereafter, the board shall fix a date of hearing, notify the taxpayer, and conduct the hearing as required by this section.
C.  The taxpayer or agent may appear at the scheduled hearing either in person, by telephone or other electronic means, or by affidavit.
D.  If the taxpayer or agent fails to appear in a manner permitted under this section before the county board of equalization at the scheduled hearing, unless advance notification is given for the reason of absence, the county shall be authorized to assess against the taxpayer the costs incurred by the county in preparation for the scheduled hearing an order of dismissal will be entered.  If such costs are assessed, payment of the costs shall be a prerequisite to the filing of An order of dismissal will preclude an appeal to the district court.  A for failure to exhaust its administrative remedies; however, a taxpayer that gives advance notification of their absence shall be given the opportunity to reschedule the hearing date.
E.  Communications between the board of equalization and the county assessor are limited as follows:
1.  A member of the board of equalization shall not directly or indirectly communicate with the county assessor or any deputy assessor or designated agent on any matter relating to the appraisal of property by the county assessor, except in: 
a.	an open meeting of the board of equalization or another public forum, or 
b.	a closed meeting of the board of equalization held to consult with the attorney of the board about pending litigation, at which the presence of the county assessor is necessary for full communication between the board and the attorney of the board; 
2.  A county assessor, deputy assessor or designated agent shall not directly or indirectly communicate with a member of the board of equalization on any matter relating to the appraisal of property by the county assessor, except in: 
a.	an open meeting of the board of equalization or another public forum, or 
b.	a closed meeting of the board of equalization held to consult with the attorney of the board about pending litigation, at which the presence of the county assessor is necessary for full communication between the board and the attorney of the board; and 
3.  Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection do not apply to a routine communication between the county assessor and the board of equalization that relates to the administration of an appraisal roll, including a communication made in connection with the certification, correction, or collection of an account.  
SECTION 4.     AMENDATORY     68 O.S. 2001, Section 2945, as amended by Section 2, Chapter 250, O.S.L. 2007 (68 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 2945), is amended to read as follows:
Section 2945.  A.  If any person shall knowingly and willfully make or give under oath or affirmation a false and fraudulent list of taxable personal property, or a false and fraudulent list of any taxable personal property under the control of the person or required to be listed by the person, or shall knowingly and willfully make false answer to any question which may be put under oath by any person, board or commission authorized to examine persons under oath in relation to the value or amount of any taxable personal property, the person shall be deemed guilty of the felony of perjury, and upon conviction shall be punished as is provided by law for the punishment of the felony of perjury.
B.  If any taxpayer, or any official, employee, or agent of the taxpayer, shall fail or refuse, upon proper request, to permit the inspection of any property or the examination of any books, records and papers by any person authorized by the Ad Valorem Tax Code to do so, or shall fail or refuse to comply with any subpoena duces tecum legally issued under authority of this Code, the taxpayer shall be stopped from questioning or contesting the amount or validity of any assessment placed upon the property of the taxpayer to the board of equalization.  Nothing in this section shall impair or impede the right of the taxpayer to appeal any order of the board of equalization to the district court as provided for in Section 2880.1 of this title, and such right of appeal shall include but not be limited to rulings regarding objections to and compliance with subpoenas, and issues of valuation.  In reviewing rulings regarding subpoenas, the district court shall apply the same rules it would apply to subpoenas in a civil action.
SECTION 5.  This act shall become effective July 1, 2011.
SECTION 6.  It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
Passed the House of Representatives the 15th day of March, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the House of
	Representatives

Passed the Senate the ____ day of __________, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the Senate