441.37A - APPEAL OF PROTEST TO PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEAL BOARD. - Iowa Statutes

441.37A APPEAL OF PROTEST TO PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEAL BOARD. 1. a. For the assessment year beginning January 1, 2007, and all subsequent assessment years, appeals may be taken from the action of the board of review with reference to protests of assessment, valuation, or application of an equalization order to the property assessment appeal board created in section 421.1A. However, a property owner or aggrieved taxpayer or an appellant described in section 441.42 may bypass the property assessment appeal board and appeal the decision of the local board of review to the district court pursuant to section 441.38. b. For an appeal to the property assessment appeal board to be valid, written notice must be filed by the party appealing the decision with the secretary of the property assessment appeal board within twenty days after the date the board of review's letter of disposition of the appeal is postmarked to the party making the protest. The written notice of appeal shall include a petition setting forth the basis of the appeal and the relief sought. No new grounds in addition to those set out in the protest to the local board of review as provided in section 441.37 can be pleaded, but additional evidence to sustain those grounds may be introduced. The assessor shall have the same right to appeal to the assessment appeal board as an individual taxpayer, public body, or other public officer as provided in section 441.42. An appeal to the board is a contested case under chapter 17A. c. Filing of the written notice of appeal and petition with the secretary of the property assessment appeal board shall preserve all rights of appeal of the appellant, except as otherwise provided in subsection 2. A copy of the appellant's written notice of appeal and petition shall be mailed by the secretary of the property assessment appeal board to the local board of review whose decision is being appealed. d. In all cases where a change in assessed valuation of one hundred thousand dollars or more is petitioned for, the local board of review shall mail a copy of the written notice of appeal and petition to all affected taxing districts as shown on the last available tax list. 2. a. A party to the appeal may request a hearing or the appeal may proceed without a hearing. If a hearing is requested, the appellant and the local board of review from which the appeal is taken shall be given at least thirty days' written notice by the property assessment appeal board of the date the appeal shall be heard and the local board of review may be present and participate at such hearing. Notice to all affected taxing districts shall be deemed to have been given when written notice is provided to the local board of review. Failure by the appellant to appear at the property assessment appeal board hearing shall be grounds for dismissal of the appeal unless a continuance is granted to the appellant. If an appeal is dismissed for failure to appear, the property assessment appeal board shall have no jurisdiction to consider any subsequent appeal on the appellant's protest. b. An appeal may be considered by less than a majority of the members of the board, and the chairperson of the board may assign members to consider appeals. If a hearing is requested, it shall be open to the public and shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of practice and procedure adopted by the board. However, any deliberation of a board member considering the appeal in reaching a decision on any appeal shall be confidential. A meeting of the board to rule on procedural motions in a pending appeal or to deliberate on the decision to be reached in an appeal is exempt from the provisions of chapter 21. The property assessment appeal board or any member of the board may require the production of any books, records, papers, or documents as evidence in any matter pending before the board that may be material, relevant, or necessary for the making of a just decision. Any books, records, papers, or documents produced as evidence shall become part of the record of the appeal. Any testimony given relating to the appeal shall be transcribed and made a part of the record of the appeal. 3. a. The board member considering the appeal shall determine anew all questions arising before the local board of review which relate to the liability of the property to assessment or the amount thereof. All of the evidence shall be considered and there shall be no presumption as to the correctness of the valuation of assessment appealed from. The property assessment appeal board shall make a decision in each appeal filed with the board. If the appeal is considered by less than a majority of the board, the determination made by that member shall be forwarded to the full board for approval, rejection, or modification. If the initial determination is rejected by the board, it shall be returned for reconsideration to the board member making the initial determination. Any deliberation of the board regarding an initial determination shall be confidential. b. The decision of the board shall be considered the final agency action for purposes of further appeal, except as otherwise provided in section 441.49. The decision shall be final unless appealed to district court as provided in section 441.38. The levy of taxes on any assessment appealed to the board shall not be delayed by any proceeding before the board, and if the assessment appealed from is reduced by the decision of the board, any taxes levied upon that portion of the assessment reduced shall be abated or, if already paid, shall be refunded. If the subject of an appeal is the application of an equalization order, the property assessment appeal board shall not order a reduction in assessment greater than the amount that the assessment was increased due to application of the equalization order. Each party to the appeal shall be responsible for the costs of the appeal incurred by that party.          Section History: Recent Form 2005 Acts, ch 150, §128; 2008 Acts, ch 1191, §74, 75 Referred to in § 428.4, 441.35          Footnotes For future repeal of this section, effective July 1, 2013, see 2005 Acts, ch 150, §134