15 AAC 56.040. Hearings of the state assessment review board

(a) Any three members of the board constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business and duties of the board. A quorum of the board members must be present in order to hear an appeal. The board may grant or deny an appeal, in whole or in part, by the majority vote of the members present at the appeal hearing.

(b) A board-elected chairperson, or the chairperson's designee, shall preside at the hearing. The chairperson may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses, and rule on the admissibility of evidence. The chairperson may exercise control over the proceedings as necessary to establish the order, time, and presentation of arguments and evidence by each party.

(c) A member of the board must inform the board at the commencement of the hearing of any possible conflict of interest the member may have. A board member must voluntarily withdraw from hearing an appeal when the member believes a conflict of interest prevents the member from participating in a fair and impartial manner. A party may request that a board member be disqualified from hearing an appeal on grounds that, due to a conflict of interest the member may have, a fair and impartial hearing cannot be accorded if the member is allowed to participate. Upon a request for disqualification, the other board members shall vote upon whether the member should be disqualified from participating in an appeal due to a conflict of interest.

(d) At any time after commencement of a hearing, the board may, on motion by the department, other party to the appeal, or on its own motion, grant a stay or continuance of the hearing to provide additional time to obtain information necessary to resolve the issues on appeal or for other good reason.

(e) In a hearing under this section

(1) relaxed rules of evidence apply;

(2) each party may present oral and written statements, call witnesses, and, subject to (4) and (5) of this subsection, introduce relevant documents and material into the record;

(3) witnesses will be required to testify under oath;

(4) documents and other evidence that were submitted to the board and other parties before the hearing under a prehearing order are admissible if they are relevant to the issues on appeal;

(5) documentary evidence that was not submitted to the board and the other parties before the hearing as required by a prehearing order may not be presented for the first time at the hearing unless

(A) the board grants permission after the party offering the evidence has shown reasonable cause for not complying with the prehearing order as provided in 15 AAC 05.200; and

(B) the party offering the evidence has provided the board and all parties with adequate opportunity to examine the documents.

(f) The proceedings at the hearing will be recorded electronically or by other means that assure an accurate record and may be transcribed at the request and expense of the party requesting the transcript.

(g) The appellant bears the burden of proof at the hearing. The assessed value of the property in the notice of assessment, including any adjustments determined in the informal conference, is presumed to be correct. The board will not adjust that assessed value unless the appellant has shown that the assessed value is the result of unequal, excessive, or improper valuation or that the valuation was not determined in accordance with the standards or provisions set out in AS 43.56.

(h) The decision of the board will include

(1) the identity of the appealing party;

(2) the name and address of each owner of the taxable property;

(3) the name of each municipality in which the property was located as of January 1 of the tax year;

(4) a brief description of the taxable property;

(5) any adjustments made by the board to the assessed value of the property; and

(6) the reasons for upholding or adjusting the assessment.

(i) The board will certify its decision in writing to the department no later than seven days after the hearing is concluded. A copy of the decision will be mailed to each party to the appeal.

History: Eff. 11/4/74, Register 52; am 1/1/2003, Register 164

Authority: AS 43.05.220

AS 43.56.040

AS 43.56.130

AS 43.56.200

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