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Each Assessment Appeals Board created pursuant to this Chapter shall:
(a) In addition to complying with notice and procedural requirements of the Revenue and Taxation Code and the California Code of Regulations, provide notice of all meetings, including deliberations, and post agendas as if Assessment Appeals Boards were subject to the Brown Act and the Sunshine Ordinance. The agendas shall list each application including the address of the property, the purpose of the hearing, the current assessment, and applicant's opinion of value.
(b) Allow public comment on each assessment appeal to be heard by an Assessment Appeals Board. Public comment shall be received either when an Assessment Appeals Board convenes to hear one or more assessment appeals, or at the time each appeal is called for hearing. The agenda for each meeting of an Assessment Appeals Board shall bear the following notice:
Under the California Constitution and applicable statutes, hearings of assessment appeals boards are judicial proceedings. The decisions of assessment appeals boards must be based exclusively on properly admitted evidence. Assessment appeals boards may not base any factual determinations necessary for their decisions on anything other than the aforementioned evidence. Information presented through public comment unless properly admitted into evidence in compliance with the Revenue and Taxation Code and of the Property Tax Rules of the State Board of Equalization is not evidence upon which assessment appeals boards may base findings.
(c) Conduct all hearings, deliberations, and other business including closed sessions as authorized by law, at duly noticed meetings, with notice afforded to all members of the Board; and take decisions only through the actions of members present at such meetings.
(d) Conduct hearings in-person at a physical location with all members physically present, or remotely by videoconference with no members physically present, or under a hybrid model with some members appearing in-person at a physical location and some members appearing remotely by videoconference, as set forth in Section 2B.24.
(a) To the end that proceedings before the Board move forward in a timely and efficient manner, the Applicant and the Assessor are expected to cooperate and communicate with each other prior to any hearing before the Board.
(b) The Applicant shall comply with any written request by the Assessor, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 441, for information, books and records, or inspections of the subject property that disclose acquisition or construction costs, income and expense data, construction details, or physical condition. When requested to do so in writing by the Assessor, the Applicant also shall disclose the basis or bases, whether due to damage, destruction, depreciation, obsolescence, removal of property, or other factors causing a decline in value, such as a changed physical environment, changed income and expense experiences and capitalization or yield rate expectations, or new market comparables events, which form or support the Applicant's opinion(s) of value set out in the application filed with the Clerk.
(c) On written request of the Applicant, the Assessor shall make available for inspection or copying any data or information that is kept or maintained by the Assessor about the subject property, as provided in Revenue and Taxation Code section 408, subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(d) The information requested by the Assessor or the Applicant shall be provided no later than thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the request unless another date is mutually agreed upon. Both parties shall fully supplement their responses to information requests by 10 days before the hearing.
(e) Should the Applicant not comply with the requirements of the preceding subparagraphs (b) and (d) in a timely manner the Assessor may request and shall be granted a postponement for a reasonable period of time. The postponement shall extend the two-year period specified in Revenue and Taxation Code section 1604, subdivision (c), for a period of time equal to the period of the postponement. The period of time granted for the postponement shall be established at the discretion of the Board, taking into account the nature and amount of the information introduced, the Board's calendar assignments, the Assessor's caseload demands, and the schedules of the parties. If the board finds willful noncompliance with an information request on the part of the Applicant, the hearing will be convened as scheduled and the Applicant may comment on evidence presented by the Assessor but shall not be permitted to introduce other evidence unless the Assessor consents to such introduction.
(Added by Ord. 85-04, File No. 040274, App. 5-20-2004)
(a) The Board, on its own initiative or at the written request of the Assessor, Applicant or Applicant's agent, may direct the Clerk to set a pre-hearing conference. A request by the Assessor, Applicant or Applicant's agent shall identify the application(s) and reason(s) for the pre-hearing conference. The requesting party shall serve the written request on all parties to the proceedings by mail, in person, or by facsimile transmission and mail.
(b) The Clerk shall serve the Assessor and Applicant or Applicant's agent with written notice of the time, date, place, and reason(s) for the pre-hearing conference at least thirty (30) days before the pre-hearing conference in a manner specified in subsection (a). The Assessor and Applicant or Applicant's agent may agree in writing to a pre-hearing conference with less than thirty (30) days advance notice.
(c) The Board may conduct the pre-hearing conference in-person at a physical location with all members physically present, or remotely by videoconference with no members physically present, or under a hybrid model with some members appearing in-person at a physical location and some members appearing remotely by videoconference, as set forth in Section 2B.24.
(d) A three-member panel of the Board shall conduct the pre-hearing conference. At the discretion of the Board, one Board member may act as a pre-hearing conference hearing officer and preside over the pre-hearing conference.
(e) The pre-hearing conference is part of the formal assessment appeals process and the Applicant or Applicant's agent must attend a properly noticed pre-hearing conference.
(1) If the Applicant fails to appear at the pre-hearing conference before a three-member panel of the Board, that failure may constitute abandonment of the case and provide grounds for denial of the application at that hearing. If the Applicant furnishes evidence of excusable good cause for the failure to appear or to make a timely request for postponement and files a written request for reconsideration within 30 days from the date of mailing of the denial due to lack of appearance the Board may reconsider the denial based on the information provided and may set aside the denial of the application for lack of appearance.
(2) If the Applicant fails to appear at the pre-hearing conference at which one Board member is acting as a hearing officer, the hearing officer may refer the application to the full Board for a failure to appear denial hearing. The Clerk shall serve the Assessor and Applicant or Applicant's agent with written notice of the time, date, and place for the failure to appear denial hearing at least thirty (30) days before the hearing in a manner specified in subsection (a). The Applicant may furnish evidence of excusable good cause for the failure to appear in writing prior to the hearing or at the hearing. Based on the evidence furnished by the Applicant the Board may reconsider the denial and may set aside the denial of the application for lack of appearance.
(f) The pre-hearing conference may be conducted to:
(1) determine the present status of the appeal and the time estimate for the hearing;
(2) identify non-controverted issues, consolidation of appeals, and bifurcation of issues;
(3) determine the status of exchange of information requests under Revenue and Taxation Code section 1606;
(4) determine the status or requests for information pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code sections 441 and 408;
(5) issue subpoenas pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code sections 1609.4 and 1609.5;
(6) address any other matters to expedite the hearing and resolution of the case; and
(7) issue any order or ruling permitted by law relative to the subject application(s).
(Added by Ord. 85-04, File No. 040274, App. 5-20-2004; amended by Ord. 227-23, File No. 230885, App. 11/9/2023, Eff. 12/10/2023)
In accordance with Section 1605(c) and Section 534(c)(3) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, the City and County of San Francisco hereby requires that applications for reductions of escaped tax assessments under Section 1603(a) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code must be filed with the Administrator of the Assessment Appeals Board no later than 60 days after the date of mailing printed on the escaped tax assessment bill or the postmark therefor, whichever is later, and that the tax bill shall include information regarding the assessee's right to appeal the assessment.
Notwithstanding Section 1.29 of this Code or any other provision of the Municipal Code, an Assessment Appeals Board may conduct hearings and pre-hearing conferences in-person at a physical location with all members physically present, or remotely by videoconference with no members physically present, or under a hybrid model with some members appearing in-person at a physical location and some members appearing remotely by videoconference. An Assessment Appeals Board member appearing remotely by videoconference shall: (1) be counted toward satisfying the attendance requirement for purposes of constituting a quorum for the transaction of business under Section 2B.6(b) of this Code; and (2) be deemed to be present for purposes of participating, taking action, and making decisions at meetings under subsection (c) of Section 2B.20. Where a hearing or pre-hearing conference is held in-person, the Applicant, Applicant’s agent, Assessor and witnesses must attend in person at the physical location. Where a hearing or pre-hearing conference is held remotely, the Applicant, Applicant’s agent, Assessor, and witnesses must attend remotely. Where a hearing or pre-hearing conference is held under a hybrid model, the Applicant, Assessor, Applicant’s agent, and witnesses may elect to attend in-person or remotely. Each hearing, whether conducted in-person, remotely, or under a hybrid model, shall be subject to the requirements in Section 2B.20. Each pre-hearing conference, whether conducted in-person, remotely, or under a hybrid model, shall be subject to the requirements in Section 2.B.22. 1
Each hearing and pre-hearing conference, whether conducted in-person, remotely, or under a hybrid model, shall also be subject to the following requirements:
(a) The notice of pre-hearing conference or hearing shall state whether a scheduled conference or hearing will be in-person at a physical location, remote, or hybrid.
(b) If the notice states that the pre-hearing conference or hearing will be remote or hybrid, an Applicant shall have the right to request a postponement until an in-person pre-hearing conference or hearing is available. Such requests shall comply with the provisions governing postponements and continuances set forth in the California Code of Regulations, Property Tax Rules, including the requirement, if applicable, that the Applicant sign a written agreement to extend and toll indefinitely the two-year limitation period provided in Revenue and Taxation Code Section 1604.
(Added by Ord. 227-23, File No. 230885, App. 11/9/2023, Eff. 12/10/2023)
CODIFICATION NOTE