(a) Establishment. The County of San Bernardino shall have four County Assessment Appeals Boards designated as Boards 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each Board shall consist of three members. The purpose of each Assessment Appeals Board is to sit as a Board of Equalization to review property assessments.
(b) Nomination and Appointment of Members. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors shall appoint the 12 members of the Assessment Appeals Boards, and each such appointment shall be by majority vote of the Board. Ten members shall be nominated by Supervisorial District, with each Supervisor nominating two members. A candidate for a new term of office or a vacant office in one of these ten offices shall be nominated by the Supervisor of the District from which the current or most recent holder of that office was nominated. The other two members shall be nominated by the Chair of the Board of Supervisors. A candidate for a new term of office or a vacant office in one of these two offices shall be nominated by the Chair of the Board of Supervisors. In the event of a vacancy on an Assessment Appeals Board, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(c) Service on Different Boards. From time to time the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, who acts as the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Boards, may designate a member of any Assessment Appeals Board to serve temporarily on a different Assessment Appeals Board.
(d) Term of Membership. The term of office of Assessment Appeals Board members shall be three years commencing on the first Monday in September. A member may be removed for cause by majority vote of the Board of Supervisors. A member whose term expires shall continue to serve until such time as a new member takes office, and shall continue to serve after the new member takes office for the limited purpose of promptly completing work on any matter on which the outgoing member has participated in a hearing.
(e) Local Rules. Under the authority granted by Section 16 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California, the Board of Supervisors shall adopt such rules of notice and procedures as it deems appropriate to facilitate the work of the Assessment Appeals Boards and to ensure uniformity in the processing and decision of equalization applications. Those provisions of Title 18, Chapter 1, Subchapter 3, Article 1, commencing with Section 301, of the California Code of Regulations that do not conflict with these rules shall be applicable to all matters pertaining to the Assessment Appeals Boards and the hearings conducted by them.
(f) Legal Hearing Officers. Under the authority granted by Section 16 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California, there shall be an Office of Legal Hearing Officer. The Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Boards may designate any Assessment Appeals Board member who possesses a minimum of five years of professional experience in the State of California as an attorney to serve temporarily as a Legal Hearing Officer. More than one Legal Hearing Officer may be designated at one time. A Legal Hearing Officer shall be vested with all of the powers and duties of an Assessment Appeals Board to decide whether the Assessor has correctly determined that a “change of ownership” (Revenue and Taxation Code §§ 60 et seq.) or new construction (Revenue and Taxation Code §§ 70 et seq.) has occurred with regard to real property in the County so as to cause a reassessment of said property for ad valorem tax purposes. The decision of a Legal Hearing Officer is binding on the Assessment Appeals Board, and constitutes the final administrative decision of the Assessment Appeals Board on the application without any further action by the Board, unless the application also raises a value issue that must be heard by an Assessment Appeals Board or a Value Hearing Officer.
(g) Value Hearing Officers. Under the authority granted by Section 16 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California and the California Revenue and Taxation Code, there shall be an Office of Value Hearing Officer. The Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Boards may designate any Assessment Appeals Board member to serve temporarily as a Value Hearing Officer where the equalization application has requested that the hearing be held before a Value Hearing Officer, and the total assessed value of the property under consideration, as shown on the current assessment roll, does not exceed $500,000.00, or the property under consideration is a single-family dwelling, condominium or cooperative, or a multiple-family dwelling of four units or less regardless of value. A Value Hearing Officer shall be vested with all of the powers and duties of an Assessment Appeals Board to decide value issues raised by an application. More than one Value Hearing Officer may be designated at one time. The decision of a Value Hearing Officer is binding on the Assessment Appeals Board, and constitutes the final administrative decision of the Assessment Appeals Board on that application without any further action by the Board.
(Am. Ord. 2369, passed - -1979; Am. Ord. 3225, passed - -1988; Am. Ord. 3264, passed - -1988; Am. Ord. 4241, passed - -2014)