| (a) A petition shall show the petitioner's name and
address; designate the petitioner's agent; designate the mailing address,
delivery address for overnight delivery, e-mail address, and facsimile
number for purposes of service and notice under this subchapter; and,
state the grounds for objection to the preliminary findings. Petitioner
shall provide supporting documentary evidence in the manner required
by this section in support of each ground for objection. The petition
shall also include the following:
(1) the petitioner's grounds for objection, stated
with the specificity and in the manner required by this subchapter;
and
(2) documentary evidence, organized as required by
this subchapter, to support each contention asserted in the petition.
(b) To protest the comptroller's findings, a petitioner
must identify errors in value determinations made by the division
in the conduct of the study and list them numerically and sequentially
(1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) as grounds for objection in the petition. Except
in the case of self report corrections, to provide the comptroller
with sufficient notice of grounds for objection, the petitioner shall
identify and numerically list each property by each property category;
the petitioner shall list each property within each category by identification
number or, in the case of property in Category J, each company identification
number or, in the case of property in Category D1, each land class
and item of income or expense; and, the petitioner shall, for each
property, company, or land class and item of income or expense, as
applicable:
(1) identify each value determination alleged to be
inaccurate;
(2) state, for each change sought by the protest, the
inaccuracy of the value determination alleged by petitioner to be
inaccurate;
(3) state, for each change sought by the protest, the
value determination alleged by petitioner to be accurate including,
if applicable as set forth in subsection (e) of this section, the
value of the change sought;
(4) state, for each change sought by the protest, the
basis of the allegation that the comptroller's finding is inaccurate;
and
(5) identify by title or description and provide, for
each change sought of the protest, some documentary evidence that
supports each of petitioner's allegations of inaccuracy. Documentary
evidence that merely relates to the finding at issue is insufficient.
The documentary evidence must actually support, although need not
conclusively establish, the petitioner's contention that the comptroller's
finding is inaccurate. It is sufficient to identify and include documents
created, collected, and used by the division in conducting the study
or performing the audit, as applicable, in support of a ground of
objection so long as the documents support petitioner's allegations
of inaccuracy with specificity. In any case, it is not sufficient
to merely identify or reference documents; all documentary evidence
must be identified and copies must be submitted.
(c) For purposes of this section, a "value determination"
is a determination made by the division in the course of arriving
at a value for a property, company, or a land class and item of income
or expense. A determination may be the inclusion of a sale in the
study, the sale's price of a property included in the study, or an
element of an appraisal. Examples of elements of an appraisal include
construction quality, effective age, percent of depreciation, capitalization
rate, market rent, expenses, land value, land value per acre, type
of lease, fencing expense, and other components.
(d) The petition is required to identify separately
each finding alleged to be inaccurate and each change sought by the
protest. Multiple claims regarding the same property, company, or
land class and item of income or expense cannot be combined in the
same ground for objection. If, for example, it is alleged that the
effective age and the land value for a specific property are inaccurate,
each issue must be identified as a separate ground for objection.
Matters such as calculation of local modifiers and land schedules
do not constitute comptroller findings, but may be used in arriving
at comptroller findings for an individual property. Such matters may
be raised in a protest only in support of individual claims of inaccurate
findings as to individual properties. An objection that does not constitute
a protest of a comptroller finding is prohibited. For example, to
object to a land value of any or all properties included in the study
or a land schedule used in the study, each property for which a value
change is sought must be separately identified. A protest of an appraiser's
land schedule generally and without identifying each property for
which a value change is sought does not constitute a protest of a
comptroller finding and shall not be permitted.
(e) Each ground for objection included in the petition
must state the relief sought with sufficient specificity such that
the comptroller or an ALJ can, based solely on a review of the petition,
grant the relief requested by making the change requested. Thus, for
grounds for objection for which a specific value adjustment is sought,
the specific value sought must be stated. For example, the value of
personal property for which a sale adjustment is sought must be stated
and the price per acre sought for a protested item of productivity
value income or expense must be stated. A petitioner is not required
to include a specific value for changes that are not value specific.
For example, an adjustment to effective age does not require a statement
of value because the relief can be granted without reference to the
value change resulting from a change in effective age. Thus, the petitioner
seeking an adjustment to effective age may state the effective age
alleged to be accurate without stating a revised value for the property
at issue. If a value-specific adjustment is requested but no specific
value is identified, the division may make a value adjustment in response
and the value adjustment made will constitute agreement as to the
ground for objection.
(f) All documentary evidence submitted by petitioner
with the petition shall be filed in the following manner: organized
and separated by cover sheets to correspond to each ground for objection,
with each cover sheet clearly identifying the ground for objection
number, category, and property identification number, company identification
number, or land class and item of income or expense, as applicable.
If one or more documents are included as evidence for more than one
ground for objection, the documents may be marked and identified as
an exhibit and provided only once, rather than copied for each applicable
ground for objection. Each set of documents must be marked as a separate
exhibit (for example, "Exhibit A," "Exhibit B," etc.). However, if
documents are required pursuant this subchapter to be submitted in
triplicate, all documents are required to be submitted in triplicate,
including exhibits.
(g) The following are examples of sufficient identification
of grounds for objection in protesting the comptroller's preliminary
findings under Government Code, §403.302(g). The examples are
general and provided only by way of example. All requirements for
submission set forth in this subchapter must be followed.
Attached Graphic
(h) Self report corrections. Self report corrections
are limited to changes in the comptroller's preliminary findings under
Government Code, §403.302(g) that were caused by an error in
a district's annual report of property value, by a change in a district's
certified tax roll, or by clerical errors in a district's local value
made by the division. All self report corrections must be asserted
in sequentially numbered grounds for objection. Grounds for objection
must set forth by written requests and be supported by documentation
as identified in this subsection.
(1) To seek a self report correction regarding changes
of values reflected in the School District Report of Property Value
(Form 50-108), a petitioner must identify "SR" as the category identification,
include a written request that the preliminary findings be revised
in accordance with an updated School District Report of Property Value,
and identify and include with the protest the following documentation:
School District Report of Property Value (Form 50-108) or documentation
that provides substantially the same information set forth in School
District Report of Property Value (Form 50-108) with a recap that
includes a breakdown of value by category, a breakdown of exemptions
and other value deductions, and a breakdown by land class of agricultural
and timber land acreage and value. All values reflected on the documentation
that differ from the division's preliminary findings will be considered
to be changes sought by way of the protest.
Cont'd... |
