HB 401-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
10/05
HOUSE BILL 401-FN
AN ACT relative to the removal of certain property tax abatement petitions filed with the superior court.
SPONSORS: Rep. G. Richardson, Merr 4; Sen. Janeway, Dist 7
This bill allows for the removal of certain property tax abatement appeals from the superior court to the board of tax and land appeals.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-0871
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to the removal of certain property tax abatement petitions filed with the superior court.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Property Tax Abatements; Superior Court. Amend RSA 76:17 to read as follows:
76:17 By Court.
I. If the selectmen neglect or refuse so to abate, any person aggrieved, having complied with the requirements of RSA 74, may, in lieu of appealing pursuant to RSA 76:16-a, apply by petition to the superior court in the county, which shall make such order thereon as justice requires. The appeal shall be filed on or before September 1 following the date of notice of tax under RSA 76:1-a, and not afterwards. If the appeal is filed before July 1 following the date of notice of tax, the person aggrieved shall state in the appeal to the court the date of the municipality's decision on the RSA 76:16 application.
II.(a) Within 30 days of the return day for a filing under paragraph I, the selectmen may petition for removal of the appeal to the board of tax and land appeals pursuant to RSA 76:16-a. The petition shall be granted unless the superior court determines, within 30 days of the filing of the petition, that:
(1) The amount of taxable value in controversy is more than $500,000; or
(2) The court determines that it should retain jurisdiction in the interest of justice.
(b) The board of tax and land appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction of the matter following the granting of such a petition, regardless of subsequent evidence of value at issue.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2008.
LBAO
07-0871
01/22/07
HB 401-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to the removal of certain property tax abatement petitions filed with the superior court.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch and the Board of Tax and Land Appeals state this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state expenditures in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch and the Board of Tax and Land Appeals state this bill will allow towns and cities to petition for certain tax abatement cases to be removed from the superior court and moved to the board of tax and land appeals, unless the taxable value in controversy is greater than $500,000 or if the court determines it should retain jurisdiction in the interest of justice. The number of tax abatement cases in superior court over the past decade has ranged from a low of 71 cases in FY 2001 to a high of 156 cases in FY 2006, with approximately 50 percent of the cases involving taxable values over $500,000. The Branch, using information from the National Center for State Courts, determined tax abatement cases require 31 minutes of judicial time at $1.5422 per minute and 374.32 minutes of clerical time at $0.3822 per minute, resulting in a cost of $47.81 for judicial time and $143.07 for clerical time. The Branch states state expenditures will decrease by an indeterminable amount.
The Board of Tax and Land Appeals states approximately 5-10 percent of tax appeals are filed in superior court. If the superior court transferred 50 percent of the tax abatement cases to the Board state expenditures will increase by an indeterminable amount. There would be no fiscal impact on State revenue because there would be no additional filing fee for cases transferred from the superior court due to fees having already been paid to the superior court.