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(a) There is established a board composed of the commissioner, the state auditor, and the executive director of the State Properties Commission.
(b) The board created by this Code section shall be designated the State Board of Equalization. The chairman and administrative officer of the board shall be the commissioner. Each year, when the digest of assessments proposed by the commissioner is complete, the commissioner shall submit the digest to the State Board of Equalization which shall carefully examine the proposed assessments of each class of taxpayers or property and the digest of proposed assessments as a whole to determine that they are reasonably apportioned among the several tax jurisdictions and reasonably uniform with the values set on other classes of property throughout the state. If the board determines that the proposed assessed values of any one or more of the classes of taxpayers or property or the digest as a whole does not reasonably conform to the values set for other property throughout the state, it shall inquire as to the reason for the lack of conformity and shall adjust and equalize the same by either adding or subtracting a fixed percentage to the class of taxpayer, to the class of property, or to the digest as a whole, as the case may be.
(c) As chairperson and chief administrative officer of the board, the commissioner shall furnish to the board all necessary records and files and in this capacity may compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and records or other documents as the commissioner is empowered to do in the administration of the tax laws. After final approval by the State Board of Equalization of the digest of proposed assessments made by the commissioner and after any adjustments by the board as authorized by this Code section are made, the commissioner shall notify within 30 days each taxpayer in writing of the proposed assessment of its property. At the same time, the commissioner shall notify in writing the board of tax assessors of such county, as outlined in Code Section 48-5-511, of the total proposed assessment of the property located within the county of taxpayers who are required to return their property to the commissioner. If any such taxpayer notifies the commissioner and the board of tax assessors in any such county of its intent to dispute a portion of the proposed assessment within 20 days after receipt of the notice, the county board of tax assessors shall include in the county digest only the undisputed amount of the assessment, and the taxpayer may challenge the commissioner’s proposed assessment in an appeal filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County or with the Georgia Tax Tribunal in accordance with Chapter 13A of Title 50 within 30 days of receipt of the notice. In any such appeal to the superior court, the taxpayer shall have the right of discovery as provided in Chapter 11 of Title 9, the “Georgia Civil Practice Act.” In any such appeal to the Georgia Tax Tribunal, discovery shall be as provided in Chapter 13A of Title 50, the “Georgia Tax Tribunal Act of 2012.” All questions of law decided by a court or the Georgia Tax Tribunal pursuant to this subsection, including interpretations of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, shall be made without any deference to any determination or interpretation, whether written or unwritten, that may have been made on the matter by the department, except such requirement shall have no effect on the judicial standard of deference accorded to rules promulgated pursuant to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act. Upon conclusion of the appeal, the taxpayer shall remit to the appropriate counties any additional taxes owed, with interest at the rate provided by law for judgments. Such interest shall accrue from the date the taxes would have been due absent the appeal to the date the additional taxes are remitted.
(d) Within 30 days after receipt of the proposed digest of assessments, the county board of tax assessors shall make the final assessment of the property in question and provide notice to the taxpayer. Such notice and any appeal therefrom shall be accomplished as is provided by Code Sections 48-5-306 and 48-5-311. In the event of an appeal, the department shall, upon request of the local board of tax assessors and without any charge or cost therefor, provide the local board of tax assessors with any and all technical assistance available from the resources of the department, including without limitation expert testimony by the employees of the department.
(e) Assessments made in accordance with subsection (d) of this Code section shall be added to the regular county digest at the time the digest is transmitted to the commissioner or at such time as the digest is otherwise required to be compiled. In the event that the commissioner has not provided to the board of tax assessors by August 1 of a tax year the notice of proposed assessments set forth in subsection (c) of this Code section for taxpayers who are required to return their property to the commissioner pursuant to Code Section 48-5-511, the tax commissioner or tax receiver of the county where such property is located may issue an interim tax bill to such taxpayers, owning property in the county in an amount equal to 85 percent of such taxpayer’s property tax bill for the immediately preceding tax year or, in the event that such tax year is under appeal, the tax bill for the most recent tax year in which the taxes for such property were finally assessed. At such time as the county board of tax assessors adds the assessments for the tax year made in accordance with subsection (d) of this Code section to the regular county digest, the tax commissioner or tax receiver shall issue a corrected tax bill to each taxpayer who received an interim tax bill, such corrected tax bill to be in an amount based upon the assessed value of such taxpayer’s property shown on the regular county digest and such taxpayer shall remit any additional taxes due or, in the event of overpayment, shall be entitled to a tax refund, in either case, without interest or penalty. Nothing in this subsection is intended to alter a taxpayer’s right to appeal from either the commissioner’s notice of proposed assessment or the county board of assessors’ final assessment under the procedures set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of this Code section. The billing pursuant to this Code section shall not subject the tax commissioner or tax receiver of the county to the forfeiture provisions of Code Section 48-5-135.
(f) The notice and appeal procedures provided for in this Code section shall not apply to any decision of the board relating to the assessed value of motor vehicle property. History. Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 185, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 1015, § 1702; Ga. L. 1972, p. 1120, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-217, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1834, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 352, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 48; Ga. L. 1987, p. 485, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 13, § 48; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1568, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1763, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1346, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1104, § 8-1/SB 346; Ga. L. 2012, p. 318, § 1/HB 100; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 48/HB 79; Ga. L. 2021, p. 120, § 1/SB 185. The 2021 amendment, effective April 29, 2021, added the seventh sentence in subsection (c). See Editor’s notes for applicability. Cross references. Appeals to superior court from decisions of commissioner, § 48-2-59. Code Commission notes. Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1988, “in Code Section 48-5-511” was substituted for “in Georgia Code Annotated 48-5-511” in the third sentence of subsection (c), and “in Chapter 11 of Title 9, the ‘Georgia Civil Practice Act’ ” was substituted for “in the Georgia Civil Practice Act” at the end of the next-to-last sentence in subsection (c). Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2010, in subsection (e), in the second sentence, “the” was deleted preceding “such property” near the middle and a period was deleted following “preceding tax year” near the end; “the” was deleted preceding “subsections (c) and (d)” in the next to the last sentence; and “be” was deleted preceding “subject the” in the last sentence. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 1988, p. 1568, § 15, not codified by the General Assembly, provided that the Act “shall apply to all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1989.” Ga. L. 2012, p. 318, § 16(b)/HB 100, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Sections 1 through 14 of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2013, provided that cases pending on January 1, 2013, shall continue to be governed by the law in effect on December 31, 2012, until the conclusion of the case.” Ga. L. 2021, p. 120, § 5/SB 185, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval, and shall be applicable to all proceedings commenced before the Georgia Tax Tribunal or a superior court of this state on or after such date.” The Governor approved this Act on April 29, 2021. Law reviews. For article on the 2012 amendment of this Code section, see 29 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 70 (2012). JUDICIAL DECISIONS Utility whose returns are not accepted by the commissioner. — In a gas company’s suit against the state revenue commissioner for mandamus compelling the commissioner to accept its property tax returns under O.C.G.A. §§ 48-1-2(21) and 48-5-511(a), remand was proper to determine if the company had an acceptable alternative remedy in its pending county tax appeals under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311, if the commissioner could be made a party to those appeals by joinder or some other procedure. Southern LNG, Inc. v. MacGinnitie, 294 Ga. 657, 755 S.E.2d 683, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 168 (2014). Procedure pending appeal. — When utility companies sought to enjoin counties from collecting more than the undisputed amount of the tax during the pendency of a Fulton County appeal, the court properly concluded that no injunction was necessary; subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 48-2-18 states plainly that during the pendency of an appeal, the county board of tax assessors may include in the county digest only the undisputed amount of the assessment. It is not necessary to enjoin the counties to carry out the clear legislative mandate. Telecom*USA, Inc. v. Collins, 260 Ga. 362, 393 S.E.2d 235, 1990 Ga. LEXIS 268 (1990). If, under O.C.G.A. § 48-2-18, a utility had both subsection (c) and subsection (d) appeals proceeding simultaneously, and a local appeal was still pending when the subsection (c) appeal was concluded, the provisions for the payment of taxes during the pendency of an appeal would apply. Telecom*USA, Inc. v. Collins, 260 Ga. 362, 393 S.E.2d 235, 1990 Ga. LEXIS 268 (1990). Improper joinder of appeals. — O.C.G.A. § 48-2-18 contemplates an appeal taken from the proposed assessment made by the State Board of Equalization, as well as individual appeals in each county where a utility owns property, from actual final assessments made by the local tax assessors; thus, appeals pursuant to subsection (d) of § 48-2-18 were improperly joined in an appeal pursuant to subsection (c). Telecom*USA, Inc. v. Collins, 260 Ga. 362, 393 S.E.2d 235, 1990 Ga. LEXIS 268 (1990). Board exceeded authority. — In an action filed by a utility seeking equitable relief from the rejection of the State Commissioner’s fair market valuation by the county board of tax assessors, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to a county board of tax assessors; the board exceeded the board’s authority when, in the course of making a final assessment of a utility’s property, it not only substituted the board’s own assessment ratio, but also the board’s own fair market value for those calculated by the State Commissioner, as a final assessment could not include a reappraisal of the fair market value of a taxpayer required to make a return to the state. Ga. Power Co. v. Monroe County, 284 Ga. App. 707, 644 S.E.2d 882, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 399 (2007), aff'd, 283 Ga. 12, 655 S.E.2d 817, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 2 (2008). Court of Appeals of Georgia properly held that, although the county board of tax assessors could alter the assessment ratio proposed by the Georgia Revenue Commissioner on land owned by a utility in the course of making a final assessment of a utility’s property, it could not alter the apportioned fair market value for the property used by the Commissioner in its proposed assessment. Monroe County v. Ga. Power Co., 283 Ga. 12, 655 S.E.2d 817, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 2 (2008). OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Scope of board’s authority. — Statute authorizes the board to settle and compromise tax claims falling under two categories: (1) cases involving insolvency of the taxpayer, and (2) cases involving any proposed tax assessment, any final tax assessment, or any tax fieri facias in which the questionable legal position of the state makes the collection of such taxes doubtful, and such settlement or compromise is in the best interest of the state. 1958-59 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 358. Construing this statute as a whole, the board is not limited to situations when only a question of law is involved; it further confers power to settle if the state’s legal position is questionable so as to render collection doubtful. 1958-59 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 358. Word “compromise” covers both law and fact; any other interpretation would render this statute virtually meaningless because it is difficult to conceive of a case involving only a question of law. 1958-59 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 358. Board must consider both questions of fact and law. — Board must of necessity find and consider both questions of fact and law which affect the state’s legal position in order to determine whether the state occupies a questionable legal position which makes the collection of such taxes doubtful. If this were not true there would be no way for the board to determine the state’s legal position in any case. 1958-59 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 358. Person’s legal position is ascertained and determined by applying principles and rules of law to basic facts and circumstances presented by that person’s particular case, a mental process embracing both law and fact; determination of the state’s legal position requires combining both functions in a single unitary process, and involves a mixed question of law and fact. 1958-59 Ga. Op. Att'y Gen. 358. Contributions required by former Ga. L. 1937, p. 806 (see now O.C.G.A. Ch. 8, T. 34) were state taxes within the meaning of Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 185, § 1 (see now O.C.G.A. § 48-2-18); the board had jurisdiction and authority to settle or compromise such tax liability. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-91. RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 72 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, §§ 701, 710. C.J.S. 84 C.J.S., Taxation, § 700 et seq. ALR. Power or duty of tax review or equalization boards to act after date for adjournment or closing of books, 105 A.L.R. 624. What constitutes plain, speedy, and efficient state remedy under Tax Injunction Act (28 USCS § 1341), prohibiting federal district courts from interfering with assessment, levy, or collection of state business taxes, 31 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 237.