Hearing or proceeding; commission; powers and duties; false statement; penalty; costs

Any hearing or proceeding of the commission shall be conducted as an informal hearing unless a formal hearing is granted as determined by the commission according to its rules and regulations. In any hearing or proceeding heard by the commission:

(1) The commission may admit and give probative effect to evidence which possesses probative value commonly accepted by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs excluding incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial, and unduly repetitious evidence and shall give effect to the privilege rules of evidence in sections 27-501 to 27-513 but shall not otherwise be bound by the usual common-law or statutory rules of evidence except during a formal hearing. Any party to an appeal filed under section 77-5007 may request a formal hearing by delivering a written request to the commission not more than thirty days after the appeal is filed. The requesting party shall be liable for the payment of fees and costs of a court reporter pending a final decision. The commission shall be bound by the rules of evidence applicable in district court in any formal hearing held by the commission. Fees and costs of a court reporter shall be paid by the party or parties against whom a final decision is rendered, and all other costs shall be allocated as the commission may determine;

(2) The commission may administer oaths, issue subpoenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of any papers, books, accounts, documents, statistical analysis, and testimony. The commission may adopt and promulgate necessary rules for discovery which are consistent with the rules adopted by the Supreme Court pursuant to section 25-1273.01 ;

(3) The commission may consider and utilize the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Nebraska, the laws of the United States, the laws of Nebraska, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Nebraska Administrative Code, any decision of the several courts of the United States or the State of Nebraska, and the legislative history of any law, rule, or regulation, without making the document a part of the record. The commission may without inclusion in the record consider and utilize published treatises, periodicals, and reference works pertaining to the valuation or assessment of real or personal property or the meaning of words and phrases if the document is identified in the commission's rules and regulations;

(4) All evidence, other than that described in subdivision (3) of this section, including records and documents in the possession of the commission of which it desires to avail itself, shall be offered and made a part of the record in the case. No other factual information or evidence other than that set forth in this section shall be considered in the determination of the case. Documentary evidence may be received in the form of copies or excerpts or by incorporation by reference;

(5) Every party shall have the right of cross-examination of witnesses who testify and shall have the right to submit rebuttal evidence;

(6) The commission may take notice of judicially cognizable facts and in addition may take notice of general, technical, or scientific facts within its specialized knowledge or statistical information regarding general levels of assessment within a county or a class or subclass of real property within a county and measures of central tendency within such county or classes or subclasses within such county which have been made known to the commission. Parties shall be notified either before or during the hearing or by reference in preliminary reports or otherwise of the material so noticed. They shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the facts so noticed. The commission may utilize its experience, technical competence, and specialized knowledge in the evaluation of the evidence presented to it;

(7) Any person testifying under oath at a hearing who knowingly and intentionally makes a false statement to the commission or its designee is guilty of perjury. For the purpose of this section, perjury is a Class I misdemeanor;

(8) The commission may determine any question raised in the proceeding upon which an order, decision, determination, or action appealed from is based. The commission may consider all questions necessary to determine taxable value of property as it hears an appeal or cross appeal;

(9) In all appeals, excepting those arising under section 77-1606 , if the appellant presents no evidence to show that the order, decision, determination, or action appealed from is incorrect, the commission shall deny the appeal. If the appellant presents any evidence to show that the order, decision, determination, or action appealed from is incorrect, such order, decision, determination, or action shall be affirmed unless evidence is adduced establishing that the order, decision, determination, or action was unreasonable or arbitrary;

(10) If the appeal concerns a decision by the county board of equalization that property is, in whole or in part, exempt from taxation, the decision to be rendered by the commission shall only determine the exemption status of the property. The decision shall not determine the taxable value of the property unless stipulated by the parties according to subsection (2) of section 77-5017 ;

(11) If the appeal concerns a decision by the county board of equalization that property owned by the state or a political subdivision is or is not exempt and there has been no final determination of the value of the property, the decision to be rendered by the commission shall only determine the exemption status of the property. The decision shall not determine the taxable value of the property unless stipulated by the parties according to subsection (2) of section 77-5017 ;

(12) The costs of any appeal, including the costs of witnesses, may be taxed by the commission as it deems just, except costs payable by the appellant pursuant to section 77-1510.01 , unless (a) the appellant is the county assessor or county clerk in which case the costs shall be paid by the county or (b) the appellant is the Tax Commissioner or Property Tax Administrator in which case the costs shall be paid by the state;

(13) The commission shall deny relief to the appellant or petitioner in any hearing or proceeding unless a majority of the commissioners present determine that the relief should be granted; and

(14) Subdivisions (3), (6), (8), (9), (10), (11), and (12) of this section apply to hearings or proceedings before a single commissioner pursuant to section 77-5015.02 .