Board of Assessment and Appeals

The Board of Assessment Appeals is a seven-member board appointed by County Council. The board performs a quasi-judicial function by rendering impartial decisions on disputes between property owners and the County Assessor concerning valuation and assessment issues. 

Functions include:

• Serve real property owners who dispute assessment issues

• Provide appellants with information about and guidance through the appeals process

• Hold appeal conferences for issues of ratio classification or assessment of real property

• Facilitate the exchange process between the Assessor and real property owners

South Carolina Code 12-60-2530 establishes the procedure for administrative appeal of the Assessor’s decision to the County Board of Assessment Appeals:

Pre-Hearing Matters:

Note: The statute actually refers to the hearing as a “conference”. For simplicity, we refer to it in this publication as a “hearing”.

1. The taxpayer may appeal the Assessor’s decision by giving a written notice of intent to appeal to the Assessor within 30 days of the date of the assessor’s response. See Code Section 12-60-2530(A).

2. The appeal must be conducted by the County Board of Assessment Appeals.

3. At least fifteen (15) days before the Board hearing, the taxpayer and the Assessor must exchange lists of documents, witnesses and other evidence that they anticipate presenting to the County Board, and they must provide copies to the County Board.

4. The Assessor shall file with the board:

  o A copy of the original property tax assessment for the subject property.

  o The written response of the taxpayer.

  o Written response to the taxpayer’s protest.

  o Copies of documents, including appraisals, property sales, and a brief description of other evidence to be presented. Copies of the documents filed with the           board must be mailed or delivered to the property taxpayer at the same time.

     The board may waive the requirement that the taxpayer file the material with the board and mail or deliver it to the Assessor. 

  o Seven days before the conference, the taxpayer or the Assessor may file a response with the County Board to the exchanged information. This response                must also be mailed to the other party.

Quorum:

All board members present at the hearing must consider each appeal. The lesser of a majority of the members or three members of the board are a quorum, unless the assessor and the taxpayer agree to a lesser number.

The Hearing:

Representation

Only those persons permitted to practice before the county boards by South Carolina Code 12-60-90; may practice before the Board of Appeals, i.e., attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, licensed appraisers, and the taxpayer and employees of the taxpayer (in house counsel).

The attorney or representative is an advocate of the taxpayer’s position. His or her arguments are not testimony and are therefore not given evidentiary value. Administrative practice is also to allow attorneys licensed in any state to represent a taxpayer before a county board.

Hearing

South Carolina Code 12-60-2530 specifies the procedures of the hearing. The hearing must be held as follows:

1. The hearing is open to the public

2. The board may meet in closed session to consider evidence which has been presented at the hearing.

3. The Assessor shall explain the property tax assessment and his response to the taxpayer’s written protest.

4. The Assessor should provide the board with evidence to support the property tax assessment. The Assessor’s evaluation, supported by the evidence he                presents, is normally presumed to be correct, unless proved otherwise.

5. The property taxpayer shall state his reasons for protesting the property tax assessment and provide evidence supporting his claim of value.

The taxpayer’s appraiser is a witness and it is his or her testimony which gives evidence of the taxpayer’s assertion of the value of the property in question. It is incumbent upon the taxpayer to produce evidence to support his assertion of value. It is insufficient to merely challenge the appraisal as void or illegal. In the absence of some other “actual” value, the value set by the Assessor must normally stand. See Newberry Mills, Inc. verses Dawkins, 259 S.C. 7, 190 SE2d 503 (1972).

6. The property taxpayer may provide the Board with evidence to support amending, modifying, or rescinding the property assessment.

7. The Assessor may rebut information and arguments presented by the taxpayer or intervener.

8. The taxpayer may rebut information and arguments presented by the Assessor.

The Decision:

The Boards may affirm, increase or decrease the assessment that is the subject of the appeal. The Board shall make its decision based upon the evidence before it. The Board shall state the basis of its conclusions. The findings of fact shall be stated in such detail as necessary to adequately reflect the same and to support the basis or grounds for the board’s conclusions.

The decision must be made by a majority vote of the Board members present at the hearing. (See Quorum, above.) In case of a tie, the Assessor’s determination of value is upheld.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the decision may be announced orally or it may be reserved for consideration. In either event, the Board shall mail a written decision to the parties within fifteen (15) days after the date of the hearing, or as soon thereafter as practical.

The written decision of the board shall:

• Explain the basis for the decision

• State that if the decision is not appealed, it must be certified to the County Auditor for entry upon the property tax assessment rolls or tax duplicate;

• Inform the parties of their right to request a contested case hearing before Administrative Law Judge Division.