PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO AMEND AND ADOPT RULES
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
STATE OF WYOMING
The State Board of Equalization, State of Wyoming, hereby
gives public notice, in accordance with Wyo. Stat. 16-3-103 (1977 as amended), of intent
to amend and adopt rules. The Board intends to adopt and make amendments to Chapter 1,
"General Procedures, Wyoming State Board of Equalization," Chapter 2,
"Rules of Practice and Procedure for Cases Before the Wyoming State Board of
Equalization," Chapter 3, "Rules of Practice And Procedure For Appeals Before
the State Board of Equalization from a County Board of Equalization," Chapter 4,
"Board Examination Procedures" and Chapter 6, "Statements of
Consideration," of the Rules of the State Board of Equalization pursuant to the rule
making authority of Wyo. Stat. 39-11-102.1 (c)(xvi).
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE REASONS TO AMEND AND ADOPT RULES
One change is proposed for Chapter 1, "General Procedures, Wyoming State Board of Equalization," to effect Enrolled Act No. 21, Chapter No. 68, signed by the Governor on March 13, 2000, which repealed the statutory provision regarding the State Board of Equalization quarterly report of decisions. It is proposed that Chapter 1, Section 9, entitled "Tax appeal summary report," be eliminated from the rules.
Two changes are proposed for Chapter 2,
"Rules of Practice and Procedure for Cases Before the Wyoming State Board of
Equalization." The first is a change to Chapter 2, Section 3, to eliminate the
reference to Title 31, "Motor Vehicles." This change is appropriate because the
State Board no longer conducts motor vehicle hearings as, pursuant to Wyo. Stat. 9-2-2201
et. seq., this function is conducted by authority of the Office of Administrative
Hearings. The second proposed change is to Chapter 2, Section 5(a), to add a sentence
clarifying that petitioner's filing a case notice with the State Board must comply with
Chapter 2, Section 7, and serve a copy of the case notice on the Department of Revenue and
all other parties at the time of filing with the State Board. This change is anticipated
to achieve better notice to the Department of Revenue and any other parties of the filing
of an appeal with the State Board.
The only proposed change to Chapter 3,
"Rules of Practice And Procedure For Appeals Before the State Board of Equalization
from a County Board of Equalization," is an amendment to Section 2 "Commencement
of Appeal." The reason for the amendment is to add a sentence clarifying that
petitioners or movants must comply with Chapter 3, Section 3, and serve a copy of the
notice of appeal on all parties entering an appearance at the county board hearing as well
as the county assessor and local county board of equalization. This change is anticipated
to achieve better notice to the other parties of the filing of an appeal with the State
Board.
The proposed changes to Chapter 4, "Board
Examination Procedures" are intended to clarify the State Board's examination
procedures in response to the Wyoming Supreme Court's opinion in Exxon v. Sublette
County Board of County Commissioners and Department of Revenue v. Sublette County Board of
County Commissioners, 987 P.2d 158 (Wyo. 1999). In this case the Wyoming Supreme
Court determined, pursuant to Wyo. Stat. 39-11-102.1(c) and (c)(x) (prior to
recodification Wyo. Stat. 39-1-304(a)(xiv)), that the State Board has a statutory
regulatory function to "carefully examine allegations of improper, unequal, or
fraudulent assessment." The principle reason for adoption of amendments to Chapter 4,
"Board Examination Procedures" is to more specifically delineate the procedures
to be followed in the course of such a State Board examination.
Finally, the proposed amendments to Chapter 6, "Statements of Consideration," are intended to make the State Board's Statement of Consideration (SOC) rules consistent with the newly revised SOC forms In approximately May of 1999, the State Board, Wyoming County Assessors' Association (WCAA) and the Department of Revenue (DOR) formed a SOC Task Force. Appointed members of the WCAA, DOR and the State Board met in May, June and July, 1999 to review and amend the SOC form to ensure its compliance with the statutes. The amended SOC form was distributed to all Assessors and made available on the State Board's web site in September, 1999. The principle reason for these rule changes is to make the State Board's rules consistent with and complementary to the new SOC form.
OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT COMMENT
A copy of the proposed amended rules Chapter 1,
"General Procedures, Wyoming State Board of Equalization," Chapter 2,
"Rules of Practice and Procedure for Cases Before the Wyoming State Board of
Equalization," Chapter 3, "Rules of Practice And Procedure For Appeals Before
the State Board of Equalization from a County Board of Equalization," Chapter 4,
"Board Examination Procedures" and Chapter 6, "Statements of
Consideration," of the Rules of the State Board of Equalization of the State of
Wyoming and a copy of the Notice of Intent to Amend and Adopt Rules are available upon
written request from Kathleen A. "Cindy" Lewis Executive Secretary, State Board
of Equalization, P.O. Box 448, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82003-0448, FAX: (307) 777-6363. In
addition, the proposed rule changes and Notice of Intent to Amend and Adopt Rules can also
be accessed via the State Board's web page at: www.state.wy.us/~equal/
All interested parties may submit written comments no later than 12:00
p.m., on June 2, 2000 to:
Kathleen A. "Cindy" Lewis, Executive Secretary
State Board of Equalization
P.O. Box 448
Cheyenne, WY 82003-0448
FAX: (307) 777-6363
A public hearing to receive written and oral
comments on the proposed amendments and rules will be held by the State Board of
Equalization on June 5, 2000, 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Room 1699, Herschler Building,
Cheyenne, Wyoming. Any persons unable to participate in the hearing by reason of
disability may submit written comments to the Board, or may contact the Board, c/o
Kathleen A. "Cindy" Lewis, Executive Secretary, at the address or fax number
above to make special arrangements for presentation of their comments.
Any person submitting comments may request a
statement of reasons for overruling the consideration urged by the commentator. If
requested, the statement shall be issued either prior to, or within thirty (30) days after
the State Board action.
Dated this 28th day of March, 2000.
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
Edmund J. Schmidt, Chairman
ATTEST:
Kathleen A. "Cindy" Lewis, Executive Secretary
Publish one time April 1, 2000, Casper Star-Tribune.
cc: Governor Jim Geringer;
Rita Meyers;
Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General;
Michael Hubbard, Deputy Attorney General;
Joseph B. Meyer, Secretary of State;
Mark Quiner, Legislative Services Office;
Johnnie Burton, Department of Revenue;
Interested parties