ORDERS:
ORDER
STATEMENT
OF THE CASE
In
this contested case, Petitioner contests the ruling of the Spartanburg County
Board of Assessment Appeals wherein the Board denied the Petitioner’s appeal
for the 2003 and 2004 tax years. The hearing in this matter was held on June
7, 2006. Present at the hearing were the Petitioner, Stephen R. Kopp, who
appeared pro-se; Edwin C. Haskell, III, attorney for Spartanburg County
Assessor; and Guilford Bulman, Spartanburg County Tax Assessor.
FINDINGS
OF FACT
Both
the Petitioner and Mr. Bulman testified in the hearing. During the hearing,
the 2003 and 2004 tax notices for the mobile home in issue, the Petitioner’s
written appeal, the Spartanburg County Assessor’s written response to the
Petitioner’s appeal and the written decision of the Spartanburg County Board of
Assessment Appeal were introduced into evidence. Based upon the testimony and
the documents introduced into evidence, I make the following findings of fact:
1. The property which is the
subject of this appeal is a mobile home that was purchased by the Petitioner
from GreenTree Servicing, L.L.C. in April, 2005.
2. The Spartanburg County Block
Map Reference Number for the mobile home in issue is 1-42-00-260.00.
3. At the time the Petitioner
purchased the mobile home, there were $989.94 in taxes owed for 2003 and
$1,009.59 in taxes owed for tax year 2004.
4. At the time the 2003 and 2004
taxes were assessed against the subject property, the property was owned by
David M. and Gina M. Kitch.
5. For tax years 2003 and 2004, Spartanburg County had valued the mobile home in issue at $44,500.00 for ad valorem tax
purposes.
6. On July 19, 2005, the
Petitioner filed an appeal with the Spartanburg County Assessor contesting the
$44,500.00 value placed on the mobile home for the 2003 and 2004 tax years.
7. The Spartanburg County Assessor
denied the Petitioner’s appeal contesting the value of the mobile home for the
2003 and 2004 tax years because the written appeal was not timely filed by
March 1 in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
8. That the Petitioner appealed
the Assessor’s decision to the Spartanburg County Board of Assessment Appeals.
9. The Spartanburg County Board of
Assessment Appeals met on November 15, 2005, to hear the Petitioner’s appeal.
10. The Spartanburg County Board of
Assessment Appeals, in its written decision of November 23, 2005, denied the
relief requested by the Petitioner in his appeal based upon the fact that the
Petitioner had not timely appealed of the valuation of the subject property
between January 1 and March 1 during 2003 and 2004, respectively.
11. The Petitioner testified that he
did not appeal the 2003 and 2004 valuations for the mobile home in issue until
July, 2005.
LAW
S.C.
Code Ann. § 12-60-2510(A)(4) (Supp. 2005) states:
“In years when
there is no notice of property tax assessment, the property taxpayer must, by
March first, give the assessor written notice of objection to one or more of
the following: the fair market value, the special use value, the assessment
ratio, and the property tax assessment. The failure to serve written notice of
objection by March first is a waiver of the taxpayer’s right of protest for
that tax year, and the assessor may not review any request filed after March
first.”
DISCUSSION
The
Petitioner is appealing the denial by the Spartanburg County Board of
Assessment Appeals of his objection to the 2003 and 2004 $44,500.00
appraisal/assessment of a mobile home purchased by the Petitioner in 2005. The
Petitioner’s written objection to the 2003 and 2004 property
appraisal/assessment was received by the Spartanburg County Assessor on July
19, 2005. Since there is no evidence presented that a notice of property tax
assessment was issued for the subject property during the 2003 and 2004 tax
years, written notice of objection to the property’s $44,500.00 valuation must
have been given to the Assessor by March 1, 2003 for the 2003 tax year and by
March 1, 2004, for the 2004 tax year. The Petitioner’s objection was not filed
by such dates. Since the Petitioner did not serve written notice of his
objection to the mobile home’s $44,500.00 valuation by March 1 of the 2003 and
2004 tax years, the Petioner has waived his right to protest for those tax
years as § 12-60-2510(A)(4), Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as amended,
specifically provides that the Assessor may not review the Petitioner’s
request.
I
therefore find that the Petitioner did not timely file his objection to the
2003 and 2004 property appraisal/assessment of the mobile home in issue and as
a result, he has waived his right to object for those tax years.
IT
IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the written decision of the Spartanburg County
Board of Assessment Appeals, dated November 23, 2005, is hereby AFFIRMED.
AND
IT IS SO ORDERED.
________________________________
JOHN
D. MCLEOD
Administrative
Law Judge
September 5, 2006
Columbia, South Carolina |
