(a) (1) In counties of the first class, annually, on the fourth Monday in September, the county board shall meet to equalize the assessment of property on the local roll. It shall continue to meet for that purpose, from time to time, until the business of equalization is disposed of.

(2) In all other counties, annually, on the third Monday in July, the county board shall meet to equalize the assessment of property on the local roll. It shall continue to meet for that purpose, from time to time, until the business of equalization is disposed of.

(b) (1) An application for a reduction in an assessment filed pursuant to Section 1603 shall also constitute a sufficient claim for refund, if the applicant states in the application that the application is also intended to constitute a claim for refund pursuant to the provisions of Section 5097.

(2) The county board shall have no power to receive or hear any application for a reduction in an escaped assessment made pursuant to Section 531.1 nor a penal assessment levied in respect thereto, nor to reduce those assessments.

(c) If the county board fails to hear evidence and fails to make a final determination on the application for reduction in assessment of property within two years of the timely filing of the application, the applicant’s opinion of value as reflected on the application for reduction in assessment shall be the value upon which taxes are to be levied for the tax year or tax years covered by the application, unless either of the following occurs:

(1) The applicant and the county board mutually agree in writing, or on the record, to an extension of time for the hearing.

(2) The application for reduction is consolidated for hearing with another application by the same applicant with respect to which an extension of time for the hearing has been granted pursuant to paragraph (1). In no case shall the application be consolidated without the applicant’s written agreement after the two-year time period has passed or after an extension of the two-year time period previously agreed to by the applicant has expired.

The reduction in assessment reflecting the applicant’s opinion of value shall not be made, however, until two years after the close of the filing period during which the timely application was filed. Further, this subdivision shall not apply to applications for reductions in assessments of property where the applicant has failed to provide full and complete information as required by law or where litigation is pending directly relating to the issues involved in the application.

(d) (1) When the applicant’s opinion of value, as stated on the application, has been placed on the assessment roll pursuant to subdivision (c), and the application requested a reduction in the base year value of an assessment, the applicant’s opinion of value shall remain on the roll until the county board makes a final determination on the application. The value so determined by the county board, plus appropriate adjustments for the inflation factor, shall be entered on the assessment roll for the fiscal year in which the value is determined. No increased or escape taxes other than those required by a purchase, change in ownership, or new construction, or resulting from application of the inflation factor to the applicant’s opinion of value shall be levied for the tax years during which the county board failed to act.

(2) When the applicant’s opinion of value has been placed on the assessment roll pursuant to subdivision (c) for any application other than an application requesting a reduction in base year value, the applicant’s opinion of value shall be enrolled on the assessment roll for the tax year or tax years covered by that application.

(e) The county board shall notify the applicant in writing of any decision by that board not to hold a hearing on his or her application for reduction in assessment within the two-year period specified in subdivision (c). This notice shall also inform the applicant that the applicant’s opinion of value as reflected on the application for reduction in assessment shall, as a result of the county board’s failure to hold a hearing within the prescribed time period, be the value upon which taxes are to be levied in the absence of the application of either paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c).

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 654, Sec. 7. (SB 1494) Effective January 1, 2011.)