CHAPTER 57-11 CITY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 57-11-01. Membership of board - Quorum - Meeting

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The board of equalization of a city consists of the members of the governing body, and shall meet at the usual place of meeting of the governing body of the city within the first fifteen days of April of each year. The executive officer of the governing body shall act as chairman, but in the executive officer's absence the governing body may elect one of its members to preside. A majority of the board constitutes a quorum to transact business, and it may adjourn from day to day until its work is completed. If a quorum is not present at any time, the clerk may adjourn from day to day and publicly announce the time to which the meeting is adjourned

If the same person performs the duties of assessor for two or more cities or townships, the city auditor may, after consultation with the assessor involved, designate the hour and day in the month of April at which the meeting provided for in subsection 1 must be held for each city board of equalization; provided, that notice of the hour and day must be published in the official newspaper of the political subdivisions involved and posted at the usual place of meeting by the city auditor at least ten days before the meeting

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57-11-02. Duties of auditor

The city auditor, as clerk, shall keep an accurate record of all changes made in valuation, and of all other proceedings, and, within ten days after the completion of the equalization of the assessment, shall deliver the assessments as equalized to the county auditor of the county in which the city is situated, with the city auditor's certificate that the assessments are correct as equalized by the city board of equalization. The assessment as equalized must be accepted by the board of county commissioners in lieu of all other assessment rolls for the property in said city

57-11-03. Duties of board - Limitation on increase - Notice

At its meeting, the board of equalization shall proceed to equalize and correct the assessment roll. It may change the valuation and assessment of any real property upon the roll by increasing or diminishing the true and full valuation thereof as is reasonable and just to render taxation uniform, except that the board may not increase the valuation of any property returned by the assessor to an amount that results in a cumulative increase of more than fifteen percent from the amount of the previous year's assessment without first giving the owner or the owner's agent reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard regarding the intention of the board to increase it. All complaints and grievances of residents of the city must be heard and decided by the board and it may make corrections as appear to be just. Complaints by nonresidents with reference to the assessment of any real property and complaints by others with reference to any assessment made after the meeting of the city board of equalization must be heard and determined by the county board of equalization. The board shall comply with any requirement for notice of an assessment increase under section 57-02-53

57-11-04. Application for correction of assessment

During the session of the board, any person, or the attorney or agent of any person feeling aggrieved by anything in the assessment roll, may apply to the board for the correction of alleged errors in the listing or valuation of real property, and the board may correct the errors as it may deem just

57-11-05. Adding property to assessment list

The board of equalization shall place upon and add to the assessment roll any real property subject to taxation which has been omitted by the owner or the assessor and shall enter the property at a valuation which will bear an equal and just proportion of the taxation

Page No. 1 57-11-06. No reduction after session of board - Exception

After the adjournment of the board each year, neither the governing body of the city nor the city board of equalization may change or alter any assessment. Neither may the governing body or the board of equalization reduce or abate, or authorize the reduction, abatement, or return, of any taxes levied upon such assessments for any cause except that the property assessed was not subject to taxation at the time the assessment was made

57-11-07. Effect of failure of board to meet

The failure of the board of equalization to hold its meeting does not vitiate nor invalidate any assessment or tax except as to the excess of valuation or tax thereon shown to have been made or levied unjustly

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