From the Terre Haute Tribune Star:
Two new seats have been added to the Vigo County Property Tax Assessment Review Board after county officials learned that appeals hearings have been conducted without a quorum of appointed members.
In a special meeting of the Vigo County Commissioners and County Council, the makeup of the board was increased from three members to five members.
County attorney Michael Wright told the Tribune-Star that while recent hearings have been conducted with only one appointed board member present, no formal action has been taken on any appeal. All appeals have yet to be reviewed based on the information gathered so far.
Taxpayer Randy Gentry, who had a Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals hearing on Wednesday morning, questioned the makeup of the board because only one person on the board — county-council appointment John Church – was attending. Board members Rick Conley and Brian Kerns could not attend this week’s hearings.
David Phelps and Kevin Gardner were also at the hearings on Wednesday, along with Harrison Township Assessor Mick Love. Gentry said he was told that Phelps and Gardner were sitting in as “proxy” members so that the hearings could be conducted.
Wright said he reviewed the statute to see if the proxy seats were permissible, but he could find no information on it. He advised the council and commissioners to increase the board size to bring Phelps and Gardner onto the board as full-fledged members.
The county has the option of establishing a three-member or five-member board, Wright said, but there are requirements that a five-member board must have two appointments from the county council, with one being a level 2 or level 3 appraiser/assessor.
The commissioners get three appointments, with one being a level 2 or level 3 appraiser/assessor. Also, there can be no more than three members of the same political party on the board.
The board now has that makeup, Wright said, with commissioner-appointed Gardner as a level 3 appraiser/assessor and council-appointed Church as a level 2 appraiser/assessor.
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http://www.tribstar.com/local/x1316966239/Assessments-under-attack
