Property Tax Oversight Program
RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:
12D-9.020Exchange of Evidence
NOTICE OF CHANGE
Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 39, No. 187, September 25, 2013 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.
This proposed rule was subsequently amended by a Notice of Change published in the F.A.R. on November 12, 2013 (Vol. 39, No. 220, p. 5588). The Department has made additional changes to subsection (1) of the proposed rule based on written comments received in response to the notice of change and comments received at the public hearing held on January 8, 2014. Written comments and previous versions of this proposed rule are available at: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/vab/workshops.html. When presented to the Governor and Cabinet for final adoption of, and approval to file and certify with, the Secretary of State under Chapter 120, F.S., the proposed changes to this rule will read as follows:
12D-9.020 Exchange of Evidence.
(1) Section 194.011(4)(a), F.S., provides that at least 15 days before the hearing, the petitioner shall provide the property appraiser with a list and summary of evidence, accompanied by copies of documentation, to be presented at the hearing. If the petitioner does not provide this information, the property appraiser shall not be required under Section 194.011(4)(b), F.S., to provide the petitioner with the property appraiser’s evidence before the hearing; but a petitioner’s noncompliance with this statute does not authorize a value adjustment board or magistrate to exclude the petitioner’s evidence. The petitioner has the option of participating in an exchange of evidence with the property appraiser. If the petitioner chooses not to participate in the evidence exchange, the petitioner may still present evidence for consideration by the board or the special magistrate. However, as described in this section, if the property appraiser asks in writing for specific evidence before the hearing in connection with a filed petition, and the petitioner has this evidence and knowingly refuses to provide it to the property appraiser a reasonable time before the hearing, the evidence cannot be presented by the petitioner or accepted for consideration by the board or special magistrate. Reasonableness shall be determined by whether the material can be reviewed, investigated, and responded to or rebutted in the time frame remaining before the hearing. These requirements are more specifically described in subsection (8) of this rule and in paragraphs Rule 12D-9.025(4)(a) and (f), F.A.C.
(2)(a) If the petitioner chooses to participate in an exchange of evidence with the property appraiser, at least fifteen (15) days before the hearing, the petitioner shall provide the property appraiser with a list and summary of evidence to be presented at the hearing accompanied by copies of documentation to be presented at the hearing. To calculate the fifteen (15) days, the petitioner shall use calendar days and shall not include the day of the hearing in the calculation, and shall count backwards from the day of the hearing.
(b) When a petitioner If the petitioner chooses to participate in an exchange of evidence with the property appraiser and he or she shows good cause to the board clerk for not being able to meet the fifteen (15) day requirement and the property appraiser is unwilling to agree to a different timing of the exchange, the board clerk is authorized to reschedule the hearing to allow for the exchange of evidence to occur.
(c) No later than seven (7) days before the hearing, if the property appraiser receives the petitioner’s documentation and if requested in writing by the petitioner, the property appraiser shall provide the petitioner with a list and summary of evidence to be presented at the hearing accompanied by copies of documentation to be presented by the property appraiser at the hearing. There is no specific form or format required for the petitioner’s written request for a list of evidence with copies of all documents and a summary of the evidence to be presented by witnesses. The evidence list must contain the property record card if requested provided by the board clerk. To calculate the seven (7) days, the property appraiser shall use calendar days and shall not include the day of the hearing in the calculation, and shall count backwards from the day of the hearing.
(d) through (9) No change.
Rulemaking Authority 194.011(5), 194.034(1), 195.027(1), 213.06(1) FS. Law Implemented 193.074, 194.011, 194.015, 194.032, 194.034, 194.035, 195.022, 195.084, 200.069, 213.05 FS. History–New 3-30-10, Amended________.
