H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 441.23, Code 2014, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 441.23 Notice of valuation. 3 If there has been an increase or decrease in the valuation 4 of the property, or upon the written request of the person 5 assessed, the assessor shall, at the time of making the 6 assessment, inform the person assessed, in writing, of the 7 valuation put upon the taxpayer’s property, and notify the 8 person, that if the person feels aggrieved, to contact the 9 assessor pursuant to section 441.30 or to appear before the 10 board of review and show why the assessment should be changed. 11 However, if the valuation of a class of property is uniformly 12 decreased, the assessor may notify the affected property owners 13 by publication in the official newspapers of the county. The 14 owners of real property shall be notified not later than April 15 1 of any adjustment of the real property assessment. 16 Sec. 2. Section 441.26, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended 17 to read as follows: 18 2. The notice in 1981 and each odd-numbered year thereafter 19 shall contain a statement that the assessments are subject 20 to equalization pursuant to an order issued by the director 21 of revenue, that the county auditor shall give notice by 22 mail postmarked on or before October 15 by publication in an 23 official newspaper of general circulation to any class of 24 property affected to each property owner or taxpayer whose 25 valuation has been adjusted by the equalization order, and 26 that the board of review shall be in session from October 15 27 November 10 to November 15 December 10 to hear protests of 28 affected property owners or taxpayers whose valuations have 29 been adjusted by the equalization order. 30 Sec. 3. Section 441.35, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended 31 to read as follows: 32 2. In any year after the year in which an assessment has 33 been made of all of the real estate in any taxing district, 34 the board of review shall meet as provided in section 441.33 , 35 -1- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 1/ 6

H.F. _____ and where the board finds the same has changed in value, the 1 board shall revalue and reassess any part or all of the real 2 estate contained in such taxing district, and in such case, 3 the board shall determine the actual value as of January 1 of 4 the year of the revaluation and reassessment and compute the 5 taxable value thereof. If the assessment of any such property 6 is raised, or any property is added to the tax list by the 7 board, the clerk shall give notice in the manner provided in 8 section 441.36 . However, if the assessment of all property 9 in any taxing district is raised, the board may instruct the 10 clerk to give immediate notice by one publication in one of 11 the official newspapers located in the taxing district, and 12 such published notice shall take the place of the mailed notice 13 provided for in section 441.36 , but all other provisions of 14 that section shall apply. The decision of the board as to the 15 foregoing matters shall be subject to appeal to the property 16 assessment appeal board within the same time and in the same 17 manner as provided in section 441.37A and to the district court 18 within the same time and in the same manner as provided in 19 section 441.38 . 20 Sec. 4. Section 441.37, subsection 3, Code 2014, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 3. For assessment years beginning on or after January 23 1, 2014, the board of review may allow property owners or 24 aggrieved taxpayers who are dissatisfied with the owner’s or 25 taxpayer’s assessment to file a protest against such assessment 26 by electronic means. Electronic filing of assessment protests 27 may be authorized for the protest period that begins April 7, 28 the protest period that begins October 15, or both. Except 29 for the requirement that a protest be signed, all other 30 requirements of this section for an assessment protest to the 31 board of review shall apply to a protest filed electronically. 32 If electronic filing is authorized by the local board of 33 review, the availability of electronic filing shall be 34 clearly indicated on the assessment roll notice provided to 35 -2- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 2/ 6

H.F. _____ the property owner or taxpayer and included in the published 1 equalization order notice provided to the property owner or 2 taxpayer . 3 Sec. 5. Section 441.49, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 4 2014, is amended to read as follows: 5 b. However, an assessing jurisdiction may request the 6 director to permit the use of an alternative method of 7 applying the equalization order to the property values in the 8 assessing jurisdiction, provided that the final valuation 9 shall be equivalent to the director’s equalization order. The 10 assessing jurisdiction shall notify the county auditor of 11 the request for the use of an alternative method of applying 12 the equalization order and the director’s disposition of the 13 request. The request to use an alternative method of applying 14 the equalization order, including procedures for notifying 15 affected property owners and appealing valuation adjustments, 16 shall be made within ten days from the date the county auditor 17 receives the equalization order and the valuation adjustments, 18 and appeal procedures shall be completed by November 30 19 December 20 of the year of the equalization order. Compliance 20 with the provisions of section 441.21 is sufficient grounds 21 for the director to permit the use of an alternative method of 22 applying the equalization order. 23 Sec. 6. Section 441.49, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2014, are 24 amended to read as follows: 25 2. a. On or before October 15 the The county auditor 26 shall cause to be published in official newspapers of general 27 circulation notify each property owner or taxpayer whose 28 valuation has been adjusted by the final equalization order 29 by mail postmarked on or before October 15 . The publication 30 individual notices mailed to each affected property owner or 31 taxpayer shall include, in type larger than the remainder of 32 the publication notice , the following statement statements : 33 Assessed values are equalized by the department of revenue 34 every two years. Local taxing authorities determine the final 35 -3- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 3/ 6

H.F. _____ tax levies and may reduce property tax rates to compensate 1 for any increase in valuation due to equalization. If you 2 are not satisfied that your assessment as adjusted by the 3 equalization order is correct, you may file a protest against 4 such assessment with the board of review on or after October 5 15, to and including November 15. 6 b. Failure to publish notify property owners or taxpayers 7 of the equalization order has no effect upon the validity of 8 the orders. 9 4. The local board of review shall reconvene in special 10 session from October 15 November 10 to November 15 December 10 11 for the purpose of hearing the protests of affected property 12 owners or taxpayers within the jurisdiction of the board whose 13 valuation of property if adjusted pursuant to the equalization 14 order issued by the director of revenue will result in a 15 greater value than permitted under section 441.21 . The board 16 of review shall accept protests only during the first ten days 17 following the date the local board of review reconvenes period 18 of time from October 15 to and including November 15 . The 19 board of review shall limit its review to only the timely filed 20 protests. The board of review may adjust all or a part of 21 the percentage increase ordered by the director of revenue by 22 adjusting the actual value of the property under protest to one 23 hundred percent of actual value. Any adjustment so determined 24 by the board of review shall not exceed the percentage increase 25 provided for in the director’s equalization order. The 26 determination of the board of review on filed protests is 27 final, subject to appeal to the property assessment appeal 28 board. A final decision by the local board of review, or the 29 property assessment appeal board, if the local board’s decision 30 is appealed, is subject to review by the director of revenue 31 for the purpose of determining whether the board’s actions 32 substantially altered the equalization order. In making the 33 review, the director has all the powers provided in chapter 34 421 , and in exercising the powers the director is not subject 35 -4- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 4/ 6

H.F. _____ to chapter 17A . Not later than fifteen days following the 1 adjournment of the board, the board of review shall submit to 2 the director of revenue, on forms prescribed by the director, a 3 report of all actions taken by the board of review during this 4 session. 5 Sec. 7. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 6 3, shall not apply to this Act. 7 Sec. 8. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to assessment years 8 beginning on or after January 1, 2015. 9 EXPLANATION 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 11 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 12 This bill relates to property assessment and taxation by 13 modifying provisions relating to property assessment notices 14 and equalization order notices. 15 The bill strikes a provision in Code section 441.23 that 16 authorizes the local assessor, in lieu of individual taxpayer 17 notices, to provide notice to taxpayers by publication in the 18 official newspapers of the county if the valuation of a class 19 of property is uniformly decreased. The bill also strikes a 20 provision in Code section 441.35, subsection 2, that authorizes 21 the local board of review to provide notice to taxpayers by 22 publication in one of the official newspapers located in 23 the taxing district if the local board of review raises the 24 assessment of all property in a taxing district during the 25 local board of review’s session in an even-numbered assessment 26 year. 27 Current Code law requires the department of revenue to, in 28 each odd-numbered year, order the equalization of the levels of 29 assessment of each class of property in the several assessing 30 jurisdictions by adding to or deducting from the valuation of 31 each class of property if the aggregate assessed valuation of 32 that class of property is at least 5 percent above or below the 33 valuation of that class of property statewide. Current Code 34 section 441.26 requires the county auditor to publish notice 35 -5- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 5/ 6

H.F. _____ of the final equalization order in an official newspaper of 1 general circulation. The bill strikes the authority to provide 2 such notice by publication and instead requires the county 3 auditor to provide individual notices mailed to each property 4 owner or taxpayer whose valuation has been adjusted by the 5 equalization order. The bill provides that the notice shall 6 contain the statement currently required in published notices 7 and also requires that the notice contain a statement of the 8 owner’s or taxpayer’s ability to file a protest against an 9 assessment adjusted by the equalization order with the local 10 board of review. 11 The bill also modifies the period of time for taxpayer 12 protests of an equalization order and the dates of the local 13 board of review’s session to hear such protests. Current law 14 allows such protests to be filed on or after October 15 to and 15 including October 25. The bill extends the period of time 16 for filing to November 15. The bill provides that the local 17 board of review’s session to hear protests begins November 18 10, instead of October 15, and ends December 10, instead of 19 November 15. The bill also provides that the deadline for 20 completing the appeal procedures for equalizations implemented 21 by the assessing jurisdiction using an alternative method of 22 applying the equalization order is December 20 instead of 23 November 30. 24 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 25 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, 26 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from 27 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 28 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 29 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state 30 mandate included in the bill. 31 The bill applies to assessment years beginning on or after 32 January 1, 2015. 33 -6- LSB 5198YC (6) 85 md/sc 6/ 6