27-51-39 - Objections to municipal assessment schedule and claims for adjustment; determination by board; suit for taxes paid by dissatisfied taxpayer.
§ 27-51-39. Objections to municipal assessment schedule and claims for adjustment; determination by board; suit for taxes paid by dissatisfied taxpayer.
Any person objecting to any portion or portions of the said motor vehicle assessment schedule affecting him or her directly shall file a written objection and claim for adjustment, in duplicate, with the municipal board. The motor vehicle owner shall set forth therein in detail the grounds for his objection and claim for adjustment, with a full and complete identifiable description of the subject motor vehicle.
If the municipal board is of the opinion that the objection and claim for adjustment of the motor vehicle owner has sufficient merit then it shall make whatever adjustment on such claim as in its judgment is fair and equitable; if, on the contrary, the municipal board is of the opinion that the said objection to the proposed assessment does not have sufficient merit then the said board shall disapprove the claim, and the claimant shall be so notified.
If the municipal board approves a claim for the reduction of a proposed assessed value of any specific motor vehicle, then a minute record of such action shall be made by the clerk of said board and a certified copy of such action shall be furnished the tax collector, and in making his report the tax collector shall cite on the ad valorem tax receipt and in his report the minute book and page as legal reason for such reduction of assessed value on any such motor vehicle. Excepting, as hereinabove provided, the tax collector is without legal authority to vary from the adopted assessment schedule in collecting such taxes on any specific motor vehicle.
Any taxpayer dissatisfied with any portion of the assessment schedule directly affecting him may pay the resulting tax under protest, at time of payment, and sue for recovery of all or any portion of the tax paid. This recourse is available, however, only to the taxpayer who filed objection and adjustment claim to the proposed assessment during the time set for filing such objection, as provided hereinabove, excepting in cases where the cause for such protest originated subsequent to the date for filing such objection.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 10007-20; Laws, 1958, ch. 588, § 20.