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Washington Administrative Code (Last Updated: November 23, 2016) |
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Title 458. Revenue, Department of |
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Chapter 458-14. County boards of equalization. |
Section 458-14-005. Definitions.
Latest version.
- The following definitions apply to chapter 458-14 WAC:(1) "Alternate member" means a board member appointed by the county legislative authority to serve in the temporary absence of a regular board member.(2) "Arm's length transaction" means a transaction between parties under no duress, not motivated by special purposes, and unaffected by personal or economic relationships between themselves, both seeking to maximize their positions from the transaction.(3) "Assessed value" means the value of real or personal property determined by an assessor.(4) "Assessment roll" means the record which contains the assessed values of property in the county.(5) "Assessment year" means the calendar year when the property is listed and valued by the assessor and precedes the calendar year when the tax is due and payable.(6) "Assessor" means a county assessor or any person authorized to act on behalf of the assessor.(7) "Board" means a county board of equalization.(8) "County financial authority" means the county treasurer or any other person in a county responsible for billing and collecting property taxes.(9) "County legislative authority" means the board of county commissioners or the county legislative body as established under a home rule charter.(10) "Department" means the department of revenue.(11) "Documentary evidence" means comparable sales data, cost data, income data, or any other item of evidence, including maps or photographs, which makes the existence of relevant facts more or less probable.(12) "Equalize" means ensuring that comparable properties are comparably valued and refers to the process by which the county board of equalization reviews the valuation of real and personal property on the assessment roll as returned by the assessor, so that each tract or lot of real property and each article or class of personal property is entered on the assessment roll at one hundred percent of its true and fair value.(13) "Interim member" means a board member appointed by the county legislative authority to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation or permanent incapacity of a regular board member. The interim member shall serve for the balance of the regular board member's term.(14) "Manifest error" means an error in listing or assessment, which does not involve a revaluation of property, including the following:(a) An error in the legal description;(b) A clerical or posting error;(c) Double assessments;(d) Misapplication of statistical data;(e) Incorrect characteristic data;(f) Incorrect placement of improvements;(g) Erroneous measurements;(h) The assessment of property exempted by law from taxation;(i) The failure to deduct the exemption allowed by law to the head of a family; or(j) Any other error which can be corrected by reference to the records and valuation methods applied to similarly situated properties, without exercising appraisal judgment.(15) "Market value" means the amount of money a buyer of property willing but not obligated to buy would pay a seller of property willing but not obligated to sell, taking into consideration all uses to which the property is adapted and might in reason be applied. True and fair value is the same as market value or fair market value.(16) "May" as used in this chapter is expressly intended to be permissive.(17) "Member" means a regular member of a board.(18) "Reconvene" refers to the board's limited power to meet to equalize assessments in the current assessment year after the board's regularly convened session is adjourned, or to meet to hear matters concerning prior years.(19) "Regularly convened session" means the statutorily mandated twenty-eight day period commencing annually on July 15, or the first business day following July 15 if it should fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.(20) "Revaluation" means a change in value of property based upon an exercise of appraisal judgment.(21) "Shall" as used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise, is expressly intended to be mandatory.(22) "Taxpayer" means the person or entity whose name and address appears on the assessment rolls, or their duly authorized agent, personal representative, or guardian. "Taxpayer" also includes the person or entity whose name and address should appear on the assessment rolls as the owner of the property, but because of mistake, delay, or inadvertence does not so appear; for example, in an instance when the rolls have not yet been updated after a transfer of property. A property owner may contract with a lessee for the purpose of making the lessee responsible for the payment of the property tax and the lessee may be deemed to be a taxpayer solely for the purpose of pursuing property tax appeals in his or her own name. If the contract is made, the lessee shall be responsible for providing the county assessor with a proper and current mailing address.(23) "Tax year" means the calendar year when property taxes are due and payable.
Rules
458-14,