S*1175 Session 107 (1987-1988)
S*1175(Rat #0774, Act #0655 of 1988) General Bill, By T.E. Garrison,
H.C. Smith and J.M. Waddell
A Bill to amend Section 59-20-20, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to definitions for purposes of the Education Finance Act, so as to
revise the definition of "Index of Taxpaying Ability", to establish a schedule
of reporting information necessary to calculate the index, to provide that the
Tax Commission shall provide preliminary data in the index to appropriate
officials not later than March first and a final index not later than May
first which may not be changed during the applicable school year and may be
changed or corrected only in the index for the following year, and to amend
Section 12-43-305, relating to payment of property taxes when valuation is on
appeal, so as to provide that in the case of overpayments, the assessed value
for the current year must be reduced by the cumulative amount of the excess
assessment and to provide that when an appeal extends beyond the end of the
taxable year, the assessor shall enter the value of the property under appeal
at eighty percent of the value for the current year.-amended title
02/09/88 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-4
02/09/88 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-5
03/02/88 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Education SJ-19
03/03/88 Senate Amended SJ-68
03/03/88 Senate Read second time SJ-69
03/08/88 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-42
03/09/88 House Introduced and read first time HJ-1836
03/09/88 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-1836
05/11/88 House Committee report: Favorable Education and Public
Works HJ-3665
05/26/88 House Debate interrupted HJ-4134
05/30/88 House Amended HJ-4297
05/30/88 House Read second time HJ-4298
05/30/88 House Unanimous consent for third reading on next
legislative day HJ-4298
05/31/88 House Read third time HJ-4342
05/31/88 House Returned HJ-4342
05/31/88 Senate Concurred in House amendment and enrolled SJ-21
06/02/88 Ratified R 774
06/07/88 Signed By Governor
06/07/88 Effective date 01/01/89
06/07/88 Act No. 655
06/07/88 See act for exception to or explanation of
effective date
06/16/88 Copies available
(A655, R774, S1175)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 59-20-20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR PURPOSES OF THE EDUCATION FINANCE ACT, SO AS TO
REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "INDEX OF TAXPAYING ABILITY", TO ESTABLISH A
SCHEDULE OF REPORTING INFORMATION NECESSARY TO CALCULATE THE INDEX, TO PROVIDE
THAT THE TAX COMMISSION SHALL PROVIDE PRELIMINARY DATA IN THE INDEX TO
APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS NOT LATER THAN MARCH FIRST AND A FINAL INDEX NOT LATER THAN
MAY FIRST WHICH MAY NOT BE CHANGED DURING THE APPLICABLE SCHOOL YEAR AND MAY BE
CHANGED OR CORRECTED ONLY IN THE INDEX FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR, AND TO AMEND
SECTION 12-43-305, RELATING TO PAYMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES WHEN VALUATION IS ON
APPEAL, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IN THE CASE OF OVERPAYMENTS, THE ASSESSED VALUE FOR
THE CURRENT YEAR MUST BE REDUCED BY THE CUMULATIVE AMOUNT OF THE EXCESS
ASSESSMENT AND TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN AN APPEAL EXTENDS BEYOND THE END OF THE
TAXABLE YEAR, THE ASSESSOR SHALL ENTER THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY UNDER APPEAL AT
EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE VALUE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Index of taxpaying ability
SECTION 1. Section 59-20-20(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(3) 'Index of taxpaying ability' means an index of a local district's
relative fiscal capacity in relation to that of all other districts of the State
based on the full market value of all taxable property of the district assessed
on the basis of property classification assessment ratios set forth in Article
3, Chapter 43 of Title 12. The county auditor shall provide to the Tax
Commission the assessed value of property in each of the school districts of the
county not later than February first of each year. The index must be used to
calculate each district's share of the revenue to be raised locally for the
foundation program. The index must include an imputed value for the property tax
base implicitly generating impact aid revenue. The property tax base must be
imputed at two-thirds the average ratio of all true value assessed property value
statewide to prior year local revenue statewide in the foundation program, the
resulting product multiplied times the average impact aid receipts during the
prior three years. If impact aid receipts during the federal fiscal year are
less than the average receipts for the prior three years, then state aid to the
impact aid districts must be adjusted in the final payment for the state fiscal
year. If the State Department of Education determines from fiscal simulations
that the school finance system does not meet requirements of Section 5(d) of P.
L. 81-874, the Tax Commission shall exclude an imputed value of impact aid
receipts from the index of taxpaying ability.
The final index must be determined annually by the Tax Commission on the basis
of the most current sales ratio data available based on studies made pursuant to
Section 12-43-250 for assessed property within a school district. The sales
ratio data utilized must be based on annual ratio studies made within the
previous two calendar years. The Tax Commission shall provide a preliminary
index to the State Department of Education not later than March first and the
State Department of Education shall provide information contained in the index
to school districts not later than March fifteenth. Not later than May first,
the Tax Commission shall provide the final index to the State Department of
Education and to the auditor of each county who shall provide the index to any
governmental entity responsible for approving or levying of millages for school
purposes. The final index may not be changed during the applicable school year.
Changes and corrections occurring during the year must be reflected in the index
for the following year. When the assessment of property is under appeal and the
appeal extends beyond the year in which the assessment made pursuant to Section
12-43-305 is applied, the Tax Commission shall adjust the index of taxpaying
ability in the year in which the appeal is resolved by the amount of any
difference between the assessments. Any school district is entitled to a hearing
before the Tax Commission to review its designated index of taxpaying ability
within thirty days of filing a request for the hearing. The data gathered by the
Tax Commission for the purpose of determining an annual index must be preserved
as public records in the offices of the Tax Commission for four years. The raw
information gathered from the various county officers reflecting the
representative sales within the school districts, the consideration, and the
reported market value or assessed value for each sale are a part of the public
records so preserved. The Tax Commission shall file a statement stating the
methodology employed in making the annual determination of the index and refer
to all sources of factual information used in making the determination. All work
sheets, computer printouts, and the actual calculation must be included as the
public records to be preserved by the Tax Commission. In determining sales to
assessment ratio, the Tax Commission shall use only reported consideration on
sales for which deeds have been placed on public record. Where sufficient sales
data is not available, the Tax Commission shall make appraisals in lieu of sales
in order to determine the index. The appraisals, including all working papers
must be included as the public records to be preserved by the Tax Commission.
With respect to school districts within counties where abstracts of duplicates
reflecting the assessed value have been filed pursuant to Section 12-39-290, the
same having been adopted by the auditor under Article 3, Chapter 43 of Title 12,
the index must be on the basis of the value of the property as stated in the
abstracts as adjusted by sales ratio studies up to full assessments based on full
fair-market value."
Appeals
SECTION 2. Section 12-43-305 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 12-43-305. Upon receipt of written notice of appeal of a
property valuation and if it is reasonably expected that the appeal may delay the
assessment of the property beyond December thirty-first of the tax year, the
assessing officer shall prepare immediately an assessment for the property under
appeal based upon eighty percent of the assessed value of the property for the
current year. The Tax Commission shall notify the auditor of the property under
the jurisdiction of the commission which is under appeal. The auditor shall
adjust the assessment of property under appeal to eighty percent of the assessed
value and enter the adjusted assessment on the tax duplicate and the tax must be
paid as in other cases.
After final review of the appeal, if the valuation is greater than the value
of the assessment set by the assessing official in accordance with this section,
an assessment must be made and entered based on the difference between the value
of the assessment determined by this section and the value settled by the appeal.
If the valuation is less than that set as provided in this section, the
assessment of the current year must be reduced by the cumulative difference
between the assessment as entered and that determined by final review. The tax
paid on the difference between the assessment as entered and that determined
after final review must be refunded together with interest at the rate of one
percent a month on the amount of the overpayment.
Interest at the rate of one percent must be added for each month the tax was
unpaid because of the appeal and collected in the same manner as the tax."
Time effective
SECTION 3. This act takes effect January 1, 1988, and for purposes of
calculating the index of taxpaying ability for the 1988-89 school year only,
adjustments may be made through July 1, 1988. |