BC 1982 03 01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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44 A RESOLUTION URGING GREATER STATE ASSISTANCE TO HELP THE COUNTIES IN DEFENDING LEGAL. CHALLENGES TO THE PROPERTY TAX WHEREAS, the major railroads in North Carolina brought a lawsuit in federal district court, against Secretary of Revenue Mark Lynch and Ad Valorem Tax Division Director Doug Holbrook, challenging the level of taxation of their property in 87 counties in relation to all other property in each jurisdiction for the 1980 tax year; and WHEREAS, the trial court rendered a decision in that case adverse to the defendants and the several counties on two main legal points, and although the intent of the lawsuit was to correct an inequity in the property tax treatment of railroads, the effect of the decision from the county government viewpoint has been to create another inequity by placing the railroads in an unwarranted favored tax status; and WHEREAS, other annually assessed property taxpayers are likely to consider similar legal challenges, and the effect could be to place an inequitable, disproportionate tax burden on residential real property taxpayers; and WHEREAS, most counties affected by the 1980 lawsuit faced a potentially small tax revenue loss compared to the legal expense of individually defending the suit; and WHEREAS, only Mecklenburg and Madison Counties directly intervened in the lawsuit, but the several counties, though not joined as defendants, collectively raised in excess of $46,000 to hire outside legal counsel to assure that the counties collective concerns were at least addressed; and WHEREAS, the Attorney General's office has assigned one of its Assistant Attorney Generals in the Revenue Section to represent state-level defendants, but because of his many other duties and responsibilities he has been able to devote only a portion of his time to the railroad lawsuit; and WHEREAS, state law governs the administration of the property tax, including the requirement for an octennial revaluation cycle for real property; and WHEREAS, a legislative study committee is looking at the feasibility of requiring more frequent revaluations and county officials generally support this effort, but any legislative solution to the problem will take many years to implement fully because of the financial expense, technological improvements, and increased qualified personnel that will be necessary to assure accurate revaluations on a more frequent basis, and in the meantime other lawsuits may be brought by annually assessed property taxpayers; and WHEREAS, the property tax has been and continues to be the major revenue source for local governments in North Carolina; and WHEREAS, it would appear to be in the best interest of State govern- ment to assure the continued vitality of the property tax as a major revenue source for local government, and such continued vitality is contingent in part on continued equitable treatment between taxpayers of different types of property such as between railroad property and residential real property; and WHEREAS, it is far more cost effective and efficient for the State to provide sufficient resources and manpower to finance and coordinate the legal defense of challenges to the property tax; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the North Carolina County Attorneys' Association respectfully urges Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. to use his offices to s~cure greater financial resources either to be made available to aid the Attorney General's office in providing a coordinated legal defense or to pay outside legal counsel to provide such defense, both for the appeal stage of the railroads' 1980 tax year lawsuJ~and for similar lawsuits such as the railroads' 1981 tax year lawsuit and the motor freight carriers' 1980 and 1981 tax years' lawsuit.