Board Violated Tax Appeals Law, Judges Rule

A panel of judges has ruled that a Los Angeles County board violated a state law by failing to give taxpayers who were appealing their property tax assessment enough notice before their hearings.

The board must now pay whatever 23 taxpayers had asked for on their refund application, said their attorney, Robert A. Pool. He said they should receive a total of $1.5 million.

In January 1994, the California Legislature enacted a mandatory 45-day hearing notice law for all county assessment appeals boards. Also, under a long-standing state law, the board had a two-year deadline to act upon taxpayers’ requests for hearings or grant them all the money that they had asked to have refunded.

County attorneys would not comment on the case.