Chap. 397.—An ACT to create local boards of equalization of assessments of
real estate for purposes of taxation in each county and city of the Common-
wealth; to define the powers and duties of such boards; to fix the compensation
of their members; to create a State tax commission; to define its powers and
duties; to fix the compensation of its members; to appropriate money to carry
out the provisions of this act; to prescribe penalties for the violation of the
provisions of this act, and to repeal sections 2213, 2214, 2215 and 2216 of the
Code of Virginia. {[S B 224]

Approved March 20, 1924.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia as follows:

1. Local boards of equalization; how constituted and _ cre-
ated; their compensation.—On or before the first day of June of the
vear of the quinquennial assessment of real estate the judge of the cir-
cuit court of each county and the judge of the corporation court of each
city, and the judge of the circuit court of each city having no other
court. of record, shall either in term time or vacation, appoint three
qualified voters residing in such county or city to compose a local board
of equalization of assessments for said county or city; and before ecnter-
Ing upon the duties of their office such appointees shall take the oath of
office prescribed by law for county and city officers. And if it appear
that any person thus appointed cannot, or for any reason will not, per-
form the duties required of him by law, the said judge shall, either in
term time or vacation, appoint another in his place. The said local
board of equalization shall organize by electing one of their number as
chairman. The clerk of the circuit or corporation court shall be ex-
ofhcio clerk of said board of equalization, but in a city of over fifty
thousand inhabitants the loeal board of equalization may select a clerk
instead of having the services of the elerk of the court. and the clerk of
such board shall attend all meetings and keep the records of the proceed-
Ings thereof in a separate book to be provided for that purpose, whieh
shall be preserved and kept on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit
or corporation court, as the case may be. The said local board of equal-
ization shall sit not more than sixty days, and shall hold its sessions at
such times as the law may require or they may deem necessary, with
power in the court which appointed the board, upon application of the
board or of the State tax commission or of ten citizens of the county or
city, to so extend the time as may be deemed reasonable or necessary
by the court.

The compensation. of each member of the local board of equaliza-
tion of assessments shall be five dollars per day for each day that he
shall sit as a member of said board, and of the clerk three dollars per
day for each day that he shall be necessarily employed, such per diem
to members and clerks to be paid one-half by the Commonwealth and
one-half by the county or city wherein such member or clerk serves.
The accounts for such compensation shall be made out and verified by
affidavit of the member before the clerk of the circuit or corporation
court, in which shall be stated that the time for which said per diem is
claimed was necessarily employed; and accounts for expenses necessarily
incurred by the board in the discharge of its duties shall be made out
and certified by affidavit of the chairman before the said clerk; and
when said accounts shall have been so made out and certified, they shall
be paid out of the State and county or city treasury, in equal propor-
tions, out of any money in such treasury not otherwise appropriated.
The duties of the judge of a corporation court required by this section
shall be performed for the city of Richmond by the judge of the hust-
ings court, part one.

2. Powers and duties of local boards of equalization.—Each local
board of equalization of assessments shall have power and it shall be
its duty: |

(a) To equalize the assessments of real estate within the county
or city, and for this purpose it shall review the land books as soon as they
are completed by the land assessors, and make such changes therein as
it may determine. The books shall be delivered to the local board of
equalization by the county land assessors not later than the first day of
July and by the city land assessors not later than the first day of Sep-
tember; provided that the judge of the court in which the land assessor
qualified, for cause shown shall have the right to extend the time for
the delivery of such books for a period not exceeding thirty days. The
said board shall complete its review and deliver the books to the com-
missioner of the revenue not later than the first day of February follow-
ing, and the commissioner shall proceed to make his assessments, cer-
tify and deliver the books as required by law.

(b) As soon as his land assessments are completed the commis-
sioner of the revenue shall notify the board, which shall immediately
appoint a time and place at which it will meet to hear grievances and
complaints with regard to the assessments. Notice of such time and
place shall be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in
the county or city.

(c) Any taxpayer may apply to the local board of equalization
for the correction of his assessment; and the State tax commission, or
auditor of public accounts, represented by the attorney for the Common-
wealth, or other attorney selected for the purpose, may apply on behalf
of the Commonwealth to the local board of equalization to increase the
assessment of any-taxpayer, and any county or city through its appointed
representative or attorney may apply to the local board of equaliza-
tion to increase the assessment of any taxpayer. The board shall hear
and determine any and all such petitions and may increase, decrease or
affirm the assessment of which complaint is made; and it may increase
or decrease any assessment upon its own motion; provided, however,
that no assessment shall be increased until after the owner of the prop-
erty has been notified and given an opportunity to show cause against
such increase, unless such owner has already been fully heard. In all
such hearings the officers who made the assessments shall, if possible,
be present and testify.

The State tax commission or the auditor of public accounts on
behalf. of the Commonwealth, or the attorney for the county, city or
town, or any taxpayer, aggrieved by any such order, may apply to the
circuit court of the county or the corporation court of the city, or to
the circuit court of any city which has no other court of record, for the
correction of any erroneous assessment, either as to over or under valua-
tion, in the same manner as is provided by law for the correction of
erroneous assessments of property by any person who is aggrieved
thereby.

Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the Common-
wealth, a county, city or town or a taxpayer from applying directly to
the court for the correction of erroneous assessments of taxes and levies
without first applying to the local board of equalization.

(d) Thesaid board shall have power to direct the commissioner
of the revenue to enter upon ‘the land books property which is found to
have been omitted, and to cancel duplicate assessments of the same.

(e) Said board shall keep minutes of its meetings, and enter
therein all orders made and transmit promptly copies of such orders as
relate to the increase or decrease of assessments to the taxpayer, com-
missioner of the revenue, auditor of public accounts, and attorney for
the county, city or town. And if the order, or orders, of the board pro-
vide for an increase of the assessed value of the property of any tax-
payer, the commissioner of the revenue shall make a supplemental as-
sessment for the increased value or values for the year following the
quinquennial assessment, and shall note the change on his land book to
be carried into the land book of each succeeding year until the next
quinquennial assessment; and if the order of the board provides for a
decrease of the assessed value of the property of any taxpayer, he shall
note such decrease on his land book to be carried into the land book of
each succeeding year until the next quinquennial assessment, and upon
presentation of the copy of the order furnished the taxpayer, the treas-
urer shall credit the assessment made against the property for the year
following the quinquennial assessment, with the amount determined to
be erroneous, and if the said taxes have been paid shall refund the tax-
payer the amount erroneously paid.

No order made by said board shall prevent the taxpayer, or mem-
ber or members of a board of supervisors, board of supervisors, member
or members of a city or town council, city or town council or any other
governing board of any city or town, or the Commonwealth from apply-
ing to the proper court for correction of any erroneous assessment in
theSmanner provided by law.

(f) To communicate to the circuit court of the county or the
corporation court of the city information coming to its attention which
wil aid the court in carrying out the provisions of section twenty-four
hundred and seventy-three of the Code.

(g) Such board shall have authority to summon taxpayers or
their agents or any person, firm, or officer of a company or corporation,
to furnish information relating to the real estate of any and all taxpay-
ers, and to summon taxpayers or their agents, or any person, firm, or
officer of a company or corporation, to answer under oath all questions
touching the ownership and value of real estate of any and all taxpayers,
and to summon taxpayers or their agents, or any person, firm, or officer
of a company or corporation, to bring before it their books of account
or other papers and records containing information with respect to the
valuation of real estate of the taxpayer or any other real estate within
the county or city under review by the board. Such summons may be
served in person or by registered mail.

(h) Any person refusing to answer the summons of the local
board of equalization, or to furnish information, or to produce his books
of account, papers and other records as required by this act, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to a fine of not less
than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and each day’s
failure to answer such summons, or to furnish such information, or to
produce such books of account, papers and other records, shall con-
stitute a separate offense.

(i) The information procured by local boards of equalization
under this chapter shall be regarded as confidential, except for the pur-
pose of assessments, and shall not be disclosed except to the State tax
commission or to some other local board of equalization or to officers
charged with the assessment or collection of taxes, or to a court of rec-
ord upon its order.

(j) The term of office of the members of the said local board of
equalization shall expire on the thirty-first day of December of the year
following the quinquennial assessment, after which date no corrections
shall be made by the said boards.

3. State tax commission; personnel. —There is hereby created a
State tax commission composed of the auditor of public accounts, the
second auditor and the State treasurer, who shall serve without addi-
tional compensation.

4. Place of meeting; organization——The commissioners herein
named shall meet without delay at the capital in Richmond, and shall
organize by electing one of their number as chairman and another as
secretary.

Two members shall constitute a quorum of the commission for
the transaction of all business.

The commission shall have the power to employ and remove such
clerks and other assistants as may from time to time be necessary, to
prescribe their duties and to fix their compensation; provided, that the
total expenditures of the said commission shall not exceed the amount
appropriated by law.

5. Office; sessions; traveling expenses.—The office of the commis-
sion shall be in Richmond, where suitable rooms shall be provided for
it by the governor and the register of the land office. But the commis-
sion may hold sessions, and one or more members may conduct inves-
tigations and hearings at any other place when necessary to the proper
performance of the duties prescribed by law; and members of the com-
mission and its employees shall receive from the State the amount of
their actual necessary expenses while absent from Richmond on the
business of the commission, such expenses to be sworn to by the person
incurring them and approved by the chairman of the commission.

6. Powers and duties.—In addition to the powers and duties con-
ferred by law on the State tax board, it shall be the duty of the Virginia
tax commission, and it shall have the power and authority:

(1) To supervise the administration of the assessment and tax
laws of this State with a view to ascertaining the best methods of reach-
ing all property, of effecting equitable assessments, and of avoiding con-
flicts and duplication of taxation of the same property; and: to recom-
mend to the governor and the general assembly such measures as wil!
promote uniform assessments, just rates, and harmony and co-operation
among all officials connected with the revenue system of the State.

(2) To exercise general supervision over the assessors of rea.
estate and over commissioners of the revenue, and over all other public
officers so far as the duties of such officers pertain to the public reve
nues, and it shall be the duty of said tax commission to confer with
instruct and advise all such public officers in the performance of thei!
duties, and to investigate at any time the assessment and collection o:
taxes in any county or city, and when the assessment is found unrea
sonable and unjust, to take steps to correct the same in the manne:
provided by law; and to institute proceedings by motion in writing i
the proper court, or before the judge of such court in vacation, for th
removal or suspension of assessors of real estate and of commissioners 0
the revenue for incompetency, neglect or other official misconduct.

(3) To prescribe the forms of books and schedules to be use
in the assessment and collection of taxes, and to call for and prescrib
the forms of such statistical reports, notices and other papers as sal
tax commission may deem necessary to the proper administration of th
law, and to prescribe and install a uniform system of accounts to b
used by revenue officials.

(4) To collect, digest and preserve information relating to th
value and ownership of real and personal property with a view to in
structing, aiding and checking assessors and commissioners of the rex
enue.

(5) To furnish to assessors and commissioners of the revenu
such classification of property, both real and personal, for the purpos
of uniform valuation, as will promote fairness of assessment.

(6) To investigate and supervise the enforcement of the laws wit.
regard to rates, fees and charges for mercantile, professional and all othe
licenses, to the end that the burden of taxation may be fairly equalized
among all classes of residents within the Commonwealth.

(7) To direct such proceedings, actions and prosecutions to be
instituted as may be needful to enforce the revenue laws of the State,
and to call on the attorney general, or other proper officer, to prose-
cute such actions and proceedings.

(8) To intervene, by petition, or otherwise, whenever deemed
advisable in any action or proceeding pending in any court whertin the
constitutionality or construction of any tax or revenue statute or the
validity of any tax is in question; and the court wherein such action or
proceeding is pending may, by order entered therein, make the said
Virginia tax commission a party thereto whenever deemed necessary.

(9) To make a report of its proceedings and recommendations
to the governor on or before the first day of November preceding a
regular session of the general assembly; and the governor shall cause
copies of said report to be printed, one of which copies he shall cause
to be sent to each member of the general assembly at least twenty days
before the beginning of a regular session.

7. Processes.—The Virginia tax commission shall, in all matters
within its jurisdiction, have the power and authority to award and
issue, have served and executed and returned, any writ, notice. process,
order or order of publication which may by law be awarded, issued,
served, executed, or returned by or to any court of law or equity in this
Commonwealth for the purpose of compelling the attendance of wit-
nesses, the production of books and papers, and the enforcement and
execution of its findings, orders and judgments.

All writs, processes and orders of the commission shall run in the
name of the Commonwealth, shall be signed by the chairman of the
commission and be attested by its secretary, or any clerk designated
by the commission for that purpose, and shall be directed to any ser-
geant, sheriff or constable of any county or city wherein such writ,
process or order is to be executed. All writs, notices, processes or
orders of the commission may be executed and returned in like manner
and upon like manner and upon like persons or property as the proc-
esses, writs, notices or orders of the courts of record of this Common-
wealth, and so served, executed and returned shall have the same legal
effect. The officer serving or executing any writ, notice, process or
order of the commission shall receive the same fees allowed by law for
like services to sergeants and sheriffs of the counties and cities. Any
officer who shall fail to execute and return any writ, process, notice or
order of the commission shall be subject to the same penalties provided
by law for the failure to execute and return the process of any court.
which penalties, after due notice to the officer so failing, may be enforced
by the judgment of the commission, which is hereby clothed with power
to carry this provision into effect.

The commission shall make such allowances for fees and mileage
of witnesses summoned before it as are allowed by law for witnesses
summoned by the Commonwealth in felony cases, to be paid out of the
fund at the disposal of the commission.
8. Information to be confidential.—It shall be unlawful for any
member or ex-member of the Virginia tax commission, or for any as-
sessor or commissioner of the revenue or for any employee or agent of
the tax commission, to divulge any information acquired by him in
respect to the transactions, property, income or business of any person,
firm or corporation when in the performance of his duties under this
act. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be punished
by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not
exceeding six months, or by both, at the discretion of the court; pro-
vided, however, that the governor may at any time by written order
direct that any information herein referred to shall be made public or be
laid before any court; and provided, further, that this information does
not extend to any matters required by law to be entered on any assess-
ment roll or book.

9. Supplies, printing, expenses, etc.—That the commission shall have
the authority to purchase all necessary furniture and supplies, and have
all necessary printing’and publishing done, and secure all telephone and
telegraph service necessary to the efficient discharge of its duties, and
the same shall be paid out of the fund hereinafter appropriated ; provided,
however, that all printing necessary for the commission shall be done
He re public printer, on its order, to be paid out of the general printing
und.

10. Repeal of other acts.—That sections 2213, 2214, 2215 and 2216
of the Code of Virginia, and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent
with this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed, but said repeal
shall not revive any laws Feretofore repealed, nor affect any suits or
proceedings that have been instituted under any of said acts.

| provisions of the law relating to the State tax board not re-
pealed by this act shall apply to the State tax commission.