Senator Ken Yager Not on Side of Taxpayers’ Rights in Tax Bill
Senator Ken Yager Votes Against Taxpayer Rights
Senator Yager
I recently read an article by Truman Bean in a popular blog called Tennessee News Platoon. The article was entitled Senator Ken Yager seeking friendly right-minded bloggers.
According to the Blog, Senator Yager, Republican, Dist. 12, had attended a meeting of a group of conservatives known as TN ConserVOLiance and spoke about conservative principles.
We can’t say much about Senator Yager’s conservative principles. They may have shined for this group of conservatives, but when it comes to voting in the Legislature they didn’t shine through in a recent vote before the Senate State and Local Government Committee, on which he serves as one of nine members.
Senate Bill 2110 came before that Committee on May 5, 2009, and received only five yes votes, passing by just one vote. Senator Yager’s “yes” vote made the difference.
Now, was SB 2110 a conservative bill?
Absolutely not!
That anti-taxpayer bill was solely designed to delete rights Tennessee taxpayers have had for many years. The bill sought to delete the taxpayers’ right to contest void or illegal assessments which were wrongfully or illegally made.
In spite of Senator Yager’s vote, TTA was able to stop the bill on the House side. If it had passed, the bill would have deleted the taxpayer’s right to contest an illegally made assessment that should actually be voided.
The case that brought this legislative matter up and caused the bill to even to be filed was simply a duplicate assessment and tax bills. The Comptroller’s Office, which assesses public carrier properties, had rightfully assessed this property and erroneously so had the local assessor.The assessor made an audit on the taxpayer and discovered that the assessments she had made were made illegally.
The taxpayer was paying taxes twice on the same property. This was all discovered in 2006. The Assessor deleted the assessments as far back as she legally could which left one more year. The taxpayer appealed to the Tennessee Assessment Appeals Commission who agreed and voided the assessment as illegally made. The technical basis for appeal was called “collateral attack”.
The Executive Secretary to the State Board of Equalization (not any of the parties did so) asked the full members of the State Board to review the case and then the Executive Secretary also unilaterally filed legislation to void the right to appeal illegal assessments to the State Board.
The State Board did not ask that this legislation be filed and once it found out (after it had already passed a subcommittee), it took no position. So, it certainly can’t be said that the State Board was in favor of passing this bill and deleting its right to consider illegal assessments.
The Executive Secretary’s argument was that these type cases should go to court, not to the State Board.
First, It is very difficult for a taxpayer to get into court in this State. Taxes must to be paid under protest and then after that date there is then only a 6-month window to file in the court. If the property lies inside a city or town, there is only a 30 day window to file suit for those taxes once the taxes have been paid under protest.
Next, who ever pays their taxes under protest?
This particular taxpayer didn’t even know he or she was being illegally assessed. By the time that taxpayer found out the taxes were illegal, the taxpayer would have no place to go if there was no State Board of Equalization to accept an appeal. All taxpayers would be left with no way to correct these illegal errors.
The Attorney General even confirmed the right of the taxpayers in Opinion 92-62 to file an appeal based upon collateral attack of an illegal assessment and plainly stated the State Board ”should” accept these appeals. Why? Because it was the right thing to do and the State Board has responsibility for all assessments in the State.
To do away with the right to go to the State Board of Equalization would deny the purpose for which administrative agencies like the State Board of Equalization were even created; that is, to keep the taxpayers from being forced to go to court at all.
Senator Yager apparently voted politics on this bill instead of fairness and consideration of the taxpayers. All the information (including the AG Opinion) was presented to him that was presented to the House Committee.
We are certain that no taxpayers asked him to vote for that bill and we also know that numerous taxpayers asked him not to vote for the bill. The only two people we know who wanted the bill passed, was the Executive Secretary of the State Board of Equalization and the bill’s sponsor, Senator Overbey.
Senator Yager ignored the taxpayers in this important issue.
What will he do in future taxpayer rights issues?
Jerry R. Caruthers,
President
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