School property tax control board; membership; appeal petitions;
hearings; production of records; summons
Sec. 4.1. (a) To assist the department of local government finance
in deciding the merits of any appeal filed under IC 6-1.1-17 or under
this chapter with the department by, or in respect of, any school
corporation, there is established the school property tax control
board. This board shall consist of five (5) voting members and two
(2) ex officio nonvoting members. In addition, the school property
tax control board may include not more than four (4) additional
voting members who shall be appointed as follows:
(1) One (1) member is to be appointed by the president pro
tempore of the senate and must be a business official of a
school corporation who is not employed by a school corporation
that is undergoing a construction project.
(2) One (1) member is to be appointed by the president pro
tempore of the senate and must be an engineer knowledgeable
in the construction of school buildings but who is not actively
employed by an engineering firm that is involved in a school
building construction project or who is not otherwise a party to
a contract for engineering services for a school building
construction project.
(3) One (1) member is to be appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives and must be an architect
knowledgeable in the design of school buildings but who is not
actively employed by an architectural firm that is involved in a
school building construction project or who is not otherwise a
party to a contract for architectural services for a school
building construction project.
(4) One (1) member is to be appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives and must be a financial adviser who is
not actively employed as a financial adviser to a school
corporation that is involved in a school building construction
project or who is not otherwise a party to a contract for
financial advisory services for a school building construction
project.
Of the mandatory five (5) voting members, one (1) shall be appointed
by the state board of accounts, one (1) shall be appointed by the
department of local government finance, and three (3) shall be
appointed by the governor. The governor may seek the
recommendation of the state superintendent of public instruction
with regard to one (1) of the governor's appointments. Each of the
remaining two (2) governor's appointees must be a citizen of Indiana
who neither holds an elective or appointive office in the government
of the state nor is regularly employed by the state. Each of the
mandatory five (5) voting members and any additional voting
members who may be appointed serves at the will of the appointing
board or person. The speaker of the house of representatives shall
appoint one (1) member of the house as one (1) of the ex officio
nonvoting members of the tax control board. The president pro
tempore of the senate shall appoint one (1) senator as the other ex
officio nonvoting member of the tax control board. Each of the ex
officio nonvoting members of the tax control board shall serve at the
will of the appointing officer. A vacancy in the membership of the
tax control board shall be filled by the appointing authority who
made the appointment to the seat that is vacated. No member of the
tax control board shall receive compensation for services as such a
member, except as provided in subsections (g) and (h). Each of the
members of the tax control board shall, before proceeding to the
discharge of the member's duties as a member of the tax control
board, subscribe and swear to a writing declaring the member's
intention to support the Constitution of the United States and the
Constitution of the State of Indiana and the member's intention to
faithfully, honestly, and impartially discharge the member's duties as
a member of the tax control board.
(b) The tax control board shall meet, as business may require, in
rooms provided by the department of local government finance. The
department of local government finance shall provide the tax control
board with such staff and secretarial assistance as the tax control
board may reasonably require. At each organizational meeting of the
tax control board, which shall be held annually, the tax control board
shall elect one (1) of its members chairman and another secretary.
(c) The department of local government finance shall promptly
deliver to the tax control board every appeal petition that is filed
under IC 6-1.1-17 or under this chapter with the department by, or in
respect of, any school corporation. The department of local
government finance shall also promptly deliver to the tax control
board other materials related to the appeal petition as the department
shall then or thereafter possess. Upon receiving an appeal petition,
the tax control board shall proceed immediately to examine the
petition and to consider the merits of the school corporation's appeal.
(d) The tax control board may conduct hearings on any appeal
petition that is before the tax control board, and the tax control board
may require any officer or member of the school corporation whose
appeal petition is under consideration by the tax control board to
appear before the tax control board or to produce, before the tax
control board, any books and records that the tax control board
considers pertinent to the appeal, or both.
(e) If an officer or a member fails or refuses to appear at a hearing
of the tax control board after having been given a written notice from
the tax control board requiring the officer's or member's attendance,
or fails or refuses to produce for the tax control board's use the books
and records that the tax control board has, by written notice, required
the officer or member to produce, the tax control board may file an
affidavit in the circuit court in which jurisdiction of the person of the
officer or member may be had, setting forth the facts of the failure or
refusal. Upon the filing of the affidavit, the circuit court shall
promptly issue a summons, and the sheriff of the county within
which the circuit court is sitting shall serve the summons. The
summons shall command the officer or member to appear before the
tax control board, to provide information to the tax control board, or
to produce books and records for the tax control board's use, as the
case may be. Disobedience of the summons is punishable as a
contempt of the circuit court that issued the summons.
(f) All expenses incident to the filing of the affidavit and the
issuance and service of the summons under this section shall be
charged to the officer or member against whom the summons is
issued, unless the circuit court finds that the action of the officer or
member was taken in good faith and with reasonable cause. If the
court finds that the officer or member acted in good faith and with
reasonable cause or if an affidavit has been filed without the issuance
of a summons, the expenses shall:
(1) be charged against the county in which the affidavit has
been filed; and
(2) be allowed by the proper fiscal officers of that county.
(g) Each member of the tax control board who is not a state
employee is entitled to receive both of the following:
(1) The minimum salary per diem provided by
IC 4-10-11-2.1(b).
(2) Reimbursement for travel expenses and other expenses
actually incurred in connection with the member's duties, as
provided in the state travel policies and procedures established
by the Indiana department of administration and approved by
the budget agency.
(h) Each member of the tax control board who is a state employee
is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and other expenses
actually incurred in connection with the member's duties, as provided
in the state travel policies and procedures established by the Indiana
department of administration and approved by the budget agency.
As added by P.L.1-1991, SEC.42. Amended by P.L.25-1995, SEC.34;
P.L.6-1997, SEC.87; P.L.90-2002, SEC.177.
Last modified: May 28, 2006