A.
All
or any portion of any uncollected tax, penalty or costs, heretofore
or hereafter levied, may, on satisfactory proof, be canceled by the
Director of Finance on order of the City Council with the written
consent of the City Attorney if it was levied or charged:
1.
More
than once.
2.
Erroneously
or illegally.
3.
Excessively
because of insufficient statutory exemptions allowed.
4.
On
a portion of an assessment in excess of the cash value of the property
by reason of the Assessor's clerical error.
5.
On
improvements when the improvements did not exist on the lien date.
6.
On
the property acquired after the lien date by the State or by any County,
City, school district or other political subdivision and because of
this public ownership not subject to sale for delinquent taxes.
7.
On
property acquired after the lien date by the United States of America,
if such property upon such acquisition becomes exempt from taxation
under the laws of the United States.
B.
General
Provisions.
1.
If
any cancellation described in this section is for less than $100.00
it can be made without Council order by the Director of Finance upon
the written consent of City Attorney. The Director of Finance shall
in writing each month report to the City Council the amounts of such
cancellations together with the names of recipients and reasons therefor.
2.
No
cancellation shall be made of charges on tax exempt property if there
has not been compliance with the statutory procedure for claiming
the exemption.
3.
When
an assessment or taxes are legally canceled, if the property has been
sold or deeded for the taxes, the City Council shall order:
(Prior code § 8-023.2)
A.
All
taxes, penalties or costs thereon paid more than once or erroneously
or illegally collected or any tax paid upon an assessment in excess
of the actual cash value of the property so assessed by reason of
clerical error as to the excess in such cases, or any tax paid upon
an erroneous assessment, or improvement upon real estate not in fact
in existence when said tax became a lien, may by order of the City
Council be refunded by the Director of Finance.
B.
General
Provisions.
1.
If
such refund is less than $100.00 it can be made without Council order
by the Director of Finance after approval by the City Attorney. The
Director of Finance shall in writing each month report to the City
Council the amounts of refunds under $100.00 together with the names
of recipients and reasons therefor.
2.
No
order for a refund under this section shall be made except on a claim
signed and verified by the person who paid the tax, his or her guardian,
executor or administrator and filed within three years after making
of the payment sought to be refunded.
3.
If
the City Council rejects a claim for refund in whole or in part, the
person who paid the taxes, his or her guardian. executor, or administrator
may within six months after such rejection commence an action in the
superior court against the City to recover the taxes which the City
Council has refused to refund.
4.
No
action shall be commenced or maintained under this section unless
a claim for refund shall have been filed in compliance with the provisions
of this section, and no recovery of taxes shall be allowed in any
such action upon a ground not asserted in the claim for refund.
(Prior code § 8-023.2)
When the Director of Finance discovers that any property has
been assessed more than once for the same year, he or she must collect
only the taxes justly due and make return of the facts by his or her
certificate to the City Council. The Council shall thereupon pass
a resolution directing the Director of Finance to cancel such double
assessment by an entry on the assessment book, and also upon the delinquent
list, should such double assessment be carried therein. If the property
assessed under such double assessment has been sold to the City and
a certificate of sale or deed therefor has been issued to the City,
the Council shall, by resolution, further direct the County Recorder
to cancel such erroneous certificate of sale and deed so issued, before
the City has disposed of the property thereby conveyed, provided no
cancellation of a double assessment certificate of sale or deed shall
be made in any case until the taxes, penalties, costs and other charges
by law against the property on one of such assessments shall have
been paid. In case the Director of Finance issues an erroneous certificate,
sale or deed to any property upon which the taxes have been fully
paid for the year therein mentioned, such fact shall be certified
to the City Council by the Director of Finance and thereupon said
Council shall by resolution authorize the County Recorder to cancel
such erroneous certificate or deed.
(Prior code § 8-023.3)
When real property has been erroneously assessed and sold to
the City for delinquent taxes, misstatements of facts or clerical
errors occurring or appearing in the certificate of sale or in the
deed issued thereon may be corrected by the Director of Finance by
resolution of the City Council directing the correction by the issuance
of a new or amended certificate of sale or tax deed. Such amended
certificate or deed shall be made out in the same form as the original,
excepting as to the correction of the error and shall also contain
a statement giving the reasons for the issuance of such amended certificate
or deed.
(Prior code § 8-023.4)
Clerical errors or omissions or defects in descriptions, or
defects in form, in any assessment book when it can be ascertained
from the assessment book or from the City Assessor's maps or block
books, or from the list furnished by the property owner, what was
intended to be assessed, or what should have been assessed, may, upon
the written consent of the City Attorney be supplied or corrected
by the City Assessor at any time after the assessment was made and
prior to the sale for delinquent taxes.
(Prior code § 8-023.5)
