Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Equalization Board To Get New Members

There will now be five members on the Nevada County Equalization Board instead of three.

In a special meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court Monday, April 26, the justices voted to approve Act 1326 as passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, in its recent session, and signed by Gov. Mike Huckabee.

These people must be appointed before the month of May is out.

JPs Garry Lewis and John Henderson were appointed to find two people to appoint to these positions, with the formal appointment to be done at the May meeting of the NCQC Monday, May 10.

The Equalization Board meets annually, normally in August, and examines complaints about property taxes.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said this board will become more important as a law was also passed by the Legislature requiring all property in every county to be reappraised every three years.

There is an exception to the number of members of the boards. For counties with a population exceeding 79,000, based on the 1990 census, the board may consist of as many as nine members.

For most counties in the state, though, five will be the number. Of these, one will be selected by the representatives of the county's different school districts; one by the members of the city and town councils; one by the county judge; and two by a majority vote of the quorum court.

For those selected by the court, they must either be a licensed real estate appraiser, a licenses real estate broker or a licenses real estate sales person. If none are available, the court can appoint any qualified elector in the county.

At least three of the five members shall be from different parts of the county.

When the panel meets, the county judge will serve as chairman and will be responsible for setting the time and dates of the meetings.

Under the new law, the board will meet on Aug. 1, unless this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday. In this event, the board will convene on the next business day, providing it's not a legal holiday.