New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI, Issue 12 / June 23, 2020
AMENDED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR
REPEALING AND REPLACING 22.600.3 NMAC, RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR TAX PROTESTS
The
Administrative Hearings Office (“AHO”) will hold a public hearing beginning on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at 10:00 am
to consider repealing and replacing 22.600.3 NMAC governing the conduct and
procedure of tax protests under Section 7-1B-8 NMSA 1978 of the Administrative
Hearings Office Act. Proposed rules may
be obtained at bit.ly/AHOProposedRule, or by
visiting http://www.aho.state.nm.us, or upon request submitted to tax.pleadings@state.nm.us
or by telephone to (505) 827-0466. No technical scientific information was
consulted in drafting any proposed rules.
Interested
members of the public may attend the public hearing by videoconference or
telephone. To access the hearing by telephone, call 346-248-7799 or
833-548-0276 (toll free). To access the
hearing by videoconference, go to https://zoom.us/j/92270281184?pwd=Y2xjWWZzVnRoUnpYVjF6blBJbE43Zz09 and follow the onscreen instructions
provided. If prompted to provide a
Meeting ID (access code) or Password, please refer to the following: Meeting ID (access code): 922 7028 1184;
Password (8675309).
The
hearing will be conducted exclusively by videoconference and telephone for
reasons stated in Executive Order 2020-004 of the Governor of the State of New
Mexico (declaring a public health emergency) and the Public Health Emergency
Order to Limit Mass Gatherings Due to COVID-19, dated March 12, 2020.
The
public hearing will be conducted in a fair and equitable manner by an AHO
hearing officer and shall be recorded. Interested
members of the public attending in the manner described will be provided a
reasonable opportunity to offer public comment, orally or in writing, including
presentation of data, views, or arguments, on the proposed rules during the
hearing. Individuals with disabilities who
need auxiliary aid to attend or participate in the public hearing should
contact John Griego at john.griego1@state.nm.us. AHO will endeavor to accommodate reasonable
requests but cannot assure accommodation of a request that is not received at
least ten calendar days before the scheduled hearing.
Written
public comment, including presentation of data, views, or arguments about the contemplated
repeal or proposed replacement rules, from any interested member of the public
will also be accepted until 12:00 p.m. on July 29, 2020 by submitting them via
email to tax.pleadings@state.nm.us with the subject line “AHO Rulemaking
R20-01,” or via first class U.S. Mail to Administrative Hearings Office, ATTN
Rulemaking R20-01, P.O. Box 6400, Santa Fe, NM, 87502. Written comments received after the deadline
will not be considered.
Repeal
and replacement of 22.600.3 NMAC (Hearings Under the
Tax Administration Act) is proposed pursuant to Section 7-1B-5 NMSA 1978 for
tax protest hearings conducted under Section 7-1-24 NMSA 1978. The replaced rule is intended to refine the
procedures of the Administrative Hearings Office for the conduct of tax
protests and to implement amendments to the Administrative Hearings Office Act
enacted during the 2019 legislative session, including: amendments to
definitions of terms; implementing a revised procedure for requesting hearings;
addressing the preparation and filing of answers to protests; exercising
peremptory excusals of hearing officers; updating the qualifications of
authorized representatives; clarifying the effect of a protest withdrawal;
requiring parties to confer in good faith before seeking an order compelling
discovery; providing a timeline for the presentation, consideration, and
disposition of dispositive motions; implementing a process for considering
whether the accrual of interest should stop due to the taxing authority’s
failure to adhere to a statutory deadline; permitting the protesting party to
make a rebuttal closing as a matter of right; permitting the request or requirement
of submitting digital duplicates of previously tendered evidentiary exhibits to
facilitate submission of digital record proper on appeal; establishing a
process for consideration of requests for reasonable administrative costs,
litigation costs and attorney fees; refining the process for requesting
reconsideration. Other sections not substantively
revised will nevertheless be repealed, re-organized and replaced among the new
material summarized herein.