Assessors press BOE for clearer discovery deadlines and continuance guidance to curb delays

County assessor offices and counsel urged the Board of Equalization to provide clearer guidance and rules to speed discovery and reduce continuances in assessment appeals, saying late or partial disclosure of property records is a primary driver of hearings being postponed.

Brooke Hill, chief deputy assessor for operations in San Diego County, highlighted statutory disclosure duties and recommended clarifications to reduce repetitive continuances. Hill cited Revenue and Taxation Code provisions underlying discovery: “4 4 1 D is what provides access to information about the subject property upon request... it is mandatory that the data be made available. Specifically, it says that it shall be made available, and it shall be transmitted within a reasonable amount of time,” she told the board. Hill said the usual problem is not nonexistence of records but delayed responses to 441(d) requests and to owner requests under §408, which forces continuances when assessors cannot complete their appraisals.

Hill proposed two specific solutions: clarify that incomplete or untimely responses to discovery constitute good cause for continuance (consistent with Property Tax Rule 3.23) and update Property Tax Rule 3.05.2 to require prehearing conferences or agreed deadlines for exchange of data. She also recommended limiting requirements that assessors prepare written findings of fact and suggested either (1) allow boards to request written findings only when both sides are represented by counsel or (2) require board counsel to prepare findings — both approaches would place legal drafting with attorneys rather than valuation staff.

Bhavit Madvani, deputy county counsel for Santa Clara County, provided county‑level scheduling metrics and supported clearer intake forms and self‑help resources to reduce misfiled appeals that later require continuances. Thomas Parker, senior deputy county counsel for Los Angeles County, cautioned that “good cause” decisions are fact‑specific and that counties differ in capacity; he also noted existing statutory protections that allow continuances when a party receives evidence at the hearing.

Panelists asked the BOE to issue more prescriptive statewide guidance — including sample deadlines, prehearing timelines and model rules — to reduce serial continuances driven by late data exchanges and to ensure hearings are decided on the merits with full evidence available in advance.