Orange County NC Website
23 <br />-4- <br />We find no merit to Taxpayer's argument that G.S. <br />105- -282.1(c) allows either a tax supervisor or board of <br />equalization and review to consider the merits of a late <br />application for exemption of listed property. This statute <br />provides in part: <br />When an owner of property who is <br />required to file an application for exemption <br />or exclusion fails to do so, the tax <br />supervisor shall proceed to discover the <br />property as provided in G.S. 105 -312. If <br />upon appeal to the county board of <br />equalization and review or board of <br />commissioners, the owner demonstrates that <br />the property meets the conditions for <br />exemption, the exemption may be approved by <br />the hoard at that time. <br />Taxpayer argues that the Commission's interpretation of <br />the foregoing statute as allowing review of the exempt status of <br />a taxpayer who fails to list his property, but denying a hearing <br />to a taxpayer who lists his property and does not file an <br />application for exemption until after the .listing period, is <br />absurd. This argument can be refuted on two grounds. First, the <br />Legislature has defined the phrase "to discover property" as "the <br />determination that property has not been listed during a regular <br />listing period and to the identification of the omitted item." <br />G.S. 105- 312(a)(3). This language is clear that property can <br />only be discovered if it is not listed. G.S. 105- 282.1(c), <br />therefore, does not apply to Taxpayer's timely listed property. <br />Second, an owner of discovered property which meets the <br />conditions for exemption is allowed an exemption after the <br />