2007 Minnesota Statutes

270.41 BOARD OF ASSESSORS.
    Subdivision 1. Creation; purpose; powers. A Board of Assessors is created. The board shall
establish, conduct, review, supervise, coordinate, and approve courses in assessment practices,
and establish criteria for determining assessor's qualifications. The board shall also consider other
matters relating to assessment administration brought before it by the commissioner of revenue.
The board may grant, renew, suspend, or revoke an assessor's license.
    Subd. 2. Members. The board shall consist of nine members, who shall be appointed by the
commissioner of revenue, in the manner provided herein. The members shall include:
(1) two from the Department of Revenue;
(2) two county assessors;
(3) two assessors who are not county assessors, one of whom shall be a township assessor;
(4) one from the private appraisal field holding a professional appraisal designation; and
(5) two public members as defined by section 214.02.
The appointment provided in clauses (2) and (3) may be made from two lists of not less than
three names each, one submitted to the commissioner of revenue by the Minnesota Association of
Assessing Officers or its successor organization containing recommendations for the appointment
of appointees described in clause (2), and one by the Minnesota Association of Assessors, Inc. or
its successor organization containing recommendations for the appointees described in clause
(3). The lists must be submitted 30 days before the commencement of the term. In the case
of a vacancy, a new list shall be furnished to the commissioner by the respective organization
immediately. A member of the board who is no longer engaged in the capacity listed above is
disqualified from membership in the board.
The board shall annually elect a chair and a secretary of the board.
    Subd. 3. Licenses; refusal or revocation. The board may refuse to grant or renew, or may
suspend or revoke, a license of an applicant or licensee for any of the following causes or acts:
(1) failure to complete required training;
(2) inefficiency or neglect of duty;
(3) "unprofessional conduct" which means knowingly neglecting to perform a duty required
by law, or violation of the laws of this state relating to the assessment of property or unlawfully
exempting property or knowingly and intentionally listing property on the tax list at substantially
less than its market value or the level required by law in order to gain favor or benefit, or
knowingly and intentionally misclassifying property in order to gain favor or benefit;
(4) conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude; or
(5) any other cause or act that in the board's opinion warrants a refusal to issue or suspension
or revocation of a license.
    Subd. 4. Rules. The Board of Assessors may adopt rules under chapter 14, defining or
interpreting grounds for refusing to grant or renew, and for suspending or revoking a license
under this section. An action of the Board of Assessors in refusing to grant or renew a license or
in suspending or revoking a license is subject to review in accordance with chapter 14.
    Subd. 5. Prohibited activity. An assessor, deputy assessor, assistant assessor, appraiser,
or other person employed by an assessment jurisdiction or contracting with an assessment
jurisdiction for the purpose of valuing or classifying property for property tax purposes is
prohibited from making appraisals or analyses, accepting an appraisal assignment, or preparing
an appraisal report as defined in section 82B.02, subdivisions 2 to 5, on any property within
the assessment jurisdiction where the individual is employed or performing the duties of the
assessor under contract. Violation of this prohibition shall result in immediate revocation of
the individual's license to assess property for property tax purposes. This prohibition must not
be construed to prohibit an individual from carrying out any duties required for the proper
assessment of property for property tax purposes. If a formal resolution has been adopted by the
governing body of a governmental unit, which specifies the purposes for which such work will
be done, this prohibition does not apply to appraisal activities undertaken on behalf of and at
the request of the governmental unit that has employed or contracted with the individual. The
resolution may only allow appraisal activities which are related to condemnations, right-of-way
acquisitions, or special assessments.
History: Ex1971 c 31 art 25 s 1; 1973 c 582 s 3; 1975 c 136 s 52; 1976 c 222 s 132; 1985 c
285 s 46; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 719 art 7 s 2; 1993 c 375 art 3 s 4; 1994 c 510 art 1 s 4