42-15157. Destruction of property after rolls closed; proration of valuation and taxes; definition

A. If a property is destroyed after the county assessor closes the rolls, the property owner may file a notice of claim pursuant to section 42-16254 or the county assessor may issue a notice of proposed correction pursuant to section 42-16252 to prorate the valuation of the property from the date of destruction.

B. If the county assessor finds that the property has been destroyed:

1. The county assessor shall prorate the value of the property from the lien date to the date of destruction.

2. For the purposes of classifying property under chapter 12, article 1 of this title, the county assessor may maintain the property classification in place on the date of destruction for a period of five years or until an objectively verifiable change in use occurs, whichever is sooner.

3. The county assessor shall notify the property owner of the property assessment pursuant to the applicable notice requirements provided in this chapter or chapter 16 of this title.

4. The county treasurer shall compute the amount of taxes assessed against the property by applying the tax rate for the appropriate tax year to the original valuation prorated for the portion of the year the property was intact, plus the tax rate for the appropriate tax year to the reassessed value of the property prorated for the balance of the year.

C. For the purposes of this section, "destroyed" means physical destruction caused by a verifiable accident, including fire, flood or any other act of God.