Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-11-13-.02 — Nature of the Proceeding; Hearing Procedure; Burden of Proof

The hearings held under these Regulations shall only be as formal as is necessary to preserve order and be compatible with the principles of justice. (1) Parties shall have the right to be represented by legal counsel. Documents or other written evidence to be presented at the hearing by a party must be provided to the other party not less than seven (7) days prior to the time of the hearing and that any failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for an automatic continuance or for exclusion of such documents or other written evidence. The decision to continue a proceeding or exclude documents or records shall be within in the discretion of the hearing officer. (2) The parties shall also have the right to respond and present evidence on all issues involved and to cross-examine all witnesses. (3) The standard of proof on all issues in the hearing shall be a preponderance of the evidence. A preponderance of the evidence is established when one party's evidence is of greater weight or is more convincing than the evidence offered in opposition to it, in that, the evidence, when taken as a whole, shows that the fact in dispute has been proven by one party to be more probable than not. (4) When a hearing is being held regarding a county's board of tax assessors' tax assessment, the county board of tax assessors shall have the burden of proof in regards to fair market value and the validity of proposed assessment, not taxability. (a) If a hearing is being held regarding a property tax exemption, then the party seeking the property tax exemption shall have the burden of proving entitlement. (5) The county board of tax assessors shall present its case first, unless a taxpayer elects to present first and the hearing officer, in his or her discretion, allows it. Cite as Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 560-11-13-.02 Authority: O.C.G.A. Secs. 48-2-7 , 48-2-12 , 48-5-311 . History. Original Rule entitled "Nature of the Proceeding; Hearing Procedure; Burden of Proof" adopted. F. Mar. 16, 2011; eff. Apr. 5, 2011. Amended: F. Jan. 4, 2016; eff. Jan. 24, 2016.