(1) A properly granted exemption of real or tangible personal property, except real property used for cemetery purposes, provided for in subdivisions (1)(c) and (d) of section 77-202 shall continue for a period of four years if the statement of reaffirmation of exemption required by subsection (2) of this section is filed when due. The four-year period shall begin with years evenly divisible by four.

(2) In each intervening year occurring between application years, the organization or society which filed the granted exemption application for the real or tangible personal property, except real property used for cemetery purposes, shall file a statement of reaffirmation of exemption with the county assessor on or before December 31 of the year preceding the year for which the exemption is sought, on forms prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, certifying that the ownership and use of the exempted property has not changed during the year. Any organization or society which misses the December 31 deadline for filing the statement of reaffirmation of exemption may file the statement of reaffirmation of exemption by June 30. Such filing shall maintain the tax-exempt status of the property without further action by the county and regardless of any previous action by the county board of equalization to deny the exemption due to late filing of the statement of reaffirmation of exemption. Upon any such late filing, the county assessor shall assess a penalty against the property of ten percent of the tax that would have been assessed had the statement of reaffirmation of exemption not been filed or one hundred dollars, whichever is less, for each calendar month or fraction thereof for which the filing of the statement of reaffirmation of exemption is late. The penalty shall be collected and distributed in the same manner as a tax on the property and interest shall be assessed at the rate specified in section 45-104.01, as such rate may from time to time be adjusted by the Legislature, from the date the tax would have been delinquent until paid. The penalty shall also become a lien in the same manner as a tax pursuant to section 77-203.

(3)(a) If any organization or society seeks a tax exemption for any real or tangible personal property acquired on or after January 1 of any year or converted to exempt use on or after January 1 of any year, the organization or society shall make application for exemption on or before July 1 of that year as provided in subsection (1) of section 77-202.01. The procedure for reviewing the application shall be as in sections 77-202.01 to 77-202.05, except that the exempt use shall be determined as of the date of application and the review by the county board of equalization shall be completed by August 15.

(b) If an organization as described in subdivision (1)(c) or (d) of section 77-202 purchases, between July 1 and the levy date, property that has been granted tax exemption and the property continues to be qualified for a property tax exemption, the purchaser shall on or before November 15 make application for exemption as provided in section 77-202.01. The procedure for reviewing the application shall be as in sections 77-202.01 to 77-202.05, and the review by the county board of equalization shall be completed by December 15.

(4) In any year, the county assessor or the county board of equalization may cause a review of any exemption to determine whether the exemption is proper. Such a review may be taken even if the ownership or use of the property has not changed from the date of the allowance of the exemption. If it is determined that a change in an exemption is warranted, the procedure for hearing set out in section 77-202.02 shall be followed, except that the published notice shall state that the list provided in the county assessor's office only includes those properties being reviewed. If an exemption is denied, the county board of equalization shall place the property on the tax rolls retroactive to January 1 of that year if on the date of the decision of the county board of equalization the property no longer qualifies for an exemption.

The county board of equalization shall give notice of the assessed value of the real property in the same manner as outlined in section 77-1507, and the procedures for filing a protest shall be the same as those in section 77-1502.

When personal property which was exempt becomes taxable because of lost exemption status, the owner or his or her agent has thirty days after the date of denial to file a personal property return with the county assessor. Upon the expiration of the thirty days for filing a personal property return pursuant to this subsection, the county assessor shall proceed to list and value the personal property and apply the penalty pursuant to section 77-1233.04.

(5) During the month of September of each year, the county board of equalization shall cause to be published in a paper of general circulation in the county a list of all real estate in the county exempt from taxation for that year pursuant to subdivisions (1)(c) and (d) of section 77-202. Such list shall be grouped into categories as provided by the Property Tax Administrator. An electronic copy of the list of real property exemptions and a copy of the proof of publication shall be forwarded to the Property Tax Administrator on or before November 1 of each year.

Source:Laws 1963, c. 441, § 3, p. 1460; Laws 1965, c. 470, § 1, p. 1517; Laws 1969, c. 641, § 1, p. 2554; Laws 1973, LB 114, § 1; Laws 1973, LB 530, § 1; Laws 1976, LB 786, § 1; Laws 1979, LB 17, § 8; Laws 1980, LB 688, § 3; Laws 1981, LB 179, § 3; Laws 1983, LB 494, § 1; Laws 1986, LB 817, § 2; Laws 1989, LB 133, § 1; Laws 1990, LB 919, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 734, § 42; Laws 1995, LB 490, § 30; Laws 1996, LB 1122, § 2; Laws 1997, LB 270, § 14; Laws 1997, LB 271, § 42; Laws 1998, LB 1104, § 6; Laws 1999, LB 194, § 11; Laws 1999, LB 271, § 6; Laws 2000, LB 968, § 28; Laws 2004, LB 973, § 7; Laws 2007, LB166, § 4; Laws 2007, LB334, § 17; Laws 2010, LB708, § 1; Laws 2019, LB512, § 10.

Annotations

If property is tax exempt in any given year, such exemption may continue for 3 successive years after grant of such exemption, if the property owner annually and timely files the specified affidavit. Nebraska State Bar Found. v. Lancaster Cty. Bd. of Equal., 237 Neb. 1, 465 N.W.2d 111 (1991).

An integral part of the process to obtain a tax exemption is reapplication for such exemption. A new application is required before a previously granted exemption has expired, and failure to make reapplication for exemption or to file a new application as required by this section results in cessation of the tax exemption when the current exemption expires. Indian Hills Comm. Ch. v. County Bd. of Equal., 226 Neb. 510, 412 N.W.2d 459 (1987).

This section does not require a board of equalization to review an exemption during the four-year exemption period when there is no evidence of a change in the use of the exempt property. Ross v. Governors of the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, 207 Neb. 305, 299 N.W.2d 145 (1980).