AGO 571.

• Case Date: October 12, 2004
• Court: North Carolina

North Carolina Attorney General Opinions 2004. AGO 571. October 12, 2004Opinion No. 571The Hon. Richard H. Moore Treasurer, State of North Carolina 325 North Salisbury Street Raleigh, North Carolina 27603-1385Re: Advisory Opinion: Applicability of Open Meetings Law to Tax Review Board ProceedingsDear Treasurer Moore: You have requested our opinion with respect to a number of questions regarding the application of certain statutory provisions to the operations of the Tax Review Board, of which you are the Chair. The Tax Review Board is established pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes Section 105-269.2. The members of the Tax Review Board are: (1) the State Treasurer, ex officio, (2) the chairman of the Utilities Commission, ex officio, (3) a member appointed by the Governor, and (4) the Secretary of Revenue, ex officio. The Secretary of Revenue, however, only sits on hearings relating to corporate franchise and income tax allocations. N.C.G.S. § 105-269.2 (2004); see id. §§ 105-122(c)(2) (2004), 105-130.4(t)(1) (2004). Your letter of September 17, 2004 refers to the Tax Review Board as the "regular Tax Review Board" when it sits without the Secretary of Revenue. Your letter refers to the Tax Review Board as the "augmented Tax Review Board" when it sits with the Secretary of Revenue. For purposes of this advisory opinion, the term "Tax Review Board" refers to the Tax Review Board in both its capacity with the Secretary of Revenue participating as a member and when the Secretary of Revenue is not participating as a member. North Carolina General Statutes Section 105-259(b) provides that "[a]n officer, an employee, or an agent of the State who has access to tax information in the course of service to or employment by the State may not disclose the information to any other person unless the disclosure is made for one of the following purposes." Subsection (b) then enumerates 29 specific exemptions to nondisclosure. Under Section 105-259, "tax information" is defined as "[a]ny information from any source concerning the liability of a taxpayer for a tax." N.C.G.S. § 105-259(a)(2) (2004). Your specific questions and our responses follow. 1. Are meetings of the Tax Review Board -- whether regular or augmented by the participation of the Secretary of Revenue -- open to anyone other than: -- taxpayer and his invitees/counsel/advisors...