76

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 8

In item (4) of this section, the former phrase
"whenever the Department shall deem it practicable" is
deleted as superfluous.

Also in item (4) of this section, the former language
"and to issue instructions to local supervisors of
assessments in regard thereto and to require the use
thereof" is deleted as superfluous.

In item (6) of this section, the term "appropriate
county officials" is substituted for the former,
inappropriately narrow reference to "county
commissioners" and for the obsolete reference to "the
board of municipal and zoning appeals of Baltimore
City".

In item (7) of this section, the defined term "person"
is substituted for the former phrase "individuals,
firms, and corporations", for clarity.

In item (8) of this section, the phrase "in the State"
is substituted for the former phrase "in any county
and/or city", for clarity.

Also in item (8) of this section, the phrase "at any
time" is deleted as superfluous.

In item (9) of this section, the reference to confer

"as appropriate" is substituted for the former

reference to confer "as to the administration of the
tax laws", for clarity.

As to item (11) of this section, the former reference
to "any proceeding in court" was ambiguous. Since
this provision was enacted well before the creation of
the Tax Court, it originally referred to judicial
proceedings in general. Subsequently, the term
"court" was defined under former Art. 81, § 2 to
mean: "Maryland Tax Court, unless such construction
would be unreasonable". On analysis, the Commission
to Revise the Annotated Code found that the only
reasonable interpretation now of the former phrase
"any proceeding in court" is that the phrase means
"any Maryland Tax Court or judicial proceeding", thus
including under item (11) of this section any
proceeding that involves an assessment or taxation
question before either the Tax Court or any regular
court.

In item (12) of this section, the former reference to
"Baltimore City" is deleted as included in the defined
term "county".

Also in item (12) of this section, the former
reference to a "January 1, 1970" effective date is
deleted as obsolete.