Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY M. SUMMERS Deputy Attorney General THE STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION has requested an opinion on the following questions: 1. Do members of the public have the right to address the State Board of Equalization at a taxpayer's appeal hearing? 2. May an employee of a public agency address the State Board of Equalization on behalf of the agency at a taxpayer's appeal hearing? CONCLUSION 1. Members of the public have the right to address the State Board of Equalization at a taxpayer's appeal hearing. 2. An employee of a public agency may address the State Board of Equalization on behalf of the agency at a taxpayer's appeal hearing. ANALYSIS The composition and duties of the State Board of Equalization ("Board") are found in the Constitution (Cal. Const., art XIII , §§ 17 , 19) and various statutes (see, e.g., Gov. Code, §§ 15600- 15646 ). 1 Among the statutory schemes applicable to the Board is the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (§§ 11120 - 11132 ; "Act"). The Act not only requires meetings of state agencies to be open to the public (§ 11123 ) and appropriately noticed (§ 11125 ), but also affords the public…