Allied Supermarkets, Inc. v. City of Detroit

207 N.W.2d 190, 45 Mich. App. 571, 1973 Mich. App. LEXIS 1137
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 27, 1973
DocketDocket Nos. 12937-12943
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 207 N.W.2d 190 (Allied Supermarkets, Inc. v. City of Detroit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allied Supermarkets, Inc. v. City of Detroit, 207 N.W.2d 190, 45 Mich. App. 571, 1973 Mich. App. LEXIS 1137 (Mich. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

Van Valkenburg, J.

The facts of this case are not in dispute. Plaintiff corporation, owner of three warehouses in the City of Detroit, appealed its 1967 tax assessments on those buildings to the State Tax Commission. Being dissatisfied with the assessment determination of the tax commission, plaintiff sought leave to appeal to this Court. This Court denied leave. Plaintiff then sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Leave to appeal was granted by the Supreme Court. See 380 Mich 768 (1968). The Supreme Court held that the tax com[573]*573mission erred in its determination of the "true cash value” of the property in question, and remanded the matter to the tax commission for redetermination. See 381 Mich 693 (1969). In April of 1971, the tax commission determined the true cash value of plaintiffs property as of December 31, 1966, the tax day for 1967. The tax commission then took 50% of the true cash value and ordered that the resulting figure "be placed upon the 1967 assessment roll as the only true and lawful value of the property”. The orders further provided that they "shall be for the years 1967,1968 and 1969 in accordance with the provisions of Section 211.152, CL of Michigan 1948, and supercede all previous orders”.1 No appeal was taken from the tax commission’s determination.

Simultaneously with the above outlined appeal of the tax assessment to the tax commission, plaintiff commenced an action in circuit court seeking to recover the excess taxes paid under protest. The circuit court action was held in abeyance during the pendency of the above-noted appeals to and from the tax commission and the redetermination by the tax commission. After the tax commission’s redetermination, plaintiff moved for summary judgment on its complaint for excess taxes. While there was no question as to the amount of excess taxes for 1967, defendants asserted that the taxes for 1968 and 1969 should be computed subject to the assessments as equalized for those years. Plaintiff, on the other hand, asserted that the assessments for 1968 and 1969 were fixed by the tax commission’s order and were not subject to equalization; and, furthermore, since the tax commission set the assessment at 50% of the true cash value, the process of equalization would raise their [574]*574assessment above 50% of the true cash value and thus be in violation of the limitation contained in Const 1963, art 9, § 3. The trial court eventually held that the tax commission’s determinations were not subject to the 1968 and 1969 equalization factors and entered judgment accordingly. From that judgment defendants appeal as of right.

The Wayne County Board of Supervisors Committee on Equalization and the State Board of Equalization adopted for the City of Detroit equalization factors of 1.00 for 1967, 1.03 for 1968, and 1.07 for 1969. The fact that an equalization factor of 1.00 was adopted for 1967 indicates that the assessed valuation as equalized and the assessed valuation as appearing on the tax rolls for that year were the same, and that the average assessed valuation for all property in the City of Detroit was the statutorily and constitutionally required 50% of the true cash value. We are thus only concerned with whether the equalization factors for 1968 and 1969 should be applied.

Plaintiff’s argument is that the order of the tax commission set the assessed valuation at 50% of the true cash value for the years 1967, 1968 and 1969; and that by applying the equalization factor in 1968 and 1969, the assessed valuation as equalized would be greater than the constitutionally prescribed limit of 50% of the true cash value.2 In [575]*575other words, an assessed valuation as determined by the tax commission is not subject to equalization. The trial court agreed with plaintiff and entered judgment accordingly. We disagree.

We would again reiterate what the tax commission did in the instant case. Upon review pursuant to MCLA 211.152; MSA 7.210, the tax commission determined the true cash value of the properties in question as of December 31, 1966, the tax day for 1967. Pursuant to the requirements of MCLA 211.150; MSA 7.208, the tax commission took 50% of the true cash value as the assessed value, as required by MCLA 211.27; MSA 7-27, and ordered the same to "be placed upon the 1967 assessment roll as the only true and lawful value of the property”. These orders further provided that they "shall be for the years 1967, 1968 and 1969 in accordance with the provisions of Section 211.152, CL of Michigan 1948 * * * ”.

MCLA 211.152; MSA 7.210 provides, in pertinent part that:

"When the assessment of any property has been reviewed by the commission and herein authorized, such assessment shall not be changed for a period of three years without the written consent of the commission.”

Plaintiff asserts that by virtue of the above quoted statutory language, which was incorporated by reference in the order of the tax commission, the tax commission’s determination of the true cash value for 1967 and resulting assessment at 50% of the true cash value for 1967 constituted a determination of the true cash value and 50% assessment for 1968 and 1969. Plaintiff misconstrues the intention and purpose of this statutory provision.

The obvious purpose of the above quoted portion [576]*576of the statute is to avoid the situation whereby the taxing unit would, after a reduction in assessment for a given tax year by the tax commission, raise the assessment in the next succeeding tax year, and, thereby, start the process of appeal to the tax commission anew. The obvious intent of this provision is to create a presumption that the true cash value, and therefore the assessment, remained the same for the next two succeeding years after the year for which the commission’s determination was made. The fact that this is merely a presumption is evidenced by the provision that said assessment can be changed by written consent of the commission. Since this statutory "freezing” of the tax commission’s determination of the true cash value and assessed value is merely a presumption as to the subsequent years, it is erroneous to characterize the tax commission’s determination of the true cash value and assessed value as of December 31, 1966, as being an actual determination of the true cash value and assessment for 1968 and 1969. The presumption is valid only when the property has not become subject to some factor which would increase or decrease its true cash value (e.g., general inflation or deflation; destruction of, addition to, or modification of some portion of the property; etc.).

This brings us to the question which is determative of this appeal, that being: Under the circumstances in this case, are the assessments of plaintiffs properties subject to equalization in the years 1968 and 1969?

Plaintiffs assessments were fixed at 50% of their true cash value in 1967. The 1.00 equalization factor for the City of Detroit for 1967 is indicative of the fact that all other property in the City of Detroit had an average assessed value of [577]*57750% of the true cash value. Thus, in 1967 plaintiffs assessments were fixed at the same rate as for the other property owners for that city. In 1968 and 1969, the Wayne County Board of Supervisors and the State Board of Equalization determined, pursuant to statutory mandate,3

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Related

Allied Supermarkets, Inc v. City of Detroit
216 N.W.2d 755 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
207 N.W.2d 190, 45 Mich. App. 571, 1973 Mich. App. LEXIS 1137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allied-supermarkets-inc-v-city-of-detroit-michctapp-1973.