Burlington Northern Railroad v. Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Fall River County

497 N.W.2d 440, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 18, 1993 WL 65727
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 10, 1993
Docket17938
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 497 N.W.2d 440 (Burlington Northern Railroad v. Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Fall River County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burlington Northern Railroad v. Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Fall River County, 497 N.W.2d 440, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 18, 1993 WL 65727 (S.D. 1993).

Opinions

AMUNDSON, Justice.

Burlington Northern Railroad Company (Burlington Northern) brings an Application for Writ of Certiorari seeking review of the Seventh Judicial Circuit’s (Seventh Circuit) jurisdiction to hear an appeal from the South Dakota Department of Revenue’s (Department) valuation of Burlington Northern’s centrally assessed property. We grant the Writ of Certiorari.

FACTS

Railroads, such as Burlington Northern, are centrally assessed by Department under the provisions of SDCL ch. 10-28. Under that chapter, the Secretary of Revenue (Secretary) assesses all of the property “actually and necessarily used in the operation” of the railway as a single unit. SDCL 10-28-1. On or before May 1, each railroad is required to file an annual statement, the contents of which are prescribed by statute, to assist Secretary in assessing the railroad’s property. SDCL 10-28-3. Each railroad then receives written notice [442]*442from Department of the unit value assessed for that year. SDCL 10-28-15.

A railroad which disagrees with the assessment may appeal the assessment to the State Board of Equalization (Board). SDCL 10-38-2. This right to appeal the assessment is no different than the right to appeal granted to any other taxpayer in the state at the local level. Regardless of whether an appeal is taken, Board equalizes the assessed values and allocates them to the counties in which the railroad operates. SDCL 10-6-34.1, 10-28-15. Department then notifies the railroad, county auditor, and municipal finance officers of the allocation. SDCL 10-28-15, -16, and -17. This notification is in the form of a “Certificate of Assessment of Equalization and Levy” (Certificate).

Burlington Northern received, but did not appeal, its 1991 assessment from Department. However, on September 26, 1991, Fall River County (County) took issue with the valuation of Burlington Northern’s railroad property located within its boundaries and filed a notice of appeal from the Certificate for 1991. The appeal asserted that Board undervalued certain centrally assessed utility property in Fall River County. The record of the Board was certified to the Seventh Circuit and the Seventh Circuit granted intervention to Edgemont School District # 23-1 (District), and Black Hills Power and Light Company (BHP & L).

On February 11, 1992, BHP & L filed a motion to dismiss questioning the Seventh Circuit’s jurisdiction. Prior to the Seventh Circuit hearing the motion to dismiss, BHP & L settled with County and District.

On March 26, 1992, Board also filed a motion to dismiss alleging no jurisdiction. The Seventh Circuit denied the motion on April 1, 1992.1

The Seventh Circuit settled the litigation between the remaining parties. Burlington Northern was neither a party to, nor took any part in, the litigation. The Seventh Circuit entered its findings of fact and conclusions of law whereby the valuation of Burlington Northern’s centrally assessed property in Fall River County increased from $3,307,692.00 to $35,459,734.00. Burlington Northern then sought a writ of certiorari from this court vacating the judgment of the Seventh Circuit for lack of jurisdiction.

ISSUE

Whether the Seventh Judicial Circuit exceeded its statutory appellate jurisdiction?

ANALYSIS

This court, under SDCL 21-31-1, may grant a writ of certiorari when an inferior court has “exceeded [its] jurisdiction, and there is no writ of error or appeal nor, in the judgment of the court, any other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy.” This court’s review upon writ of certiorari “cannot be extended further than to determine whether the inferior court ... has regularly pursued the authority of such court....” SDCL 21-31-8. Thus, the question before this court is simply whether the Circuit court had proper appellate jurisdiction to hear County’s appeal from the Certificate. Our review does not extend to the valuation itself.

The right to any appeal is statutory and established by the legislature. This court has consistently recognized that the right to an appeal is purely statutory and no appeal may be taken absent statutory authorization. South Dakota Dep’t of Transp. v. Freeman, 378 N.W.2d 241, 241 (S.D.1985); Oahe Enter. Inc. v. Golden, 88 S.D. 296, 299, 218 N.W.2d 485, 487 (1974); County Sch. Bd. v. Cottonwood Sch. Dist. No. 41, 81 S.D. 530, 531, 137 N.W.2d 882, 883 (1965); In re Swanson’s Estate, 71 S.D. 622, 623, 28 N.W.2d 663, 663 (1947). An attempted appeal from an order or administrative act from which no appeal lies is a nullity and confers no jurisdiction on the court except to dismiss it. Oahe Enter. Inc., 88 S.D. at 299, 218 N.W.2d at 487.

Under the South Dakota Constitution, “[t]he circuit courts have such appellate [443]*443jurisdiction as may be provided by law.” S.D.Const. art. V, § 5. By statute, “[t]he circuit court has jurisdiction of appeals from all final judgments, decrees or orders of all courts of limited jurisdiction, inferior officers or tribunals, in the cases prescribed by statute.” SDCL 16-6-10. There are several methods of appeal provided by statute in Title 10, Taxation.

Seventh Circuit briefly addressed the right of appeal provided in SDCL 10-1-41. That statute provides the right of appeal to the circuit court for any aggrieved party from a decision of the secretary of revenue relating to “licensing, revocation of license, compromise, or adjustment of taxes, or refund of taxes_” SDCL 10-1-41. That statute is inapplicable to these facts as it deals with the adjustment or refund of taxes and not with the equalized valuation of property as disputed here. Furthermore, the 1991 Certificate, from which County and District take their appeal, is not a final judgment or decision, but rather is the annual notification that County and District receive as to the assessed values of the utilities within their boundaries as determined by Department and equalized by Board. See

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Bluebook (online)
497 N.W.2d 440, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 18, 1993 WL 65727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burlington-northern-railroad-v-circuit-court-seventh-judicial-circuit-sd-1993.