Butte County v. Vallery

1999 SD 142, 602 N.W.2d 284, 1999 S.D. LEXIS 162, 1999 WL 1018648
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 3, 1999
DocketNo. 20896
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 1999 SD 142 (Butte County v. Vallery) 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
Butte County v. Vallery, 1999 SD 142, 602 N.W.2d 284, 1999 S.D. LEXIS 162, 1999 WL 1018648 (S.D. 1999).

Opinions

GILBERTSON, Justice.

[¶ 1.] Landowner brought an action against county board of equalization challenging board’s assessment of his property, which was based on a method that classified certain real property as irrigable, as compared to dryland, and valued it as such. The circuit court reversed the assessment finding that irrigated or irrigable land cannot be separately classified for purposes of taxation under the South Dakota Constitution. The circuit court ordered the county assess in a similar manner to that of all other agricultural lands. The county appeals. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

[¶ 2.] Thornton Vallery (Vallery) owns approximately 2,661 acres of agricultural land located in the Belle Fourche River Valley. Approximately 300 acres of the property is hay land and farm ground. The Vallery land is not located in the government-established Belle Fourche Irrigation Project. In 1996 Vallery’s land [286]*286had an assessed value of $231.50 per acre as irrigable property.

[¶ 3.] In 1997 Butte County (County) assessed Vallery’s land at $845.90 per acre. This increase was based upon a finding the land was irrigable. Of the 661.07 acres appealed, County assessed 315 acres as irrigable land, and assessed it at a substantially higher value than the nonirriga-ble land, irrespective of soil type. Vallery appealed to the county board of equalization, arguing the assessment was in excess of full and true value. The board made no change to the assessment. On July 24, 1997, Vallery appealed to the South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners (hearing examiner). The hearing examiner found County’s assessed value of Vallery’s 315 acres of land was determined by soil type, compared to sales of properties with similar soil types. The hearing examiner found County’s means of assessment unconstitutional because it established a separate classification for “irrigable land” and considered land management when determining the assessed value of agricultural property. Furthermore, the county director of equalization valued real estate as dry land, not as irrigable land if the property was not “set up” for irrigation. The hearing examiner ordered County to reevaluate the property consistent with no-nirrigable agricultural property and assess it accordingly.

[¶ 4.] On September 9, 1997, County appealed the hearing examiner’s order to the circuit court. It claimed Vallery’s land was properly assessed as irrigable due to its location, soil, terrain, topography and water rights. In determining the 1997 assessment, County considered land management by irrigation, implemented by water rights.1 It compared the types of soil, as rated by the State according to productivity, location of the property and irriga-bility. County claimed values for dry land soils and irrigable soils were determined by analyzing sales of comparable property. It was County’s policy that if water rights were available and if the soils were irrigable and being irrigated, they were treated as irrigable soils.2

[¶ 5.] The circuit court concluded County was still considering whether land was actually irrigated in making tax assessments on agricultural land, and thus, taking into consideration farm management decisions. The court further concluded this method of classification resulted in two separate classes of property for agricultural land and was therefore unconstitutional.

[¶ 6.] The circuit court also concluded County reevaluated irrigable soil if there was irrigation or if there were some type of water rights. Thus, County was in essence double taxing agricultural land by separately reevaluating whether the soil was irrigable. The circuit court affirmed the decision of the hearing examiner and ordered Vallery’s property be classified and valued consistent with the method for valuing other agricultural land in accordance with South Dakota law.

[¶ 7.] County appeals raising the following issues for our consideration:

1. Whether County created a separate agricultural classification for assessment purposes in increasing the value of land deemed irrigable.
2. Whether the assessment of the director of equalization resulted in double taxation.
3. Whether the decision of the hearing examiner was clearly erroneous.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 8.] This is an appeal of a tax assessment pursuant to SDCL 10-11-43 and thus it is proeedurally governed by [287]*287SDCL ch 1-26. Under SDCL 10-11-42.1, the hearing examiner tries the issues de novo. On appeal both the circuit court and this Court review that decision as set forth in SDCL 1-26-36. This standard of review requires us to accord great weight to the findings and inferences made by the hearing examiner on factual questions. Clarkson and Company v. Harding County, 1998 SD 74, ¶ 5, 681 N.W.2d 499, 501 (citing Sopko v. C & R Transfer Co., Inc., 1998 SD 8, ¶ 6, 575 N.W.2d 225, 228). “When the issue is a question of fact, we ascertain whether the administrative agency was clearly erroneous.” Moose Lodge v. Pennington County, 1997 SD 80, ¶ 5, 566 N.W.2d 132, 133 (quoting Permann v. Dep’t. of Labor, Unemployment Ins. Div., 411 N.W.2d 113, 116 (S.D.1987)); West Two Rivers Ranch v. Pennington Co., 1996 SD 70, ¶ 6, 549 N.W.2d 683 (SD 1996) (“value is a question of fact and the trial court’s determination will only be overturned if it is clearly erroneous”). When the issue is a question of law, the decisions of the administrative agency and the circuit court are fully reviewable.

[¶ 9.] In the present case, the circuit court concluded this irrigated or irrigable land cannot be separately classified for purposes of taxation but should be considered as dryland and assessed according to SDCL 10-6-33.1 and SDCL 10-6-33.2. We will only reverse “if after a careful review of the entire record[,] we are definitely and firmly convinced a mistake has been committed.... ” Clarkson, 1998 SD 74, ¶ 5, 581 N.W.2d at 501 (quoting Spitzack v. Berg Corp., 532 N.W.2d 72, 75 (S.D.1995)); Richter Enterprises v. Sully County, 1997 SD 61, ¶7, 563 N.W.2d 841, 843 (citing Hutchinson County v. Fischer, 393 N.W.2d 778, 781 (S.D.1986)).

ANALYSIS AND DECISION

[¶ 10.] Whether County created a separate agricultural classification for assessment purposes in increasing the value of land deemed irrigable.

[¶ 11.] All real property in South Dakota is to be assessed for tax purposes at its true and full value. SDCL 10-6-33.

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Bluebook (online)
1999 SD 142, 602 N.W.2d 284, 1999 S.D. LEXIS 162, 1999 WL 1018648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butte-county-v-vallery-sd-1999.