Carrara Place, Ltd. v. Arapahoe County Board of Equalization

761 P.2d 197, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1308, 1988 Colo. LEXIS 149, 1988 WL 93261
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedSeptember 12, 1988
Docket86SA341
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 761 P.2d 197 (Carrara Place, Ltd. v. Arapahoe County Board of Equalization) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carrara Place, Ltd. v. Arapahoe County Board of Equalization, 761 P.2d 197, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1308, 1988 Colo. LEXIS 149, 1988 WL 93261 (Colo. 1988).

Opinions

ROVIRA, Justice.

Appellants (taxpayers) challenge the Arapahoe County Assessor’s valuation of commercial properties they own in and near the Denver Tech Center. The Arapahoe County Board of Equalization (Board) upheld the Assessor’s valuations, and the district court in turn affirmed the Board’s decision. We affirm.

Taxpayers contend first, that the Assessor erred by failing to take into account 1985 economic conditions in appraising the properties; second, that the applicable statutes are unconstitutional to the extent that they do not permit the assessor to consider such conditions; and third, that the assessor’s valuations for assessment and the Board’s affirmation of those assessments suffer from a number of substantive and procedural defects.

I.

A.

On June 24, 1985, taxpayers filed protests to their respective 1985 property valuations with the Arapahoe County Assessor (Assessor). § 39-5-122(2), 16B C.R.S. (1987 Supp.). They asserted that the Assessor failed to consider 1985 economic data in making his appraisals, and that as a consequence the valuations for assessment were excessive and not equalized. In addition, each protest offered an alternative valuation based on appraisals made by a professional appraiser. The Assessor denied the protests on the grounds that “[t]he data presented by [taxpayers] is [sic] inappropriate and does not justify adjustment of the 1977 level of value.”

Taxpayers then petitioned for review of their properties’ assessed values before the Board.1 § 39-8-106(1), 16B C.R.S, (1982 & 1987 Supp.). The petitions were consolidated and an extensive three-day hearing was held during July 1985. See § 39-8-107(1), 16B C.R.S. (1982). The Board subsequently denied the petitions and allowed the Assessor’s valuations for assessment to stand.2

Taxpayers appealed the Board’s order to the Arapahoe County District Court, see § 39-8-108(1), 16B C.R.S. (1985 Supp.), which in turn affirmed the Board’s decision. Because their challenge questions the constitutionality of the property tax statutes at issue, taxpayers appealed the district court’s decision directly to this court. See § 13-4-102(l)(b), 6A C.R.S. (1987).

B.

A brief overview of the manner in which real property is appraised is necessary for understanding the issues to be resolved.

The law governing the Assessor’s valuation of most commercial real property provides, in part:

The actual value of such property ... shall be that value determined by appropriate consideration of the cost approach, the market approach, and the income approach to appraisal. The assessor shall consider and document all elements of [200]*200such approaches that are applicable prior to a determination of actual value....

§ 39-l-108(5)(a), 16B C.R.S. (1985 Supp.).3 The actual value, as found by the Assessor, is used to determine a “valuation for assessment,” or assessed value, upon which property taxes are levied. § 39-1-104(1), 16B C.R.S. (1987 Supp.).

The statutes do not require, however, that the Assessor appraise all real property within his jurisdiction each year to determine the properties' actual values during the tax year for assessment purposes. Instead, the General Assembly has mandated a “base year” method of assigning values to property, under which the value of real property is based upon a specified year (the base year). The base year value is then utilized in calculating the property’s assessed value each year until a new base year is fixed and the property is revalued.

The statute governing valuations for assessment applicable here provided that:

For the years 1983 through 1986, the 1977 level of value and the manuals and associated data published for the year 1977 by the administrator and approved by the advisory committee to the administrator shall be utilized for determining actual value of real property....

§ 39~l-104(10)(a), 16B C.R.S. (1985 Supp.). The term “level of value” as used in that section means:

[T]he actual value of taxable real property as ascertained by the application of the applicable factors enumerated in section 39-1-103(5) for the calendar year immediately preceding the “base year”, which is the year for which the administrator is required by this article to publish manuals and associated data.

§ 39-l-104(9)(c), 16B C.R.S. (1982). Under those provisions, assessed values for the tax years 1983 through 1986 were determined with reference to the 1977 base year, and the 1977 level of value was in turn based on economic conditions as they existed in 1976. Those conditions encompassed such factors, among others, as construction costs, market value, vacancy rates, rental income, tax levels, operating expenses, and capitalization rates.

Robert M. Higgins, Supervisor of. Appraisals in the Arapahoe County Assessor’s Office, explained the Assessor’s implementation of the base year method and his ultimate valuation of real properties:

We did an analysis of values in Arapahoe County for 1977, 1/1/77. We looked at cost approach, market approach and income approach and weighed those values and tested those values within our county and arrived at a correlated value, which we had used on all the properties.

II.

Taxpayers contend that the Assessor’s values are invalid because they failed to reflect economic data current at the time of appraisal, or in the alternative, that if the statutes do not permit consideration of such data then the statutes violate article X, section 3(l)(a) of the Colorado Constitution. In addition, taxpayers argue that the Assessor’s appraisals and methods violated several statutory guidelines and were not based on adequate data.

Taxpayers argue first that the Assessor’s appraisals are invalid because the Assessor relied on 1976 normal vacancy rates and property tax rates, among other data, in valuing taxpayers’ buildings. They contend that the appraisals should have reflected 1985 vacancy and property tax rates.

Because vacancy rates and property tax rates in the Denver Tech Center were substantially higher in 1985 than in 1976, the Assessor’s appraisals yielded higher values for taxpayers’ properties than would have resulted had the Assessor used economic data from 1985. The Assessor claims, however, that he was prohibited by statute from considering 1985 economic data in [201]*201fixing the properties’ base year value. We agree.

Section 39-l-104(10)(a), 16B C.R.S. (1985 Supp.), requires that Assessors utilize “the 1977 level of value and the manuals and associated data published for the year 1977 ... for determining actual value of real property....” Once a property’s correct base year value is determined in accordance with that section, the property may not be revalued to a level higher or lower than the base year value,

[E]xcept as necessary to reflect the increase or decrease in actual value attributable to an unusual condition.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Title, Ballot Title and Submission Clause for 2019-2020 3
2019 CO 57 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2019)
Independence Institute v. Gessler
869 F. Supp. 2d 1289 (D. Colorado, 2012)
Qwest Corp. v. Colorado Division of Property Taxation
310 P.3d 113 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2011)
Co. Comm. Health Network v. Co. Gen. Assem.
166 P.3d 280 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2007)
Colorado Community Health Network v. Colorado General Assembly
166 P.3d 280 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2007)
Davidson v. Sandstrom
83 P.3d 648 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2004)
No.
Colorado Attorney General Reports, 2004
Board of County Commissioners v. City & County of Broomfield
62 P.3d 1086 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2002)
Padre Resort, Inc. v. Jefferson County Board of Equalization
30 P.3d 813 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2001)
Gilpin County Board of Equalization v. Russell
941 P.2d 257 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1997)
Fidelity Castle Pines, Ltd. v. State
948 P.2d 26 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1997)
Tivolino Teller House, Inc. v. Fagan
926 P.2d 1208 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1996)
Matter of Title, Ballot Title, Sub. Cl.
898 P.2d 1076 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1995)
Macravey v. Hamilton
898 P.2d 1076 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1995)
Zaner v. City of Brighton
899 P.2d 263 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1995)
Nicholl v. E-470 Public Highway Authority
896 P.2d 859 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1995)
City of Aurora v. Acosta
892 P.2d 264 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1995)
Bickel v. City of Boulder
885 P.2d 215 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1994)
City & County of Denver v. Board of Assessment Appeals
848 P.2d 355 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
761 P.2d 197, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1308, 1988 Colo. LEXIS 149, 1988 WL 93261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carrara-place-ltd-v-arapahoe-county-board-of-equalization-colo-1988.