Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. State

197 N.W. 114, 111 Neb. 362, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 122
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 1923
DocketNo. 23693
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 197 N.W. 114 (Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. State, 197 N.W. 114, 111 Neb. 362, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 122 (Neb. 1923).

Opinion

Letton, J.

This is a proceeding in error under .section 5901, Comp. St. 1922, to review the assessment for taxation made by the state board of equalization and assessment of that part of its property and franchises required by law to be assessed by that body. The complainant alleged in its petition for a hearing before the state board that all property in the state other than railroad property has been valued for assessment purposes by the county authorities at not to exceed 50 per cent, of its actual value; that the law provides that the property of complainant be also valued on the same basis as used for the valuation of all other classes of property; that if the tentative assessed valuation of its property be not reduced to the same percentage of actual value as other property, or unless all other property be valued and assessed [365]*365by increasing the value to the percentage at which the complainant’s property has been assessed, complainant would be denied the equal protection of the law, and its property would be taken for public use without just compensation and without due process of law. It alleges that the tentative assessment of $10,694,409, made on June 15, 1923, is in excess of the actual value of the complainant’s property, which does not exceed $5,186,920, and that this valuation should be further equalized with the assessment of other property in the state. The complainant requested that the board either reduce the valuation of its property to the same percentage of actual value as other property, or that it increase the valuation of all classes of property in each county tp the same percentage at which the complainant's property, has been assessed. Other railroad companies filed similar complaints. A hearing was had and at its conclusion the . board adhered to the tentative valuation.

The testimony on behalf of the railroad companies was in substance as follows: That an .investigation was made for them of the sales prices of land in 72 counties for the year ending April 1, 1923. The instructions to the examiners were to omit all transactions that appeared to be the closing up of a farm sale or transfer, and conveyances between parties who were members of the same family, or for natural love and affection, or consideration of love and one dollar. No judicial sales or sales under process were included. The investigation covered 3,227 deeds, the number of acres sold was 648,475, and the total consideration shown by the deeds was $42,411,493. The assessed valuation of the same land in 1922 was $23,730,780. The average sale price per acre was $65.40, and the average assessed', valuation per acre on the same land was $36.59, being 56.9 per cent, of the sales value. It was not shown which of the sales were for cash or upon terms. There was no assessment of real estate required under the statute in 1923. The 1922 assessment remains except for improvements placed upon the land within the tax year of 1922-1923. Investigation was also made with regard to mortgaged lands. The [366]*366valuation placed upon the property by the owners, the appraisement made by the loan companies and the assessed valuation were compared. In these counties the owners’ valuation was $60,854,436.; the appraisement made by the loan companies was $49,004,938, and the assessed valuation for 1922 was $24,905,799. The assessed value was 40.9 per cent, of the owners’ valuation, and 50.8 per cent, of the loan companies’ appraisement. There was also introduced a large number of affidavits of different landowners in the respective counties, all substantially to the effect that in each county the affiant had personally investigated the lands transferred in said county from April 1, 1922, to March’ 31, 1923, so as to acquaint himself'with the actual sale price, location and market value of the land. A list of transfers is attached, and the affiants swear that, in their opinions arrived at from actual observation and from information obtained from grantees of some of these transfers the market value on March 31, 1923, was on the average 100 per cent, of that shown by the deeds.'

Exhibit 11 was received in evidence. This exhibit contains the evidence and proceedings had before the state board in 1922, the year in which the present assessment of real estate was made. By this it is shown that, as the result of its own investigation in 1919 and' 1920, the board of equalization and assessment found and determined, as to real property, for the year 1920, that “the valuations as returned by the county boards averaged 68 per cent, of the real valuation as determined by the ratio process.” This' ratio of 68 per cent, of the actual value of real estate was adopted by the board as the basis for equalization purposes. Before this meeting of the board, at its request, a tentative plan of equalization between the counties of lands and improvements had been prepared by the secretary of the state board of equalization and the secretary of the department of finance. Part of this' report is as follows: “Before the assessment period began, a list of the transfers of lands in the different counties, from July 1, 1918, to July 7, 1919, was secured from, the proper county officials. ' The list as [367]*367sent in gave the number of transfers, the description of the land, number of acres, consideration, and 1919 assessed value of the same acres. When these lists were received, they were carefully checked over and transfers which plainly showed they were not bona fide sales were not used in compiling the average sale value for the county.” The following statement was made and published by the board:

“In the matter of equalization between counties, the state board has adhered to the early announced plan of accepting for valuation purposes the average value placed on lands and improvements by the precinct and county assessing officials. For equalization between counties, the value returned by the assessing officials of each county has been compared with the average real value, as established by the ratio process, based on bona fide sales from July 1, 1918, to July 1, 1919. . The equalization of the counties on the basis of the sale average was requested of the board at: the meeting of the assessing officials of the counties held! July 20, 1920. The ratio process, used in correcting the sale averages, is the plan used by Wisconsin for a number of years, and Minnesota and other states have adopted the same plan.
“Under this plan of equalization, the state board has the combined judgment, as to value, of the assessing officials of the counties and of the buyers and sellers of real estate for a year’s period. The year taken was previous to the land boom and does not cover the period of the highest prices.
“The valuations as returned by the county boards averaged 68% of the real value, as determined by the ratio process, and the state board adopted this 68% as the basis for equalization purposes. * * *
“That the board has adhered very closely to the above plan is shown by the fact that the average real value, as determined by the ratio process, for the state was $94.33, and the average value for assessment purposes $64.98, or 68%.
“Under this plan, the board has accepted and adopted the [368]*368average valuation of the local assessing officials.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
197 N.W. 114, 111 Neb. 362, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-rock-island-pacific-railway-co-v-state-neb-1923.