City & County of Denver v. Board of Assessment Appeals

748 P.2d 1311
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 4, 1987
DocketNo. 87CA0312
StatusPublished

This text of 748 P.2d 1311 (City & County of Denver v. Board of Assessment Appeals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City & County of Denver v. Board of Assessment Appeals, 748 P.2d 1311 (Colo. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

CRISWELL, Judge.

Asserting that defendants failed to file their notice of appeal within the time required by § 39-8-108, C.R.S. (1986 Cum. Supp.), the City and County of Denver and the Winter Park Recreational Association (taxpayers) have moved to dismiss this appeal. We grant that motion in part.

The proceedings leading to this appeal were initiated by the taxpayers pursuant to § 39-8-108, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16B) and § 39-8-108, C.R.S. (1986 Cum.Supp.), to protest the tax assessments of certain real property by the Grand County Assessor for the tax years 1984, 1985, and 1986. Although the review proceeding for each tax year was separately initiated, all three proceedings were ultimately consolidated by the trial court for consideration and disposition. See C.R.C.P. 42(a).

Prior to its amendment in 1985, see Colo. Sess.Laws 1985, at 1228-1230, § 39-8-108 required a taxpayer to appeal an adverse assessment decision of a county board of equalization to the state board of assessment appeals (board) and, if unsuccessful there, to the district court. Accordingly, the taxpayers appealed the 1984 assessment to the board. When the board rejected their contentions, they petitioned the district court to have it review the board decision.

The 1985 amendment to § 39-8-108(1), however, gave any protesting taxpayer the choice of appealing a local board of equalization’s decision to the board or, alternatively, directly to the district court. The taxpayers elected to appeal their 1985 and 1986 assessments directly to the district court. That court ultimately entered a consolidated judgment in favor of the taxpayers in each of the three proceedings.

Defendants filed their notice of appeal from the district court’s consolidated judgment with this court on the 35th day after that judgment was entered. The issues presented by the taxpayers’ motion to dismiss, therefore, are whether that notice was filed within the time set by the pertinent statute and, if not, whether this court has authority to extend the time for filing such a notice beyond that set by the statute.

I.

Prior to its 1985 amendment, § 39-8-101, et seq., C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16B), made [1308]*1308no reference to the appellate review of a district court judgment entered upon that court’s review of a board decision. At that time, therefore, the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), § 24-4-106(9), C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 10), governed appeals to this court in such proceedings. See § 24-4-107, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 10); In re Claim of Zappas v. Industrial Commission, 36 Colo.App. 319, 543 P.2d 101 (1975). That statute allows an appeal from a district court judgment entered upon its review of a state agency decision “as may be permitted by law or the Colorado appellate rules.” However, since a county board of equalization is not an agency which exercises “statewide territorial jurisdiction” under § 24-4-107, C.R. S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 10), the APA does not apply to a direct action in the district court under the 1985 amendment. See Two G’s, Inc. v. Kalbin, 666 P.2d 129 (Colo.1983); Cottonwood Farms v. Board of County Commissioners, 725 P.2d 57 (Colo.App.1986).

Effective January 1, 1985, C.A.R. 4 was amended to allow a notice of appeal to be filed with the appellate court on or before 45 days from the date of the entry of a district court judgment. However, C.A.R. 4 is not applicable to “[ajppeals from ... special statutory proceedings,” C.A.R. 3.1(a), or “for special proceedings in which a different time period is set by statute for the taking of an appeal.” C.A.R. 1(b).

At the same time that § 39-8-108(1) was amended to allow a taxpayer the option of appealing to the board or directly to the district court, a new subsection was added to that statute. That provision, § 39-8-108(3), C.R.S. (1986 Cum.Supp.), reads as follows:

“If the petitioner has appealed to the district court and the decision of the court is against the petitioner, he may seek appellate review according to the Colorado appellate rules; but a notice of intent to seek appellate review must be filed with the district court within thirty days after its decision becomes final. If the decision of the district court is against the respondent, the respondent may seek appellate review of the decision according to the Colorado appellate rules within thirty days after such decision.” (emphasis supplied)

Hence, to the extent that § 39-8-108(3) is applicable to any of the appeals here, defendants had only thirty days from the date of entry of judgment within which to file their notice of appeal with respect to that proceeding. Defendants, however, argue that the provisions of § 39-8-108(3), which were added at the same time that the statute was amended to provide for a direct “appeal” to the district court, were intended to apply only in the case of such direct appeal and not in the case of proceedings in the district court to review a prior board decision. We agree.

. A statute must be interpreted in accordance with the intent of the legislative body adopting it. Beth Israel Hospital & Geriatric Center v. District Court, 683 P.2d 343 (Colo.1984). Hence, if a statute may bear varying interpretations, the interpretation to be adopted is the one which most accurately reflects its legislative intent. Engelbrecht v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 680 P.2d 231 (Colo.1984). This legislative intent may be ascertained by considering the language in dispute in the context of the entire statute, its objective, and the consequences which would follow any particular construction of that statute. Brown v. Board of County Commissioners, 720 P.2d 579 (Colo.App.1985).

With these principles in mind, we conclude that the General Assembly intended to have the 30-day time limit for appeals established by § 39-8-108(3) apply only to a judgment resulting from a direct action in the trial court. It was not intended to have that provision apply to a judgment rendered upon the review of a prior board decision.

There are, in our view, at least three considerations which support this conclusion.

[1309]*1309First, by its language, the provision in question is limited to those situations in which the taxpayer has “appealed to the district court.” (emphasis supplied) Importantly, § 39-8-108(1) and (2) are consistent in describing a direct action in the district court by the taxpayer as an “appeal.” They are just as consistent in referring to an action instituted to review a board decision as one involving a “petition” for review. At no point in any of these subsections of § 39-8-108 did the General Assembly use the word “appeal” to describe the judicial review of a board decision or the term “petition” to describe the institution of a direct action in the district court.

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Bluebook (online)
748 P.2d 1311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-county-of-denver-v-board-of-assessment-appeals-coloctapp-1987.