County Board of Equalization v. Utah State Tax Commission

927 P.2d 176, 303 Utah Adv. Rep. 41, 1996 Utah LEXIS 98, 1996 WL 662232
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1996
Docket940100, 950084
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 927 P.2d 176 (County Board of Equalization v. Utah State Tax Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
County Board of Equalization v. Utah State Tax Commission, 927 P.2d 176, 303 Utah Adv. Rep. 41, 1996 Utah LEXIS 98, 1996 WL 662232 (Utah 1996).

Opinions

ZIMMERMAN, Chief Justice:

The Salt Lake County Board of Equalization (“Board”) seeks review of an order of the Utah State Tax Commission (“Commission”) granting Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation (“Evans & Sutherland”) an exemption from Utah’s privilege tax. We affirm the Commission’s order.

Evans & Sutherland, a for-profit corporation, leases six parcels of land from the University of Utah. The parcels are located in Research Park, which was established “in the public interest” by the University on its property in Salt Lake City. Utah Code Ann. §§ 53B-17-501 to -506. Evans & Sutherland constructed six buildings on the parcels. Pursuant to the lease agreements, any buildings, structures, and improvements constructed by Evans & Sutherland will revert to the University upon termination of the leases.

Evans & Sutherland appealed the Board’s assessment of taxes on the land and buildings for the 1991 and 1992 tax years. Before the Board, Evans & Sutherland contended that either the buildings were exempt from taxation or their taxable value should be reduced because of the University’s rever-sionary interest in them. Evans & Sutherland also disputed the Board’s computation of the fair market value of the buildings. In addition, Evans & Sutherland maintained that it was exempt from privilege taxes on the land on which the buildings sit pursuant to section 59^-101(3)(c) of the Utah Code. The Board rejected Evans & Sutherland’s arguments. On appeal to the Commission, Evans & Sutherland withdrew its claim that the value of the buildings was subject to the University’s reversionary interest but contin[178]*178ued to dispute the Board’s valuation of the buildings and to maintain that the land was exempt from Utah’s privilege tax.

At the conclusion of its formal adjudication of the issues, the Commission agreed with the Board that the fair market value of the buildings was $24,844,800 in 1991 and $22,-844,800 in 1992, exclusive of the land. However, the Commission agreed with Evans & Sutherland that the land on which the buildings sit was and is exempt from the privilege tax.

In its ruling on the privilege tax exemption, the Commission first correctly noted that the land in question was exempt from property taxation because the land is owned by the University, and hence, by the State of Utah. See Utah Code Ann. § 59-2-1101(2)(b).1 Thus, the Commission concluded that “if the land in question is to be taxed at all, it must be taxed according to the provisions of Utah’s privilege tax.” Utah imposes a privilege tax “on the possession or other beneficial use enjoyed by any person of any real or personal property which for any reason is exempt from taxation, if that property is used in connection with a business conducted for profit.” Utah Code Ann. § 59-4-101(1) (1992).2

However, Utah also grants certain exemptions from the privilege tax. Under one of these exemptions, no privilege tax is imposed on “the use or possession of property where the proceeds inure to the benefit of a religious, educational, or charitable organization and not to the benefit of any other person.” Id. § 59-4-101(3)(c) (“exemption 3(c)”). The Commission ruled that because the rents paid by Evans & Sutherland inured to the benefit of an educational organization, namely, the University, the land in question was therefore exempt from the privilege tax. In so ruling, the Commission rejected the Board’s argument that the term “proceeds” as used in exemption 3(c) meant all business “income” or “profits” so as to assure that only property used exclusively for religious, educational, or charitable purposes was exempt from the privilege tax.

After Evans & Sutherland’s petition for reconsideration was denied by the Commission, the Board sought this court’s review of the Commission’s conclusion that the land was exempt from the privilege tax. That is the only issue we address in this opinion. Because section 59-4-101 of the Code contains no explicit grant of discretion to the Commission, we apply a correction of error standard to the Commission’s conclusions of law. Eaton Kenway, Inc. v. Auditing Div., 906 P.2d 882, 884 (Utah 1995) (citing Utah Code Ann. § 59-l-601(l)(b)).

“We begin by examining the plain language of the statute granting the exemption, Neel v. State, 889 P.2d 922, 925 (Utah 1995), while construing it so that it is in harmony with its overall legislative objective.” Eaton Kenway, 906 P.2d at 886. Section 59-4-101 provides in relevant part:

(1) A tax is imposed on the possession or other beneficial use enjoyed by any person of any real or personal property which for any reason is exempt from taxation, if that property is used in connection with a business conducted for profit.
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(3) No tax is imposed under this chapter on the following:
(a) the use of property which is a concession in, or relative to, the use of a public airport, park, fairground, or similar property which is available as a matter of right to the use of the general public;
(b) the use or possession of property by a religious, educational, or charitable organization;
[179]*179(c) the use or possession of property where the proceeds inure to the benefit of a religious, educational, or charitable organization and not to the benefit of any other person[.]

Utah Code Ann. § 59-4-101 (1992).

Our examination of the plain language of the statute leads us to reject the Board’s contention that the term “proceeds” in exemption 3(c) means all business “income” or “profits.” If exemption 3(c) is interpreted to mean that Evans & Sutherland must pay over all of its business income or profits to the University to qualify for the exemption, the effect would be the same as if Evans & Sutherland were an educational or charitable organization. The Board’s interpretation would render exemption 3(c) meaningless because it would effectively duplicate the immediately preceding exemption contained in subsection 3(b). Consequently, the Board’s interpretation of exemption 3(c) fails to give effect to all parts of the statute, which is contrary to our general rules of statutory construction. See Perrine v. Kennecott Mining Corp., 911 P.2d 1290, 1292 (Utah 1996) (citing Millett v. Clark Clinic Corp., 609 P.2d 934, 936 (Utah 1980)).

Further, we observe that in the context of a sale of real property, “proceeds” are the funds received from the sale.

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Related

State v. Gallegos
941 P.2d 643 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1997)
County Board of Equalization v. Utah State Tax Commission
927 P.2d 176 (Utah Supreme Court, 1996)

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927 P.2d 176, 303 Utah Adv. Rep. 41, 1996 Utah LEXIS 98, 1996 WL 662232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/county-board-of-equalization-v-utah-state-tax-commission-utah-1996.