Crystal Point Joint Venture v. Arizona Department of Revenue

932 P.2d 1367, 188 Ariz. 96, 237 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 20, 1997 Ariz. App. LEXIS 26
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 25, 1997
Docket1 CA-TX 95-0013
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 932 P.2d 1367 (Crystal Point Joint Venture v. Arizona Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crystal Point Joint Venture v. Arizona Department of Revenue, 932 P.2d 1367, 188 Ariz. 96, 237 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 20, 1997 Ariz. App. LEXIS 26 (Ark. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

WEISBERG, Judge.

Maricopa County (the county) appeals and Crystal Point Joint Venture (the taxpayer) cross-appeals the judgment entered by the tax court. We affirm on both the appeal and the cross-appeal.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The taxpayer developed an eighteen-story, luxury condominium building in Phoenix which consisted of 69 units, each with separate tax parcel numbers. As of January 1, 1992, the taxpayer still owned 37 units. In mid-1992, studio units that had been associated with six of the condominium units as maid’s quarters became separately parcelled, and three were sold. As of January 1, 1993, the taxpayer owned the remaining three studio units and all 37 units from the preceding year.

The Maricopa County Assessor assigned separate full cash values to each of the units for tax year 1992. The taxpayer challenged these assessments before the Maricopa County Board of Equalization (BOE) and then the State Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA). See generally Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) §§ 42-221, 42-241.01, 42-245. The sum of the separate full cash values for 1992 that BOE fixed and BOTA upheld was $11,-801,888.

Although the Assessor revalued the units for 1993, the taxpayer also challenged the revaluations before BOE. The sum of the separate full cash values for 1993 fixed by BOE was $6,831,256.

The taxpayer brought actions in the tax court challenging the BOTA valuations for 1992 and the BOE valuations for 1993. See generally A.R.S. § 42-177. The actions were consolidated. After a three-day bench trial, the tax court found that 1) the taxpayer had failed to produce sufficient evidence to show that the valuations were too high, and 2) although the county had demonstrated that the valuations were too low, it had failed to provide sufficient evidence from which the court could determine the actual full cash values. See A.R.S. § 42 — 178(B); Department of Revenue v. Transamerica Title Ins. Co., 117 Ariz. 26, 28, 570 P.2d 797, 799 (App. 1977). The court entered formal judgment affirming the valuations.

The county now appeals and the taxpayer cross-appeals raising the following issues:

1. Did the tax court err in finding that the taxpayer had not met its burden of proving that the values were excessive and, if so, should the values be reduced to those supported by the taxpayer’s expert witness?
2. After having determined that the county had shown that the values were insufficient, did the tax court err in failing to set the new values supported by the county’s expert?
3. Should condominium units be valued as separate parcels of real property and, if so, did the tax court err in setting a single *99 aggregate full cash value for the taxpayer’s units for each year?
4. Did the tax court err in entering a judgment that did not include the stipulated legal classifications of each unit?
5. Did the tax court err in denying the county’s request for expert witness fees and double costs under Rule 68, Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure?

We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12 — 2101(B). This appeal is assigned to Department T of this court pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-120.04(G) and -170(C).

DISCUSSION

I.

We first address the taxpayer’s argument on cross-appeal. The taxpayer contends that the tax court erred in determining that 1) it had failed to overcome the statutory presumption of correctness for the BOTA and BOE valuations, and 2) it had not established the correct values. See A.R.S. §§ 42-178(B)-(C).

In support of its argument, the taxpayer points to the testimony of its expert, Ralph Brekan, who applied the discounted cash flow method to appraise the units. The taxpayer argues that, since the county agreed that this appraisal method is a “standard appraisal method! ] and technique! ]” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5), 1 and since there was no competent evidence to the contrary, the tax court was required to adopt the units’ values as opined by Brekan. We, however, disagree.

Brekan explained the discounted cash flow appraisal method in his written report:

This technique estimates the price an investor/developer can afford to pay for all of the improved units after considering cost of sales, carrying costs, absorption periods, and profit. The retail prices of the respective units are estimated based upon the sales of similar unit types, including sales in the subject project, from which all holding costs are deducted, including marketing costs, and entrepreneurial profit to arrive at the net sales proceeds. The periodic net sales proceeds are then discounted to present value at an appropriate yield rate over the estimated period required for project development and market absorption. The result is an indication of the bulk market value to one owner or buyer.

(Emphasis added). He testified consistently at trial that the discounted cash flow method produced an estimate of market value representing what one willing buyer would have paid for all the units on January 1, 1992, and January 1, 1993. Brekan then assigned individual values to each of the units by apportioning the project’s discounted cash flow valuation among the units based upon the contributory value of each unit to the whole. He also acknowledged that, if he were determining the fair market value of each individual unit for residential use, he would do so by a different method using sales comparison data. Brekan thus made it clear that he based his market value opinions on the assumption that the condominium units constituted a single piece of real estate that was to be valued as such.

The taxpayer argues that Brekan’s discounted cash flow approach constitutes a “standard appraisal method! ] and technique!]” within A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5). It further contends that A.R.S. sections 42-221(E) and -229, together with DOR’s Assessment Procedures Manual and Land Manual, expressly contemplate appraising groups of commonly owned tax parcels as a single unit.

The county responds that each unit must be valued independently to satisfy both A.R.S. section 33-1204(B) and the Arizona constitutional requirement of uniformity. See Ariz. Const, art. IX, § 1 (“All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax____”). We agree *100 with the county, although we do so based upon the statute alone.

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Bluebook (online)
932 P.2d 1367, 188 Ariz. 96, 237 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 20, 1997 Ariz. App. LEXIS 26, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crystal-point-joint-venture-v-arizona-department-of-revenue-arizctapp-1997.