Dallas Central Appraisal District v. Jagee Corp.

812 S.W.2d 49, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1589, 1991 WL 111228
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 24, 1991
Docket05-90-01057-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 812 S.W.2d 49 (Dallas Central Appraisal District v. Jagee Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dallas Central Appraisal District v. Jagee Corp., 812 S.W.2d 49, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1589, 1991 WL 111228 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

WHITTINGTON, Justice.

In this ad valorem tax case, the parties stipulated the facts and the trial court entered judgment in favor of Jagee Corporation and E. Hoyle Graham (sometimes referred to collectively as “Jagee”) and against the Dallas Central Appraisal District and the Dallas County Appraisal Review Board (the Appraisal District). The Attorney General of Texas intervened because Jagee had attacked the constitutionality of section 25.06 of the Texas Tax Code. The trial court rendered judgment that the 1988 and 1989 appraised market value of Jagee’s property was $4,135,000 and the market value of Graham’s property was $1,750,000.- The Appraisal District complains that the fair value of Jagee’s property was $6,207,780 and Graham’s, $2,870,270. We reverse the trial court’s judgment and render judgment that the values urged by the Appraisal District are the correct appraised values.

FACTS

Both appellees own strip shopping centers in Dallas County. K-Mart is the primary tenant in each center. K-Mart leased Jagee’s property on December 21, 1970, from Jagee’s predecessor in title. The K-Mart initial lease expires in 1995, but K-Mart then has four five-year options to renew the lease on its present terms. K-Mart leased Graham’s property on August 30,1965. When K-Mart’s initial lease on Graham’s property expired on August 31, 1986, K-Mart exercised the first of its three five-year options to renew the lease.

K-Mart is not obligated under its lease to pay the 1988 and 1989 ad valorem taxes on either piece of real property. Although both leases initially provided fair market rental income to the owners, both became undermarket leases and were so January 1, 1988, and January 1, 1989, while the market rental prices for comparable lease properties had increased. The parties stipulated the variable values of both pieces of property as of January 1, 1988 and 1989 as follows:

*51 (1) The market value of a fee simple estate in the Jagee property was $6,207,-780. The value of Jagee’s property if it were not subject to leases or if it were subject to leases at current market rental rates was $6,207,780.
(2) The market value of the leased fee estate in the Jagee property was $4,135,-000. The market value of K-Mart’s leasehold estate was $2,072,780.
(3) The market value of a fee simple estate in the Graham property was $2,870,270. The value of Graham’s property if it were not subject to leases or if it were subject to leases at current market rental rates was $2,870,270.
(4) The market value of the leased fee estate in the Graham property was $1,750,000. The market value of K-Mart’s leasehold estate was $1,120,270. 1

The Dallas County Appraisal Review Board issued orders determining the 1988 and 1989 appraised values of the Jagee and Graham properties at $6,207,780 and $2,870,270 respectively. The parties submitted the case upon an Agreed Stipulation of Facts which raised the issue of the correct method of determining the market value of leased real estate for ad valorem tax purposes. The trial court entered judgment that the properties’ appraised values were $4,135,000 and $1,750,000 respectively-

Thé Appraisal District now complains in fifteen points of error that the trial court erred in considering the existing unfavorable K-Mart leases in arriving at the fair market value and the appraised value of the properties. We agree.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This case was submitted to the trial court solely upon stipulations of fact and cross-motions for judgment. This Court’s review of a case tried on an agreed statement of facts is limited to the sole issue of the correctness of the application of the law to those admitted facts. Sharyland Water Supply Corp. v. Hidalgo County Appraisal Dist., 783 S.W.2d 297, 298 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1990), aff'd sub nom. North Alamo Water Supply Corp. v. Willacy County Appraisal Dist., 804 S.W.2d 894, 899 (Tex.1991); Southern Pac. Transp. Co. v. Oscar Perez Forwarding Co., 712 S.W.2d 596, 596 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1986, no writ). We are without authority “to draw any inference or find any fact not embraced in the agreement unless as a matter of law such further inference or fact is necessarily compelled by the agreed upon evidentiary facts.” Lawler v. Lomas & Nettleton Mortgage Investors, 691 S.W.2d 593, 595 (Tex.1985) (citation omitted).

VALUATION OF PROPERTY

The applicable law is that a leasehold estate is a real estate interest and the Texas Tax Code controls. The issue here is who pays the taxes on the leasehold estates. The Appraisal District argues that Jagee and Graham should pay taxes on the full value of the property. Jagee and Graham argue that a leasehold estate in land is a separate estate not owned by them and for which they should not be liable.

A lessor, not a lessee, is responsible for taxes on the full value of the property. Cherokee Water Co. v. Gregg County Appraisal Dist., 801 S.W.2d 872, 875 (Tex.1990); Daugherty v. Thompson, 71 Tex. 192, 9 S.W. 99, 101 (1888); Martin v. City of Mesquite, 590 S.W.2d 793, 798 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.). “The lessor’s interests in the property are not just the future right to receive the property back at the end of term, but the present right to receive income in the form of rent.” Cherokee, 801 S.W.2d at 875.

In Cherokee, the Supreme Court considered the Texas Tax Code in determining that the landowner is responsible for the taxes when real property is subject to a lease:

*52 [W]e look to the language and structure of the property tax provisions for guidance. While the code goes into specific detail in providing for the taxation of leases in special situations, it does not provide a mechanism for taxing, assessing, and collecting on the vast majority of leases. Given the fact that the Tax Code specifically mentions those instances where the lessee’s name is to be carried on the property rolls for tax purposes and that Cherokee’s land is not exempt from taxation, Cherokee, as owner of the land, is responsible for payment of the taxes. 2

Cherokee, 801 S.W.2d at 876.

Here, the name “Jagee” can be substituted for “Cherokee” in the above passage.

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812 S.W.2d 49, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 1589, 1991 WL 111228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dallas-central-appraisal-district-v-jagee-corp-texapp-1991.