Denver Beechcraft, Inc. v. Board of Assessment Appeals

681 P.2d 945, 1984 Colo. LEXIS 539
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 7, 1984
DocketNo. 82SA483
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 681 P.2d 945 (Denver Beechcraft, Inc. v. Board of Assessment Appeals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denver Beechcraft, Inc. v. Board of Assessment Appeals, 681 P.2d 945, 1984 Colo. LEXIS 539 (Colo. 1984).

Opinion

DUBOFSKY, Justice.

The defendants, Board of Assessment Appeals of the State of Colorado, Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Board of Equalization and the Jefferson County Assessor, appeal a ruling of the Jefferson County District Court overturning Jefferson County’s assessment of property tax against the plaintiff, Denver Beechcraft, Inc. In the course of its analysis, the district court held unconstitutional section 41-3-107, 17 C.R.S. (1973), which exempts airport authorities from property tax. We reverse the district court’s ruling and uphold the constitutionality of section 41-3-107.

Section 39-3-112(1), 16B C.R.S. (1982), provides, subject to certain exceptions, that when real property which is exempt from taxation is leased to a private party in connection with a business conducted for profit, the lessee — here, Denver Beech-craft, Inc. — is taxed as if the lessee were the owner of the property.1 Jefferson [947]*947County assessed against the plaintiff property tax under section 39-3-112,16B C.R.S. (1982), for property which the plaintiff leases from the Jefferson County Airport Authority (airport authority), since section 41-3-107(l)(a), 17 C.R.S. (1973), exempts airport authorities from general and ad valo-rem taxes.2 The plaintiff appealed the assessment to the Board of Assessment Appeals of the State of Colorado (board), and the board denied relief. Under section 39-8-108(2), 16B C.R.S. (Supp.1983),3 the plaintiff brought an action for review of the board’s decision in Jefferson County District Court. The district court found for the plaintiff, holding that section 41-3-107, 17 C.R.S. (1973) (exempting airport authorities from tax) is unconstitutional. If the airport authority is not exempt from tax, no tax can be assessed the plaintiff under section 39-3-112(1); instead, the airport authority will be subject to assessment. The airport authority is not a party to this case.

I.

Before reaching the merits of the district court’s holding, we must resolve a preliminary issue. The defendants assert that the airport authority is an indispensable party to this case because the airport authority has an interest which may be affected by a determination of the constitutionality of section 41-3-107, 17 C.R.S. (1973). The defendants did not move at trial to join the airport authority or object to the plaintiff’s failure to join the airport authority. We hold that the absence of the airport authority as a party, under these circumstances, does not compel reversal of the district court’s judgment.

The plaintiff brought this action under section 39-8-108(2), 16B C.R.S. (Supp. 1983), which prescribes judicial review of board action in accordance with section 24-4-106, 10 C.R.S. (1982). See note 3, supra. Section 24-4-106(4) specifically requires joinder of certain parties in such actions. The section, in pertinent part, provides:

Every party to an agency action in a proceeding under section 24-4-105 not appearing as plaintiff in such action for judicial review shall be made a defendant; except that, in review of agency actions taken pursuant to section 24-4-103, persons participating in the rule-making proceeding need not be made defendants.

By implication, parties not required to be joined under section 24-4-106 are not “indispensable” in the sense that the action must be dismissed in their absence. West-Brandt Foundation, Inc. v. Carper, 199 Colo. 334, 608 P.2d 339 (1980).

The defendants argue that since the board could not have ruled on the constitutionality of the statute, the definition of indispensable parties cannot be limited to parties to the administrative action when the constitutionality of the statute under which the agency acts is at issue. This argument ignores the plain language of section 24-4-106 which includes constitutional review within its scope. That section mandates reversal of agency action found to be “... contrary to constitutional right ... or otherwise contrary to law.” Section [948]*94824-4-106(7), 10 C.R.S. (1982). “In all cases under review, the court shall determine all questions of law and interpret the statutory and constitutional provisions involved and shall apply such interpretation to the facts duly found or established.” Id. Furthermore, this result is consistent with federal precedent under Fed.R.Civ.P. 19(b). See National Licorice Co. v. NLRB, 309 U.S. 350, 60 S.Ct. 569, 84 L.Ed. 799 (1940); Jeffries v. Georgia Residential Finance Authority, 678 F.2d 919 (11th Cir.) cert. denied, 459 U.S. 971, 103 S.Ct. 302, 74 L.Ed.2d 283 (1982); Natural Resources Defense Council v. Berklund, 458 F.Supp. 925 (D.D.C.1978) aff'd, 609 F.2d 553 (D.C.Cir.1979) (Joinder of all parties who could be prejudiced by litigation involving public issues is not required because such a requirement would effectively preclude such litigation against the government.). The airport authority was not a party to the proceeding before the board, and thus is not an indispensable party to the instant action. West-Brandt Foundation, 608 P.2d 339.

II.

The General Assembly may not exempt from taxation property which is not specified as exempt in Article X of the Colorado Constitution. Colo. Const. art. X, § 6; Logan Irrigation District v. Holt, 110 Colo. 253, 133 P.2d 530 (1943). Unless airport authorities are exempt from taxation under Article X, section 41-3-107 is unconstitutional.

The only provision in Article X which could include airport authorities as exempt is Article X, § 4, which states:

Public Property Exempt.
The property, real and personal, of the state, counties, cities, towns and other municipal corporations and public libraries, shall be exempt from taxation.

The parties focused on whether an airport authority is a municipal corporation within the meaning of the section.4

The district court, relying on Logan Irrigation District v. Holt, 110 Colo. 253, 133 P.2d 530 (1943), held that the airport authority is a “quasi-municipal corporation,” rather than a “true” municipal corporation and is thus not exempt from taxation under Article X, § 4. In Logan Irrigation District, this court held that personal property owned by the irrigation district was not exempt from taxation under Article X, § 4 because an irrigation district was not a municipal corporation within the meaning of the section. The court stated- that the irrigation district is not “a branch or subdivision of the sovereignty” and that the district’s “purposes are chiefly private, and for the benefit of private landowners,” concluding that the irrigation district is “a business enterprise upon which municipal powers have been incidentally conferred.” 133 P.2d at 532-533.5

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681 P.2d 945, 1984 Colo. LEXIS 539, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denver-beechcraft-inc-v-board-of-assessment-appeals-colo-1984.