Dove Valley Business Park Associates, Ltd. v. Board of County Commissioners

945 P.2d 395, 1997 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1931, 1997 Colo. LEXIS 844, 1997 WL 569296
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedSeptember 15, 1997
DocketNo. 96SC101
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 945 P.2d 395 (Dove Valley Business Park Associates, Ltd. v. Board of County Commissioners) 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
Dove Valley Business Park Associates, Ltd. v. Board of County Commissioners, 945 P.2d 395, 1997 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1931, 1997 Colo. LEXIS 844, 1997 WL 569296 (Colo. 1997).

Opinion

Justice BENDER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this property tax case, the respondents, the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners (the county) and the Treasurer of Arapahoe County (the treasurer), refused to return the redemption interest paid by the petitioners (the taxpayers) on that portion of the taxpayers’ real property taxes which was determined to be excessive and was refunded as a result of later protest and abatement proceedings. The taxpayers sued, claiming that the county and the treasurer violated the takings clauses of the United States and Colorado Constitutions and were unjustly enriched. The district court dismissed the taxpayers’ complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The court of appeals affirmed in Dove Valley Business Park Associates v. Board of County Commissioners, 923 P.2d 242 (Colo.App.1995), holding that any taking that occurred was constitutionally permissible and that the county had not been unjustly enriched. The taxpayers petitioned this court for certiorari review of the decision of the court of appeals.1

[397]*397We hold that redemption interest is a statutorily imposed penalty, an additional charge, which must be calculated based on the amount of taxes paid by the purchaser of a tax lien rather than on the amount of taxes determined to have been actually owed at a later protest or abatement proceeding. § 39-12-103, 11 C.R.S. (1997). Redemption interest is a penalty exacted from the taxpayer for the privilege of redemption because the taxpayer failed to pay property taxes before the property was sold at a tax hen sale. Id. Because the taxpayer has no reasonable expectation based on state law of being exempt from this penalty, we hold that no taking occurs when the county charges redemption interest as required by statute. We further hold that the county was not unjustly enriched by the taxpayers’ payment of this penalty because the taxpayers conveyed no benefit to the county. We affirm the court of appeals, but differ in our reasoning.

I.

The taxpayers each own parcels of commercial real property located in Arapahoe County.2 For the tax years 1989, 1990, and/or 1991, the Arapahoe County Assessor overvalued these parcels by as much as 48% above their actual value. The taxpayers failed to pay their taxes for the years in which their properties were overvalued, and the treasurer conducted a tax sale at which third party bidders purchased tax liens on some of these properties. Properties of the taxpayers on which no bids were submitted at the sale were removed from the county tax rolls.

The taxpayers then redeemed much of their property by paying the amount of the erroneous tax assessment, delinquent interest3 on the erroneous assessment, redemption interest on the erroneous assessment, and the costs of the sale. Delinquent interest is interest that accrues when the taxpayer fails to pay property taxes by the statutory due date. § 39-10-104.5, 11 C.R.S. (1997).

One of the taxpayers, Havana Street, Ltd., filed a protest upon receiving the notice of valuation from the assessor. The other taxpayers waited until after the tax lien sale and then petitioned for abatement and refund. The protest and the petitions for abatement were denied by the assessor and the assessor’s denial was affirmed on appeal to the Arapahoe County Board of Equalization (BOE). Further appeal to the State Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) resulted in a substantial lowering of the assessed values of all the taxpayers’ properties and an order to the treasurer to abate the taxes.

The county refunded the erroneously levied taxes, but refused to pay any refund interest for having held the taxpayers’ money in error. Refund interest is interest paid to the taxpayer on the amount of the refunded payment. § 39-10-114(l)(b), 11 C.R.S. (1997). In addition, the county refused to return to the taxpayers the delinquent interest and the redemption interest that the taxpayers paid on the portion of the tax assessment determined to be excessive. The taxpayers sued the county and the treasurer, arguing that the county’s refusal to pay these amounts constituted a violation of the statutory scheme, an unconstitutional taking, and unjust enrichment.

The taxpayers moved for summary judgment, and the county and the treasurer responded by moving to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. After a hearing, the district court issued a declaratory judgment that the taxpayers [398]*398were not statutorily entitled to refund interest, nor were they entitled to a reimbursement of the delinquent interest and the redemption interest paid on the abated portion of the taxes. The district court held that the statutory scheme was neither unconstitutional nor inequitable, and that the taxpayers failed to present any evidence in support of their claims. The district court dismissed the taxpayers’ claims for failure to state a claim.

The taxpayers appealed. The court of appeals agreed with the taxpayers that the county was required to pay refund interest4 and to reimburse the taxpayers for delinquent interest paid on the abated portion of the taxes. See Dove Valley, 923 P.2d at 245, 248. However, the court of appeals agreed with the district court that the county was not required by statute to reimburse the taxpayers for redemption interest paid on the abated portion of the taxes. See id.

Having determined that the county was statutorily entitled to retain the redemption interest paid on the erroneously levied taxes, the court of appeals turned to the question of whether this statutory procedure constituted an unconstitutional taking. See id. The court stated that the abatement award was a judgment, and therefore a property interest which cannot be taken by the government without following due process of law requirements or payment of just compensation. See id. at 249. The court assumed for purposes of its analysis that the charging of redemption interest on the erroneously assessed taxes diminishes the effect of the judgment and therefore constitutes a governmental appropriation of the award. See id. The court of appeals reasoned, however, that this taking was permissible because it was rationally related to the important and legitimate governmental interest in the regular receipt of public revenue. See id.

The court of appeals also held that the county had not been unjustly enriched by retaining the redemption interest paid by the taxpayers on the erroneous assessment. See id. at 250. The court of appeals noted that when a third party purchases the tax lien, the county receives no benefit because redemption interest accrues to the buyer rather than to the county. See id. at 251. The court of appeals acknowledged that the taxpayer does pay redemption interest to the county when no investor can be found to purchase the tax lien. See id The court reasoned that any benefit to the county under these circumstances was not inequitable because the county did not act in bad faith. See id.

The court of appeals remanded with instructions for the district court to order the county to pay refund interest and to reimburse the taxpayers for the delinquent interest paid on the erroneously levied taxes. See id.

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Bluebook (online)
945 P.2d 395, 1997 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1931, 1997 Colo. LEXIS 844, 1997 WL 569296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dove-valley-business-park-associates-ltd-v-board-of-county-commissioners-colo-1997.