Flavorland Foods v. Washington County Assessor

54 P.3d 582, 334 Or. 562, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 610
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 19, 2002
DocketOTC 4393; SC S47940
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 54 P.3d 582 (Flavorland Foods v. Washington County Assessor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flavorland Foods v. Washington County Assessor, 54 P.3d 582, 334 Or. 562, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 610 (Or. 2002).

Opinion

*564 LEESON, J.

The Department of Revenue and Washington County Assessor (taxing authorities) appeal from a judgment of the Oregon Tax Court granting summary judgment in favor of Flavorland Foods (taxpayer). Flavorland Foods v. Washington County Assessor, 15 OTR182 (2000). For therea- . sons that follow, we reverse the decision of the Tax Court and remand the case for further proceedings.

At issue is the meaning of the phrase “each unit of property in this state” in Ballot Measure 50 (1997). Measure 50 amended Article XI, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution. 1 The legislature referred Measure 50 to the voters to replace a property tax limitation measure that the voters had approved in 1996, which had been known popularly as Ballot Measure 47. As this court recently explained,

“Measure 47 was a short-lived constitutional amendment aimed at closing what its supporters considered to be a significant loophole in the property tax limitation goal of Measure 5 [an amendment to the Oregon Constitution adopted in 1990]. Certain practical and technical difficulties in the application of Measure 47 led the legislature to propose, and the people to adopt, Measure 50 as its effective replacement.”

Shilo Inn v. Multnomah County, 333 Or 101, 107 n 6, 36 P3d 954 (2001), modified on recons, 334 Or 11, 45 P3d 107 (2002) (citations omitted).

Measure 50 was superimposed on an ad valorem real-property tax system in the State of Oregon in which taxes were levied on a property’s real market value. See ORS 308.232 (1995) (“All real or personal property within each county shall be valued and assessed at 100 percent of its real market value.”). The assessment rolls set out separate values for the land and the improvements. ORS 308.215(l)(e), (f) (1995). However, real property generally was taxed as a whole. See Shields v. Dept. of Rev., 266 Or 461, 470, 513 P2d *565 784 (1973) (with some exceptions, real property taxed as whole); ORS 307.010 (1995) (real property includes land itself and all buildings, improvements, machinery, equipment, or fixtures).

As amended by Measure 50, Article XI, section ll(l)(a), of the Oregon Constitution provides:

“For the tax year beginning July 1, 1997, each unit of property in this state shall have a maximum assessed value for ad valorem property tax purposes that does not exceed the property’s real market value for the tax year beginning July 1,1995, reduced by 10 percent.”

(Emphasis added.) A property’s maximum assessed value may increase by no more than three percent per year. Or Const, Art XI, § ll(l)(b). The property is taxed on the lesser of the maximum assessed value or the real market value. See Or Const, Art XI, § ll(l)(a) (establishing “maximum assessed value” as upper limit on assessment) (emphasis added); Or Const, Art XI, § ll(l)(f) (“Each property’s assessed value shall not exceed the property’s real market value.”). Thus, if the real market value of property exceeds the property’s maximum assessed value, then property tax is levied based on the maximum assessed value, not the real market value, of the property. 2

As noted, the issue in this case is the meaning of the phrase “each unit of property in this state” in Article XI, section ll(l)(a). That issue comes to this court in the context of facts to which the parties have stipulated.

*566 I. FACTS

Taxpayer owns a parcel of commercial property in Washington County. Taxpayer and taxing authorities agree that, for 1995-96, the real market value of taxpayer’s land was $455,000, and that the real market value of the improvements on that land was $3,267,820, for a total of $3,722,820. As noted above, 1995 is the year that forms the basis for calculating a property’s maximum assessed value under the “cut and cap” provisions of Article XI, section ll(l)(a). In 1998-99, the tax year at issue here, the real market value of taxpayer’s land had increased to $691,130, but the real market value of the improvements on that land had decreased to $2,080,030.

In the Washington County Assessor’s view, Article XI, section ll(l)(a), created a cap on the value of the property as a whole. Thus, he concluded that, in calculating the maximum assessed value of taxpayer’s property, Article XI, section ll(l)(a), permitted him to increase the assessed value of the land up to its real market value in 1998-99, so long as the total assessed value of all the property in taxpayer’s tax account did not exceed the total maximum assessed value of all the property in the tax account for the 1997-98 tax year, plus three percent.

Taxpayer challenged the assessor’s calculation of the maximum assessed value for its property before the Washington County Board of Property Tax Appeals (board). The board rejected taxpayer’s challenge. Taxpayer then filed its complaint in the Tax Court. Before that court, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Taxpayer contended that Article XI, section ll(l)(a), required the assessor to calculate separate maximum assessed values for land and improvements. Under that approach, taxpayer argued, the maximum assessed value of its land for the 1998-99 tax year was $421,785, which was $270,345 less than the real market value of the land. Taxpayer did not challenge the assessed value that the assessor had assigned to its improvements for the 1998-99 tax year. The tax court granted summary judgment for taxpayer. Flavorland, 15 OTR at 185. Relying on its decision in Taylor v. Clackamas County Assessor, 14 OTR *567 504, modified on recons, 14 OTR 581 (1999), decision withdrawn by order Januaiy 11, 2000 (2000 WL 31987), the Tax Court held that the phrase “each unit of property in this state” in Article XI, section ll(l)(a), refers to each unit of assessable property. Flavorland, 15 OTR at 184-85. Because land and improvements are assessed separately, the Tax Court concluded, Article XI, section ll(l)(a), requires separate maximum assessed values for land and improvements. Id.

II. ANALYSIS

On review, taxing authorities contend that the phrase “each unit of property in this state” in Article XI, section ll(l)(a), means “all property under one property tax account, including land and improvements.” Taxpayer argues that the phrase “each unit of property in this state” refers to land and improvements separately. To resolve the parties’ dispute, we must construe Article XI, section ll(l)(a).

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Bluebook (online)
54 P.3d 582, 334 Or. 562, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flavorland-foods-v-washington-county-assessor-or-2002.