Gateway Pines Hahira, Lp v. Lowndes County Board of Tax Assessors

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 3, 2023
• Docket: A23A1370
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 03, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A1370. GATEWAY PINES HAHIRA, LP v. LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF TAX ASSESSORS.

In 2018, Gateway Pines Hahira, LP (“Gateway”) appealed an assessment of the Lowndes County Board of Tax Assessors (the “Board”) to superior court. The superior court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the Board in 2022. In its order, the trial court ruled that excluding certain tax credits from the fair market valuation of the property would violate the taxation uniformity provisions of the Georgia Constitution. Gateway filed this direct appeal. The Supreme Court “has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision has been called into question.” Atlanta Independent School System v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 657 (1) (469 SE2d 22) (1996) (citing Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1)). Because Gateway challenges the trial court’s ruling on the constitutionality of excluding the tax credits, jurisdiction over this appeal may lie in the Supreme Court. See City of Decatur v. DeKalb County, 284 Ga. 434, 438 (2) (668 SE2d 247) (2008) (observing that the Court of Appeals was without jurisdiction to construe a constitutional provision). As the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction, see Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996), this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/03/2023 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.