Goldsmith's Division, Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. City of Memphis

484 S.W.2d 538, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 379
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 5, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 484 S.W.2d 538 (Goldsmith's Division, Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. City of Memphis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goldsmith's Division, Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. City of Memphis, 484 S.W.2d 538, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 379 (Tenn. 1972).

Opinions

OPINION

ERBY L. JENKINS, Special Justice.

The complainant, Goldsmith’s Division, Federated Department Stores, Inc., is a Delaware corporation which in 1969 operated a department store in downtown Memphis on real estate which was assessed for real estate taxes by the City of Memphis and the County of Shelby.

The City Assessor assessed Goldsmith’s property, consisting of eight parcels, at $1,977,000.00 for 1969 City real estate tax purposes, and the County Assessor assessed said property at an identical value for 1969 County real estate tax purposes. Both the City and County Assessors assessed said property on the basis of fifty (50%) percent of value as determined by them.

On May 23, 1969, Goldsmith’s was afforded a full hearing before the two Boards of Equalization, which met jointly, but which separately considered Goldsmith’s petitions and assessed Goldsmith’s property at the same values at which they had been assessed by the City and County Assessors.

After being notified in writing of the Boards’ decisions, Goldsmith’s on or about June 13, 1969, filed petitions with the State Board of Equalization in which it appealed the County Board’s assessment to the State Board. The petitions to the State Board of Equalization contained the following language:

“Taxpayer appeals both the Memphis City and Shelby County assessments which have been made at the county assessed value indicated above.”

The record shows no other mention of an appeal of the city assessment.

The State Board, on the recommendation of its Hearing Officer, assessed Goldsmith’s property at $1,575,000.00 for 1969 County tax purposes, a reduction of $402,000.00 from the assessment of same initially made by the County Assessor and approved by the County Board of Equalization. On November 19, 1969, the State Board of Equalization certified the corrected County assessment to officials of Shelby County. The State Board failed to take any action, assume any jurisdiction, or make any certification concerning the City assessment.

The City taxes were due September 1, 1969, but the final action of the State Board of Equalization was not taken until November 19, 1969. At that time, Goldsmith’s demanded that the City adjust the City assessment as determined by the City Board of Equalization, by reducing it to a value equal to Goldsmith’s County assessment as determined by the State Board of Equalization. The City refused to do so, and insisted that Goldsmith’s pay the City taxes, with interest and penalties, based upon the City assessment made by the City Board.

[540]*540Goldsmith’s on November 24, 1969, paid under protest the City taxes, with interest and penalties, demanded by the City. If the City assessment of Goldsmith’s property had been the same as the revised County assessment of the same, the City taxes payable by Goldsmith’s, exclusive of interest and penalties, would have been $8,602.80 less than the $42,307.80 in City taxes it actually paid.

On December 8, 1969, Goldsmith’s filed in the Chancery Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, an original bill against the City of Memphis and its Treasurer, John E. Lee, for the recovery, with interest from November 24, 1969, of $8,602.80 in tax and $1,269.24 in interest and penalties allegedly wrongfully collected from Goldsmith’s.

The trial court made no written findings of fact or conclusions of law, and rendered no written opinion. On March 23, 1971, the trial court entered its final decree in the cause, wherein it awarded a recovery to Goldsmith’s of the amount sought in its original bill, $8,860.87 together with interest of $707.65.

The issue for this Court is whether a decision by the Memphis Board of Equalization is reviewable by the State Board of Equalization and whether the city would be bound by a finding of “value” by the State Board.

Section 803 of the Charter of the City of Memphis (Private Acts 1921, Ch. 112, Sec. 1) provides for appeals to the Memphis Board of Equalization:

“The owner, or any person beneficially interested in any property assessed by such municipality, or the municipality itself, acting through any officer concerned in the assessment, levy or collection of taxes, may object or complain of such assessment as made by the Tax Assessor, and shall have the right to appeal from the returns made by said Tax Assessor to the Board of Equalization, which shall proceed to review such assessment, and the revision of such assessment, either upwards or downwards, as may be determined upon by the Board of Equalization, shall be final.”

Section 38-32 of the Memphis Code provides :

“When the board of equalization has determined the matters of equalization and values before it and within its jurisdiction, such action shall be final. (Code 1949, § 401)”

Thus, the Memphis Charter and Code provide that the decision of the Memphis Board of Equalization shall be final. This Court has said:

“The action of the Board of Equalization is made final by the governing statute, and it is too well settled for discussion that no right of review by certiorari exists, unless it be shown that the Board has exceeded its jurisdiction, or acted illegally, or fraudulently. It appears from the petition that petitioner was given a hearing before the Board and that all the facts set out in the petition as to the sale at which petitioner purchased were submitted to the Board. Petitioner thus had its day in the Court fixed by law.” Treadwell Realty Co. v. City of Memphis, 173 Tenn. 168, 116 S.W.2d 997 (1937).

On facts somewhat similar, this Court said in W. J. Savage Co. v. City of Knoxville, 167 Tenn. 642, 72 S.W.2d 1057 (1933):

“As said in the cases, value is a matter of opinion, and the opinion of the courts is not likely to be any better than the opinion of tribunals specially created to fix property values. It is competent for the Legislature to provide that the findings of such tribunals shall be final so long as they act within their jurisdiction, observe statutory requirements, and there is no fraud.”

The Tennessee Legislature has the power to provide that the decisions of municipal boards of equalization on matters [541]*541of valuation are final. The City of Memphis was granted such power and exercised such power under its charter and code.

The Appellee contends since the passage of Chapter 325, Public Acts of 1967, incorporated in T.C.A. § 67-605, all assessments made by the City of Memphis are subject to the State Board’s jurisdiction and control. The repealing clause of Chapter 325 states:

“An act with respect to the assessment of property for taxation and to repeal all statutes inconsistent herewith, including but not limited to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-605.”

This Court applied this clause in Metropolitan Government of Nashville v. Hillsboro Land Co., 222 Tenn. 431, 436 S.W.2d 850

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484 S.W.2d 538, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goldsmiths-division-federated-department-stores-inc-v-city-of-memphis-tenn-1972.