Harris County Appraisal District v. West

708 S.W.2d 893, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12328
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 27, 1986
DocketA14-85-937-CV, A14-86-088-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 708 S.W.2d 893 (Harris County Appraisal District v. West) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris County Appraisal District v. West, 708 S.W.2d 893, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12328 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

*894 OPINION

MURPHY, Justice.

These are two original petitions for writ of mandamus. The purpose of the petitions is to require the Honorable David West to vacate his order of December 5, 1985, and his order of January 31, 1986. We conditionally grant both writs of mandamus.

Relator is a political subdivision of the state of Texas responsible for appraising property within the Harris County district for ad valorem tax purposes. Relator is defendant in the suit out of which these petitions for writ of mandamus arise. The plaintiffs are a class of certain Harris County property owners. 1

On September 4, 1985, an agreed order, jointly offered by the parties, was signed by respondent. The order granted declaratory and equitable relief to the class members from the alleged wrongful acts of relator during the process of appraising property for ad valorem purposes for 1984. Only one section of that order, however, is relevant to this mandamus proceeding.

In that section, relator was ordered to send by first class mail, within 30 days, a copy of the September 4th judgment and a copy of an affidavit with instructions for filing. The affidavit was part of the trial court’s order and the instructions were written by Harriet Hubacker, attorney for the class. The mailing was ordered sent to each Harris County property owner whose 1985 valuation had been determined as a result of an informal or formal protest hearing. 2

Relator was also ordered to post copies of the notice of class relief and the agreed judgment in its central and regional offices as well as its Board Meeting Room. Relator was further ordered to publish the notice of class relief in The Houston Post and Houston Chronicle on September 8, September 15, and December 8, 1985. Relator was also required to maintain a supply of affidavits and instruction sheets in its central and regional offices until December 31, 1985.

The agreed order further provided that class members desiring relief were required to file with Ms. Hubacker a fully executed affidavit together with a cashier’s check or money order in the amount of $25.00 for attorney’s fees made payable to Ms. Hubacker. The affidavits and money orders or checks were to be postmarked on or before December 31, 1985.

On December 2, 1985, Ms. Hubacker filed, in the same cause number under which the agreed order was entered, an unsworn motion entitled “Motion for Injunction in Aid of Enforcement of Judgment.” On December 4, 1985, respondent heard the motion. It was undisputed that relator had mailed notices as required by the agreed order. The notices were mailed *895 to more than 100,000 Harris County property owners enclosed with relator’s 1985 Appraisal Review Board Order. That the notices would be mailed as an enclosure with the Appraisal Review Board Order was known to the parties and the trial court when the agreed order was signed. No one contended relator did not fully comply with the notice provisions of the September 4th order.

On the following day, December 5, 1985, respondent nonetheless found relator’s mailing with the Appraisal Review Board Order was not sufficient to give actual notice and further found a personal letter of explanation to 37,500 property owners from Ms. Hubacker was necessary to ensure actual notification. 3

Respondent therefore entered the first order of which relator complains in our case number A14-85-937-CV. Respondent’s order directed relator to deliver to Ms. Hubacker on or before 5 p.m., December 5, 1985, a check in the amount of $27,180.00 to cover the cost of mailing personal notice to potential class members. The order was made effective immediately and was not to be suspended in event of an appeal. On December 5, 1985, relator filed a motion to vacate the order. An oral stay was granted. On the following day the motion to vacate was denied and the oral stay was lifted.

On December 6, 1985, we granted leave to file mandamus and stayed the December 5th order.

On December 6, 1985, Ms. Hubacker mailed, at her expense, the notices ordered by respondent. Because of computer error by Ms. Hubacker’s staff, 5000 letters were not printed for the December 6th mailing. Accordingly, Ms. Hubacker on December 24, 1985, remailed all the notices except to those persons who had returned affidavits or whose notices had been returned by the post office.

On January 22, 1986, Ms. Hubacker filed in the trial court, in the same cause number under which the agreed order was entered, an unsworn motion entitled “Motion to Allow Late Filed Affidavits.”

The motion was heard by respondent January 31, 1986. At the hearing, the class presented evidence that after the September agreed order and after the mailing mandated by that order, Harris County property owners had filed additional protests for 1985 and were continuing to file protests until the last deadline for doing so, January 31, 1986. One hundred eleven thousand, one hundred seventy-three (111,-173) protests were filed before September 6, 1985 (two days after the agreed order was signed). After September 6, 1985, more than 5000 protests were filed. (The timeliness of 1455 of those protests was unresolved.)

Evidence was also presented demonstrating an increased response in return of affidavits after the two December mailings. Testimony was also elicited concerning returned mail.

As in the December hearing, no evidence of changed conditions was presented. There was no contention relator had failed to comply with respondent’s September order.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the second order of which relator complains in our case number A14-86-088-CV was entered. That order, citing “new and unforeseen circumstances,” changed and extended the December 31, 1985 deadline set forth in the September order. The order also required relator to perform additional acts, in connection with notice to the class, not required by the September order and to pay all costs for mailing additional individual notices to property owners. Based on respondent’s findings, the January order was to accommodate persons who received Ms. Hubacker’s two December mailings as *896 well as all persons who had filed or will file protests after the entry of the September agreed order. The order was made effective immediately and was not to be suspended in event of an appeal.

On February 4,1986, we granted leave to file mandamus. We stayed the January order on February 5, 1986. On that same day, the first mandamus, number A14-85-937-CV, was argued before this Court. At argument, the parties agreed to the submission of the second mandamus, our number A14-86-088-CY, on the briefs filed for the first mandamus and on the arguments made that day.

Relator argues the orders are void because (1) respondent lacked jurisdiction to enter them or (2) respondent lacked the power to change an agreed order.

Neither party contends the September order is not final. It, indeed, is clearly a final order, disposing of all parties and issues in the case.

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708 S.W.2d 893, 1986 Tex. App. LEXIS 12328, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-county-appraisal-district-v-west-texapp-1986.