Lozier Corp. v. Douglas Cty. Bd. of Equal.

829 N.W.2d 652, 285 Neb. 705
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedApril 19, 2013
DocketS-12-322, S-12-323, S-12-324
StatusPublished
Cited by74 cases

This text of 829 N.W.2d 652 (Lozier Corp. v. Douglas Cty. Bd. of Equal.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lozier Corp. v. Douglas Cty. Bd. of Equal., 829 N.W.2d 652, 285 Neb. 705 (Neb. 2013).

Opinion

Nebraska Advance Sheets LOZIER CORP. v. DOUGLAS CTY. BD. OF EQUAL. 705 Cite as 285 Neb. 705

raised by the facts, but not presented in the pleadings, should not come at the expense of due process.” 273 Neb. at 1053, 736 N.W.2d at 373. In the present case, the amended complaint filed by Matt sought to modify custody and to award full custody to him. Although Brittni and Cristian expressed a preference during the custody hearing for a schedule in which they would stay with their parents by alternating 1 week at a time, no com- plaint to modify the parenting plan to this or other effect was filed. See § 42-364(6). The district court correctly observed that the issue of modifying the parenting plan was not properly before it. CONCLUSION The district court did not err when it denied Matt’s amended complaint to modify custody, in which he sought full custody of the children. Furthermore, the district court did not err when it observed that the issue of modifying the parenting plan was not properly before it. Thus, we affirm. Affirmed. Miller-Lerman, J., participating on briefs.

Lozier Corporation, appellant, v. Douglas County Board of Equalization, appellee. ___ N.W.2d ___

Filed April 19, 2013. Nos. S-12-322 through S-12-324.

1. Taxation: Judgments: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews decisions rendered by the Tax Equalization and Review Commission for errors appearing on the record. 2. Judgments: Appeal and Error. When reviewing a judgment for errors appear- ing on the record, an appellate court’s inquiry is whether the decision conforms to the law, is supported by competent evidence, and is not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. 3. Taxation: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews questions of law aris- ing during appellate review of decisions by the Tax Equalization and Review Commission de novo on the record. 4. Taxation: Statutes. The plain language of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5013(2) (Cum. Supp. 2012) focuses on whether a mailing is properly placed in the mail, rather than on whether the Tax Equalization and Review Commission receives it. Nebraska Advance Sheets 706 285 NEBRASKA REPORTS

5. Statutes: Legislature: Intent. The intent of the Legislature may be found through its omission of words from a statute as well as its inclusion of words in a statute. 6. Statutes: Notice: Intent: Words and Phrases. The intent of the “legible post- mark” requirement in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5013(2) (Cum. Supp. 2012) is to act as evidence of the date an appeal is mailed. A postage meter stamp, when viewed in the context of the pertinent U.S. Postal Service regulations, satisfies this purpose and is a “postmark” within the meaning of § 77-5013(2). 7. Statutes: Jurisdiction. An appellate court strictly construes jurisdictional statutes. 8. Statutes: Jurisdiction: Legislature: Intent: Appeal and Error. If the meaning of an ambiguous jurisdictional statute is unclear, even after reviewing the legisla- tive history, the statute’s purpose, and other resources, only then would an appel- late court give it its most narrow interpretation.

Appeals from the Tax Equalization and Review Commission. Reversed. James F. Cann, of Koley Jessen, P.C., L.L.O., for appellant. Theresia M. Urich and Malina Dobson, Deputy Douglas County Attorneys, for appellee. Heavican, C.J., Wright, Connolly, Stephan, McCormack, and Cassel, JJ. Connolly, J. NATURE OF THE CASE Lozier Corporation (Lozier) mailed three appeals to the Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC). Though Lozier mailed the appeals before the filing deadline, TERC did not receive the appeals until after the deadline had passed. A late- arriving appeal may still be timely if the mailing meets certain requirements under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5013(2) (Cum. Supp. 2012). TERC determined that the mailing did not meet those requirements and dismissed the appeals as untimely. The pri- mary issue is whether a postage meter stamp is a “postmark” under § 77-5013(2). BACKGROUND Lozier claimed that the Douglas County Board of Equalization (the Board) had overvalued three parcels of land. Nebraska Advance Sheets LOZIER CORP. v. DOUGLAS CTY. BD. OF EQUAL. 707 Cite as 285 Neb. 705

Lozier hired an accounting firm—Marks Nelson Vohland Campbell Radetic LLC (Marks Nelson)—to prepare and file three property tax appeals. The deadline to file the appeals was September 12, 2011. The record shows that Marks Nelson prepared the appeals, placed them in a single envelope, marked the envelope with its postage meter, and then mailed the envelope by certified mail to TERC on September 1, 2011. But the envelope did not arrive at TERC. Instead, for unknown reasons, it arrived back at Marks Nelson on September 15. At that point, Marks Nelson marked its envelope with additional postage (using its post- age meter) to send the envelope certified mail, return receipt requested. Making no other changes to the envelope, Marks Nelson again mailed it to TERC. TERC received the envelope on September 20. TERC entered an order to show cause as to why it should not dismiss the appeals as untimely. A partner with Marks Nelson testified for Lozier to the above facts. He, along with a corporate officer at Lozier, argued that they had timely filed the appeals under § 77-5013(2). That section provides, in relevant part, that an appeal is timely filed “if placed in the United States mail, postage prepaid, with a legible postmark for delivery to [TERC] on or before the date specified by law for filing the appeal.” TERC first noted that the envelope did not have a U.S. Post Office “cancel[l]ation mark” but that it did have “two different Pitney Bowes postage labels” from Marks Nelson’s postage meter. TERC noted that while there was “credible evi- dence that the envelope was placed in the United States Mail prior to September 15, 2011, . . . that envelope was delivered to . . . Marks Nelson . . . rather than to [TERC].” So TERC concluded that the envelope was in Marks Nelson’s posses- sion on September 15, 2011, and “not appropriately placed in the United States mail for delivery to [TERC] prior to that date.” Finally, TERC concluded that the envelope arrived at TERC “without a legible postmark.” TERC therefore deter- mined that the appeals were untimely and dismissed them for lack of jurisdiction. Nebraska Advance Sheets 708 285 NEBRASKA REPORTS

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR Lozier assigns, consolidated and restated, that TERC erred in concluding that Lozier did not timely file its appeals under § 77-5013(2).

STANDARD OF REVIEW [1-3] We review TERC decisions for errors appearing on the record.1 When reviewing a judgment for errors appearing on the record, our inquiry is whether the decision conforms to the law, is supported by competent evidence, and is not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable.2 We review questions of law aris- ing during appellate review of TERC decisions de novo on the record.3

ANALYSIS The issue is whether Lozier complied with the statutory requirements for a timely appeal under § 77-5013(2). Section 77-5013(2) states, in relevant part, that an appeal “is timely filed . . . if placed in the United States mail, postage pre- paid, with a legible postmark for delivery to [TERC] on or before the date specified by law for filing the appeal.” We previously addressed a version of this “mailbox rule” in Creighton St. Joseph Hosp. v. Tax Eq. & Rev. Comm.,4 where we concluded that TERC lacked the authority to adopt the rule because it improperly expanded its jurisdiction.

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Bluebook (online)
829 N.W.2d 652, 285 Neb. 705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lozier-corp-v-douglas-cty-bd-of-equal-neb-2013.