MDC Holdings, Inc. v. Town of Parker

223 P.3d 710, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 74, 2010 WL 427195
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedFebruary 8, 2010
DocketNo. 08SC972
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 223 P.3d 710 (MDC Holdings, Inc. v. Town of Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MDC Holdings, Inc. v. Town of Parker, 223 P.3d 710, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 74, 2010 WL 427195 (Colo. 2010).

Opinions

Justice HOBBS

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari in Town of Parker v. MDC Holdings, Inc., No. 07CA1758, 2008 WL 4598270 (Colo.App. Oct.16, 2008) to review an unpublished court of appeals' decision enjoining the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Revenue from hearing two tax appeals.1 Petitioners MDC Holdings, Ine. and Richmond American Homes of Colorado, Inc. (collectively "MDC") sought a refund for allegedly overpaid use taxes on building materials in connection with its residential construction activities in the Towns of Castle Rock and Parker (collectively "Towns"), both of which are home rule municipalities.

The Finance Directors of both Towns denied MDC's refund requests, and MDC initiated the appeal process pursuant to the Towns' municipal codes and section 29-2-106.1, C.R.S. (2009), which provides a uniform statewide process governing municipal sales and use tax appeals. MDC requested and obtained a consolidated informal hearing by the Towns on its refund requests.

After the informal hearing, the law firm representing both Towns advised MDC in writing that the Towns' appeal process included provisions requiring a formal on the record hearing following the informal hearing. The law firm representing MDC in both appeals responded by letter that MDC would not be requesting a formal hearing because section 29-2-106.1(2)(c)(I) limited the Towns to conducting only the informal hearing as part of the statutory use tax refund appeals process. Accordingly, MDC requested that the Towns issue their final decisions on MDC's tax refund requests so that MDC would be in a position to exercise its appellate remedies. The Towns did not respond.

After waiting the required ninety-day statutory period, with no final decisions forthcoming from the Towns' Finance Directors, MDC filed its appeals with the Executive Director of the Department of Revenue, pursuant to section 39-21-1083, C.R.S. (2009), as provided by section 29-2-106.1(8)(a). The Towns then asserted to the Executive Director that MDC had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies under the provisions of the Towns' municipal codes. In response, the Executive Director determined that MDC had properly complied with the appeal provisions applicable under the state statutes governing municipal tax refund requests made by taxpayers.

The Towns then filed a joint complaint for injunctive relief in the District Court for the City and County of Denver contesting the Jurisdiction of the Executive Director to hear and determine MDC's tax refund appeals. The district court denied the injunction, determining that MDC had properly pursued its appeals to the Executive Director. The Towns appealed the denial of the injunction to the court of appeals.

The court of appeals determined that MDC had not timely appealed to the Executive Director because the letters from the Towns' law firm to MDC's law firm constituted the Towns' final decisions, and section 29-2-106.1(2)(c) required MDC to file its appeal with the Executive Director within thirty days after the taxpayer's exhaustion of local remedies. The court of appeals concluded that the Executive Director lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine MDC's tax refund appeals. We disagree and reverse the judgment of the court of appeals.

We hold that section 29-2-106.1 supersedes the Towns' codes, which require a formal hearing following the informal hearing; that the letters from the Towns' attorney to MDC's law firm did not constitute final decisions triggering the thirty-day deadline for appealing to the Executive Director; that MDC properly perfected its appeals follow[713]*713ing the ninety-day statutory waiting period applicable here because the Towns failed to render final decisions; and that the Executive Director has jurisdiction to hear and determine MDC's tax refund appeals.

I.

MDC paid use taxes to the Towns on building materials in connection with its residential construction activities. In March of 2005, alleging overpayment, MDC requested use tax refunds from the Towns. In December 2005, the Finance Directors of the Towns denied the refund requests. The Finance Directors signed the denials under the letterhead of their respective town. Both denials advised MDC that it had fifteen days from the date of the denial "to request a hearing on this denial," under section 4.08.110 of the Parker Sales and Use Tax Code and section 3.05.110 of the Castle Rock Tax Administration Code.

Both codes in effect at the time of the refund requests contained the following provision under the heading "Hearings":

Informal hearing. If the taxpayer elects to participate in an informal hearing, which hearing must be held within thirty (80) days of the Director's receipt of the taxpayer's request for a hearing, additional informal hearings shall not be permitted except at the discretion of the Director. Informal hearings shall be conducted in any manmer acceptable to the taxpayer and the Director with the purpose of settling the outstanding issues between the parties. If no settlement is reached, the taxpayer must request, in writing, a formal hearing on the record within fifteen (15) days after the informal hearing and the Director shall give notice of the formal hearing pursuant to subsection (b) above. If the taxpayer fails to request a formal hearing within fifteen (15) days after the informal hearing, all further rights to a hearing and appeal are waived and the taxpayer shall be bound by the Notice of Final Determination-Assessment and Demand for Payment or final Denial of Refund.

Castle Rock, Colo., Tax Administration Code § 3.05.110(C) (2008); Parker, Colo., Sales and Use Tax Code § 4.08.110(c) (2008) (emphasis added).

Both codes contained the following provisions for a formal hearing and determination on the record:

Director to conduct formal hearing. The hearing shall be held before the Director, or a hearing officer designated by the Director. At the hearing, the tazpayer may assert any facts, make any arguments and file any briefs and affidavits he or she believes pertinent to his or her case. The taxpayer shall be notified of the name of the hearing officer fifteen (15) days before the hearing date, and any objection by the taxpayer to the hearing officer shall be filed in writing at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the hearing. All reasonable costs to the Town for a hearing officer must be paid by the taxpayer requesting the formal hearing when the hearing officer determines no change in the tax due.

Castle Rock, Colo., Tax Administration Code § 3.05.110(D) (2008); Parker, Colo., Sales and Use Tax Code § 4.08.110(d) (2008) (emphasis added). Both codes also contained a provision for any taxpayer appeal therefrom to be conducted pursuant to C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4):

Appeals. The taxpayer may appeal the Hearing Determination Notice of the Director issued pursuant to [the Towns' codes] within thirty (30) days of the date that such determination is sent by the Director. Such appeal shall be conducted pursuant to the terms of Rule 106(a)(4) of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.

Castle Rock, Colo., Tax Administration Code § 8.05.120 (2008); Parker, Colo., Sales and Use Tax Code § 4.08.120 (2008) (emphasis added).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 P.3d 710, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 74, 2010 WL 427195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mdc-holdings-inc-v-town-of-parker-colo-2010.