Noble v. Wallowa County Assessor

• Court: Oregon Tax Court
• Decided: August 3, 2016
• Docket: TC-MD 160116N
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE OREGON TAX COURT MAGISTRATE DIVISION Property Tax

WALTER GREG NOBLE ) and CAROL L. NOBLE, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) TC-MD 160116N ) v. ) ) WALLOWA COUNTY ASSESSOR, ) ) Defendant. ) FINAL DECISION OF DISMISSAL

This matter came before the court on the parties’ Stipulation, filed July 20, 2016.

Plaintiffs appealed the 2014-15 and 2015-16 tax roll values of property identified as

Account 5913 (subject property). The parties filed a signed Stipulation agreeing to values for the

2015-16 tax year, but not addressing the 2014-15 tax year. The court held a second case

management conference on August 1, 2016, during which Plaintiff Walter Greg Noble stated that

he considered Plaintiffs’ 2014-15 tax year appeal to have been addressed through the 2015-16

tax year Stipulation. The court construes his statement as a request to withdraw Plaintiffs’

2014-15 tax year appeal. Also during that case management conference, Defendant corrected the

2015-16 maximum assessed value stated on the Stipulation to $222,584. The parties agreed that

neither party shall be awarded costs and disbursements.

The parties agreed that the subject property’s 2015-16 tax roll values are as follows:1

Real Market Value Land: $ 170,310 Improvements: $ 364,540 Total: $ 534,850

Assessed Value: $ 222,5412 (no change) 1 Values noted as “(no change)” reflect the parties’ agreement to the tax roll value. 2 During the case management conference, Defendant explained that the Assessed Value is less than the Maximum Assessed Value due to a special assessment of the subject property land.

FINAL DECISION OF DISMISSAL TC-MD 160116N 1 Exception Real Market Value: $ 35,310 (no change)

Maximum Assessed Value: $ 222,584 (no change)

The court lacks jurisdiction where the relief requested by a taxpayer would not affect tax

liability. See ORS 305.275(1) (2015); FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. v. Dept. of Rev.,

20 OTR 547, 549 (2012) (“This court has consistently held that where there is no possibility of a

practical effect on the tax liability of a taxpayer, a case is rendered non-justiciable such that the

court is divested of jurisdiction.”) Because the stipulated values result in no change to the

2015-16 assessed value and there is no compression, the court lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’

2015-16 tax year appeal of the subject property. Now, therefore,

IT IS THE DECISION OF THIS COURT that Plaintiffs’ appeal is dismissed.

IT IS FURTHER DECIDED that, as stipulated by the parties, neither party is awarded

costs and disbursements.

Dated this day of August 2016.

ALLISON R. BOOMER MAGISTRATE

If you want to appeal this Final Decision of Dismissal, file a complaint in the Regular Division of the Oregon Tax Court, by mailing to: 1163 State Street, Salem, OR 97301-2563; or by hand delivery to: Fourth Floor, 1241 State Street, Salem, OR.

Your complaint must be submitted within 60 days after the date of the Final Decision of Dismissal or this Final Decision of Dismissal cannot be changed. TCR-MD 19 B.

This document was filed and entered on August 3, 2016.

FINAL DECISION OF DISMISSAL TC-MD 160116N 2