Nottingham Village Retirement Center Associates, LP v. Northumberland County Board of Assessments

885 A.2d 93, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 619
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 19, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 885 A.2d 93 (Nottingham Village Retirement Center Associates, LP v. Northumberland County Board of Assessments) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nottingham Village Retirement Center Associates, LP v. Northumberland County Board of Assessments, 885 A.2d 93, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 619 (Pa. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Senior Judge FLAHERTY.

Nottingham Village Retirement Center Associates, L.P. (Nottingham) appeals from the October 6, 2004 order of the Northumberland County Court of Common Pleas (trial court) which upheld and declared final the trial court order of April 27, 2004 and found that the Shikellamy School District (School District) was not required to refund any monies to Nottingham under such order. We reverse.

In March of 2003, the Northumberland County Assessor’s office sent Nottingham their County/Township tax notice for 2003 regarding Nottingham’s property located at 1000 Strawbridge Road in Northumber-land (property). The County/Township tax notice set the assessed value of the property at $1,244,275.00 for the Tax Year 2003.1

The School District’s tax notice was sent out in March of 2003 but is dated July 1, 2003 and used the same assessed value of the property. The School District’s tax notice allowed for payment at a 2% discount in July or August, at face value in September or October and at a 10% penalty in November or December. Nottingham appealed the assessment to the Nor-thumberland County Board of Assessment Appeals (Board) stating that the assessed value of the property was excessive. After a hearing before the Board, no change was made to the assessed value of the property.

Nottingham appealed to the trial court. The trial court held a de novo hearing on April 27, 2004. The School District did not attend the hearing and allowed its interests to be represented by Northumberland County (County). At the hearing, Nottingham and County reached an on the record agreement to set the assessed value of the property at $1,153,700.00 retroactively to July 1, 2003. The stipulation of the parties was reduced to the Court’s Order of April 27, 2004.2 The taxing authorities were ordered to refund “any amounts due and owing as a result of payments received under the prior assessment for taxes imposed subsequent to July 1, 2003.” Trial Court Order, April 27, 2004 at 1. No mention was made of any exact amounts to be refunded.

By letter of June 10, 2004, Nottingham sought refunds from all the appropriate [95]*95taxing authorities due to the difference between the amount of taxes it had paid for the Tax Year 2008 at the higher assessed value and the new Court ordered lower assessed value. Point Township, one of the taxing authorities, promptly proffered the refund it owed in the amount of $1,494.48. The County opted to allow its refund to be reduced to a judgment in the amount of $2,264.37. Only the School District contested that any refund was due under the April 27, 2004 order.

On July 20, 2004, Nottingham filed a petition to determine the amount of refund owed by the School District. On October 6, 2004, the trial court determined that no refund was owed by the School District under the terms of the April 27, 2004 order. Nottingham appealed to our Court. On November 8, 2004, the trial court ordered Nottingham to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. Nottingham complied and on January 5, 2005, the trial court addressed the concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. The trial court found that the School District imposes its yearly taxes on March 31, 2003, prior to the July 1st date the trial court used as the effective date of the order. Therefore, the adjusted assessed value of the property was not applicable to the School District and the School District did not owe Nottingham a refund under the terms of the trial court’s order of April 27, 2004. The trial court further found that the adjusted assessed value of the property would provide the tax basis for the School District’s 2004 tax.3

Before our Court, Nottingham contends that the trial court erred in determining that a tax payer is not entitled to a refund when the assessed value of its real estate is lowered retroactively to a date certain and the tax payer has already paid real estate taxes at the higher assessed value when the taxing body sent out its tax bills. Nottingham also contends that there is sufficient evidence of record for our Court to determine the appropriate amount to be refunded, should a refund be due.

Our review is limited to whether the trial court’s findings are supported by substantial evidence or whether there exists an abuse of discretion or an error of law. 841 Associates v. Board of Revision, 674 A.2d 1209 (Pa.Cmwlth.1996).

In the present controversy, the parties agreed that the County’s 2003 assessment of Nottingham’s property was too high. The parties also stipulated on the record their agreement to set the assessed value of the property at $1,153,700.00 retroactively to July 1, 2003. The taxing authorities were ordered to refund “any amounts due and owing as a result of payments received under the prior assessment for taxes imposed subsequent to July 1, 2003.” The School District’s tax notice was dated July 1, 2003. There was no date of March 31st anywhere on the School District’s tax notice. The only tax notice with a March date on it belonged to the County and Township whose taxes are levied for the calendar year. The County and the Township are not contesting the refund owed.

[96]*96The School District and the Township chose to be represented by the County during the hearing before the trial court. The County made the agreement on behalf of all of the taxing authorities involved. Therefore, all of the taxing authorities were subject to the stipulation contained in the trial court’s order to refund the taxes owed Nottingham due to the incorrect assessment. A stipulation of the parties is subject to contract interpretation. Cobbs v. Allied Chemical Corp., 443 Pa.Super. 386, 661 A.2d 1375 (1995). “In construing a stipulation, the court will adopt the interpretation that is most reasonable and probable, bearing in mind the objects which the parties intended to accomplish through agreement.” Id. When a written contract is clear and unequivocal, its meaning must be determined by its contents alone. Com., Department of Transportation v. Manor Mines, Inc. 523 Pa. 112, 565 A.2d 428 (1989).

The School District contends that it owes no refund as the trial court’s order states that the refund is owed for taxes “imposed” after July 1, 2003 and that its tax was “imposed” in March when it sent out the tax bills. There is no definition of “imposed” in the Local Tax Collection Law or the Fourth through Eight Class County Assessment Law. 72 P.S. § 5511.1-5511.42 and 72 P.S. § 5453.101-5453.706.

Nottingham, however, contends that the tax is “imposed” when it becomes due and owing. Nottingham points out that the School District operated on a June 30 fiscal year and the payment of real estate taxes covered the period from July 1 of that year to June 30 of the next year. Thus the School District’s 2003 tax bill covered the period of July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004 and that the tax was, therefore, “imposed” on July 1, 2003.

The trial court found that the plain meaning of the order followed the School District’s definition of “imposed”. We disagree. The trial court failed to consider the intention of the parties to the agreement.

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885 A.2d 93, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nottingham-village-retirement-center-associates-lp-v-northumberland-pacommwct-2005.