Ollis v. Department of Revenue

734 P.2d 860, 303 Or. 75
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 24, 1987
DocketOTC 2222; SC S32513
StatusPublished

This text of 734 P.2d 860 (Ollis v. Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ollis v. Department of Revenue, 734 P.2d 860, 303 Or. 75 (Or. 1987).

Opinion

CAMPBELL, J.

The sole issue in this case is the determination as of the assessment date of January 1,1983 of the true cash value1 for taxation purposes of an 18.2 acre tract of land. The tract is located in Cave Junction and has been improved and used as a mobile home park.

The Josephine County Board of Equalization set the true cash value at $838,500. The taxpayers appealed to the Oregon Department of Revenue, which affirmed the Board of Equalization. The taxpayers then appealed to the Oregon Tax Court alleging in their complaint that the. true cash value of the park as of January 1,1983, was $478,745. The Department of Revenue’s answer alleged that the value was $1,060,000. The Tax Court affirmed the Department’s order affirming the Board of Equalization. Now the taxpayers under ORS 305.445 have appealed to this court. We try the “cause anew upon the record.” ORS 19.125. We modify the Tax Court’s decision.

When the taxpayers purchased the 18.2 acre tract it was undeveloped, logged-over land. The taxpayer Joe Ollis previously had been in the road construction business and had the necessary equipment and skills to develop a mobile home park. Work began on the project in 1972 and a total of 58 spaces were completed and occupied by tenants. In 1979 the taxpayers began the second phase of the construction. However, because of the economic recession and lack of demand, by January 1, 1983, the taxpayers had only completed an additional 26 spaces for a total of 84. As of that date an additional 33 spaces were only 57 percent finished — the underground utilities were in place and the road had been “roughed in.”

The 18.2 acre tract runs east and west and is approximately 2,000 feet in length and approximately 400 feet in depth. The 84 developed spaces are in a herringbone pattern and each space fronts on an interior service road. The 33 partially completed spaces are located on approximately five acres in the southwest quarter of the property. The mobile [78]*78home park also includes a laundromat, a recreation building and a storage barn.

The park is called “01 Jo Mobile Home Park” and is located within the city limits of Cave Junction. It is a prior existing use in an area zoned for single family residences. Photographs in the record confirm the witnesses’ testimony that the park is of good quality. It has the appearance of being neat and clean. It contains a number of large evergreen trees. Cave Junction has a population of 1,080 and is located in the Illinois River Valley approximately 30 miles from Grants Pass. Most of the tenants of the park are retired people. Cave Junction has little industry and limited medical facilities. The latter is responsible for the mobile home park’s high vacancy rate. On January 1, 1983,19 of the 84 completed spaces were vacant.

The following Administrative Rules of the Oregon Department of Revenue are relevant to the determination of the true cash value of the 18.2 acre tract:

“Real Property Valuation for Tax Purposes 150-308.205-(A)
“1. Definitions: a. Market Value as a basis for true cash value shall be taken to mean the highest price in terms of money which a property will bring if exposed for sale in the open market, allowing a period of time typical for the particular type of property involved and under conditions where both parties to the transaction are under no undue compulsion to sell or buy and are able, willing and reasonably well informed.
<<* * * * *
“2. Methods and Procedures for Determining True Cash Value: Real property shall be valued through the market data approach, cost approach and income approach.
“The Cost Approach shall utilize either replacement or reproduction cost technique except [not applicable]. * * * The Income Approach may utilize property income or rental income technique. The Market Data Approach shall utilize actual market transactions.
“Any one or more of the three approaches to value may finally be used, except [not applicable].”2

[79]*79In the Tax Court three witnesses qualified as experts and each gave a different opinion of the true cash value of the 01 Jo Mobile Home Park as of January 1, 1983. In order to understand this case it is necessary to review the approaches used and the result reached by each expert.

The taxpayers’ first expert witness was Duane Vene-kamp. He has been an independent fee appraiser since 1965. Prior to that he had been a staff appraiser for the Jackson County Assessor’s Office. Under the market data approach Venekamp examined the sales of 12 mobile home parks in Jackson and Josephine counties. He analyzed the sales on a per space basis and found that the sales most comparable to the subject property were in a range from $7,413 to $8,785 per space. He concluded that the property in question had a fair market value of $7,800 per space. He then multiplied $7,800 by 84 completed spaces for a subtotal of $655,200. He completed his analysis under the market data approach by adding the 33 uncompleted spaces at a value of $2,000 per space ($66,000) for a grand total of $721,200.

Venekamp also examined the property in question under the income approach. He described this approach as “a method whereby the net income is capitalized to indicate the amount of investment required to produce the income.” Vene-kamp determined that the estimated economic rent per space was $100 per month for the 84 completed spaces, or a gross annual income of $100,800. From the gross annual income he deducted actual vacancies of 23 percent or $23,184. He then added $400 for estimated income from the park’s laundromat giving an “effective gross income” of $78,016. At this point Venekamp stated the average expenses of the typical mobile home park are 35 percent of the “effective gross income” and he deducted that amount ($27,305) giving an “effective net income” of $50,711. A capitalization rate of 8.1 percent was then applied to determine that capital of $626,062 would be necessary to produce income of $50,711.

Venekamp adopted the income approach and concluded that the true cash value of the property in question as of January 1,1983 was the sum of $650,000. He concluded his appraisal report with the following comments:

“Correlating the data, the Market and Income Approaches indicated a fairly wide range of value for subject. Normally the [80]*80Income Approach and the possibility of increasing rents has the greatest influence on the purchase price of a mobile home park. In the case of subject property the vacancy factor is a great deterrent to prospective purchasers, most of whom do not want to invest in mobile home parks having vacancies in excess of 5%. Investors place greater reliance on the income capability of the property to be purchased, therefore greater weight is accorded the Income Approach in the final value determination.”3

The taxpayers’ second expert witness was George E. Trahern. He is an independent fee appraiser. He previously served as assessor for Josephine County for eight years. Trahern first examined the property in question under the cost approach.

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Related

Medical Building Land Co. v. Department of Revenue
582 P.2d 416 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
734 P.2d 860, 303 Or. 75, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ollis-v-department-of-revenue-or-1987.