Parian Lodge, Inc. v. DeKalb County

485 S.E.2d 545, 225 Ga. App. 853, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 1759, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 502
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedApril 1, 1997
DocketA97A0480
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 485 S.E.2d 545 (Parian Lodge, Inc. v. DeKalb County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parian Lodge, Inc. v. DeKalb County, 485 S.E.2d 545, 225 Ga. App. 853, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 1759, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 502 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

Ruffin, Judge.

This action involves Parian Lodge, Inc.’s complaint for refund of ad valorem taxes paid on certain property for the 1990 tax year. Th,e trial court granted DeKalb County’s motion to dismiss, and Parian Lodge appeals from this order. For reasons which follow, we affirm.

Parian Lodge admits that the facts of this case, except for the fair market value of the property on January 1, 1990, are uncontested. The record shows as follows. From January 1, 1990 until May 7, 1991, certain property located in DeKalb County (“the property”) was owned by a company known as the Lodge Investors. During this period, the property was encumbered by two security deeds, and Parian Lodge became the holder of at least one of the security deeds by virtue of assignment from the original lender.

In March 1990, Lodge Investors made á return of the property to the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner, claiming a fair market value of $5,000,000. The DeKalb County Board of Tax Assessors issued a notice in April 1990 reassessing the property a fair market value of $11,975,000. In July 1990, the Board of Tax Assessors revised the fair market value of the property to $9,354,000. Lodge Investors did not file any appeal or protest. Parian Lodge alleges it was never notified of the reassessment.

Parian Lodge foreclosed its security deed on the property and acquired the property for a bid price of $1,802,832.40 in May 1991. On June 27, 1991, Parian Lodge paid the taxes due for the year 1990 in the amount of $157,679.05.' There is no evidence in the record that Parian Lodge paid these taxes under protest.

In October 1991, the Board of Tax Assessors lowered the 1991 fair market value of the property to $3,825,590. On February 5,1993, Parian Lodge sent a letter to the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner claiming a refund for the 1990 tax year. Parian Lodge demanded a refund in the amount of $87,908.07, representing the difference between taxes actually paid on the 1990 fair market value of $9,354,400 and taxes which would have been owing on the 1991 fair market value of $3,825,590. The Tax Commissioner denied this refund claim, and Parian Lodge filed its action on May 17, 1993.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Gwinnett County Bd. of Tax Assessors v. Gwinnett I Ltd. Partnership, 265 Ga. 645 (458 SE2d 632) (1995), Parian Lodge amended its complaint to add a sec[854]*854ond count claiming inverse condemnation. Subsequently, DeKalb County filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted by the trial court.

1. Parian Lodge asserts the trial court erred in relying on Gwinnett and dismissing Count 1 of its complaint. In Gwinnett, the Court held that the refund procedure delineated in OCGA § 48-5-380 is limited to the correction of “errors of fact or law which have resulted in erroneous or illegal taxation.” Id. at 646-647. According to the Court, “[a] claim based on mere dissatisfaction with an assessment, or on an assertion that the assessors, although using correct procedures, did not take into account matters which the taxpayer believes should have been considered (e.g., different comparable sales for the purpose of establishing value), is not, however, one which asserts that an assessment is erroneous or illegal within the meaning of § 48-5-380.” Id. at 647.

Parian Lodge argues that Gwinnett is distinguishable on its facts or, alternatively, that this Court should overrule the decision in Gwinnett. We cannot, however, overrule Gwinnett because decisions of the Supreme Court are binding upon this Court. Therefore, we need address only Parian Lodge’s contention that the present case is not controlled by Gwinnett.

In Gwinnett, the complaining party purchased property in a 1990 foreclosure sale and paid the 1989 property taxes under protest. “Although the previous owner had not challenged the property tax assessment when it was made, [the new owner] filed a claim for a refund of almost half the tax it had paid, asserting that the 1989 assessment was illegal and erroneous because of improper valuation, lack of uniformity, and lack of equalization.” Id. at 645. In the present case, Parian Lodge purchased the subject property in a foreclosure sale in 1991 and paid the 1990 property taxes without any protest. In addition, as in Gwinnett, Parian Lodge filed a claim for refund, asserting “that the Taxpayer was assessed in 1990 at an assessed value greatly in excess of 40% of the fair market value of the Taxpayer’s property.” The complaint filed by Parian Lodge likewise indicated that the refund claim was based on an improper valuation.

Parian Lodge attempts to distinguish Gwinnett by arguing that its status as mortgagee and the holder of a security interest during the 1990 tax year separates it from the Gwinnett plaintiff. According to Parian Lodge, the Gwinnett plaintiff voluntarily purchased the property subject to the tax lien and voluntarily paid the tax liability. In contrast, Parian Lodge asserts it directly suffered an economic loss caused by the overvaluation and did not voluntarily pay the property taxes in this case because of its status as a holder of a security interest during the tax year in question.

We are not convinced that the factual distinction raised by [855]*855Parian Lodge is sufficient to remove this case from the precedent established in Gwinnett. There is no indication in Gwinnett that the Supreme Court considered the status of the taxpayer as controlling the determination of a refund. As the Court noted in Gwinnett, “the determinative factor in deciding whether an action seeking a refund of ad valorem real property taxes may be maintained is not the general nature of the ground asserted, but the underlying facts supporting the asserted ground.” Id. at 647.

Viewing the record in the present case, it is apparent that Parian Lodge’s claim for a refund of taxes “is based not on any inaccuracy in the factual record or any illegality in the procedure used to reach an assessment, but on a disagreement with the amount of the assessment.” Id. Parian Lodge merely asserts that the 1991 assessed value established the fair market value of the property in 1990. “That being so, it is apparent from the record that [Parian Lodge’s] claim is not one cognizable as a refund action under [OCGA] § 48-5-380 and that the County was entitled to [a dismissal].” Id. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting DeKalb County’s motion to dismiss Count 1 of Parian Lodge’s amended complaint.

2. Parian Lodge further asserts that its constitutional rights were violated because OCGA § 48-5-306 provides no notice to first mortgagees of reassessment and it was never, therefore, in a position to be heard in an appeal under OCGA § 48-5-311. This appeal was originally filed in the Supreme Court, which transferred it to this Court after determining that the “appeal involves a tax assessment challenge and does not raise the constitutionality of a statute or ordinance. . . .” The Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals challenging the constitutionality of a statute. Ga. Const, of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1).

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Parian Lodge, Inc. v. DeKalb County
485 S.E.2d 545 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
485 S.E.2d 545, 225 Ga. App. 853, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 1759, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parian-lodge-inc-v-dekalb-county-gactapp-1997.