PhxAz Ltd. Partnership v. Maricopa County

967 P.2d 1026, 192 Ariz. 490, 278 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1998 Ariz. App. LEXIS 168
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedSeptember 24, 1998
DocketNos. 1 CA-TX 98-0001, 1 CA-CV 98-0119
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 967 P.2d 1026 (PhxAz Ltd. Partnership v. Maricopa County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PhxAz Ltd. Partnership v. Maricopa County, 967 P.2d 1026, 192 Ariz. 490, 278 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1998 Ariz. App. LEXIS 168 (Ark. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

RYAN, Judge.

¶ 1 These consolidated appeals require us to examine the scope of the special method that Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 42-146 prescribes for valuing “golf courses” for property tax purposes. Specifically, we must decide whether this special valuation method applies when the owner has recorded an instrument restricting the property to use as a golf course but, as of the valuation date, construction of golf course improvements has barely begun and golf cannot be practiced or played on the property. We hold that the special valuation method of A.R.S. section 42-146 does not apply in these two cases. Therefore, we reverse and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

¶2 The parties agree upon the dispositive facts.

PhxAz Limited Partnership

¶3 PhxAz Limited Partnership was the owner of a 713 acre parcel of real property in Phoenix. PhxAz undertook to develop the property as a master-planned community comprising single-family houses, apartments, a golf course, a resort, and retail and commercial office space. In 1991, the City of Phoenix certified PhxAz’s property as a planned community development district called Desert Springs.

¶4 The City’s master plan for the area set aside 213 acres for development as the Kierland Golf Course. The City approved the zoning of the subparcel for that purpose. PhxAz contracted for a golf course architectural design. The initial design plans were completed in December 1994.

¶ 5 That same month, PhxAz entered into contracts for constructing golf course improvements. PhxAz recorded a “Declaration of Restriction for Golf Course Use” pertaining to the planned course on December 21, 1994. On December 30, 1994, the City of Phoenix issued grading permits. The 18-hole Kierland Golf Course was completed by the end of 1995.

¶ 6 For tax year 1995, the Maricopa County Assessor took the position that as of the valuation date of January 1, 1995, the 213-acre golf course parcel did not constitute a “golf course” for the purposes of A.R.S. section 42-146(G). The assessor declined to value the property according to the method prescribed by A.R.S. section 42-146(A). PhxAz administratively appealed. The State Board of Equalization agreed with the County and set a full cash value of $13.2 million.

¶ 7 PhxAz challenged this ruling by appealing to the Tax Court in Superior Court. On cross-motions for summary judgment the tax court held for PhxAz, finding that “once the deed restriction is recorded, the property under construction is entitled to golf course valuation under 42-146.” The final judgment valued the 213-acre parcel at $106,995 without apportioning the amount between the land and the golf improvements.

¶ 8 The County appealed and this court docketed the County’s appeal as case no. 1 CA-TX 98-0001.

CN Residential Limited Partnership

¶ 9 The facts in appellee CN Residential Limited Partnership’s (“CN”) case are similar to those in PhxAz’s case. In mid-1992, the City of Scottsdale approved golf course zoning for a parcel of state land within its [493]*493boundaries. In early 1993, CN bought a larger piece of land from the State Land Department containing that parcel.

¶ 10 CN engaged an architect to prepare golf course plans. The architect completed the initial plans in 1994. On December 15, 1994, CN entered into contracts for constructing golf course improvements. On December 30,1994, CN recorded a “Declaration of Restriction for Golf Course Use.”

¶ 11 For tax year 1995, the Maricopa County Assessor declined to value the restricted parcel as a golf course under A.R.S. section 42-146. The assessor set a full cash value of approximately $4.4 million.

¶ 12 CN appealed to the Superior Court, Maricopa County. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. In addition to asserting that A.R.S. section 42-146 did not apply, the County’s cross-motion contended that if the trial court applied section 42-146 to CN’s property, it would also have to determine a value for the improvements on that land.

¶ 13 The motions were heard by the same trial judge who had considered and ruled on the cross-motions for summary judgment in PhxAz Limited Partnership’s appeal. The trial judge followed his earlier reasoning in that case and granted summary judgment for CN. He explained in part:

The County ... says the statute requires a completed golf course before its largesse applies. But I do not see that in the statute. The County extrapolates that from the statutory definition of “golf course” as “substantially undeveloped land including amenities such as ... golf greens and tees ... which may be used for golfing or golfing practice____” They point to that definition and say see that’s what this entire statute is talking about. But it seems to me that that definition can be read in two different ways: highly favorable tax treatment may be given to (1) undeveloped land that may in the future be used for golfing, or (2) to land that has in place amenities, such as golf greens and tees, and right now may he used for golfing. I think the first definition is the most reasonable. (Emphasis in the original).

¶ 14 The County appealed from formal judgment for CN, and this court docketed the appeal as case no. 1 CA-CV 98-0119. Following an unopposed joint motion by CN and PhxAz, we consolidated this case with case no. 1 CA-TX 98-0001. We have jurisdiction. A.R.S. § 12-2101(B).

DISCUSSION

¶ 15 The County contends the courts below erred in holding that as of January 1, 1995, the taxpayers’ properties constituted “golf courses” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 42-146 and should not have been valued as such. It contends the legislature intended for the statutory golf course valuation method to apply only to completed, “playable” golf courses. The County urges that the courts below misinterpreted a crucial portion of the statutory definition of “golf course” in section 42-146(G), and mistakenly concluded that recording a deed restriction under section 42-146(E) was the sole statutory prerequisite to valuation as a “golf course.”

¶ 16 The County also argues that the trial courts violated the requirement of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5) that “current usage” be “included in the formula for reaching a determination of full cash value.” Finally, the County contends that the valuation procedures under A.R.S. section 42-146(A), which center on an intricate protocol for valuing in-use golf course improvements based on applying economic obsolescence to the Department of Revenue’s (“DOR”) 1988 per-hole costs, could not have been intended to apply to golf courses that were still under construction.

¶ 17 The taxpayers contend the courts below correctly held that their properties were entitled to valuation under A.R.S. section 42-146 for tax year 1995. The taxpayers urge that recording a golf course deed restriction is sufficient to create a “golf course” under A.R.S. section 42-146 because doing so restricts the use of the property from the moment it becomes effective — regardless of whether golf course improvements have been constructed. The taxpayers further contend that the deed restrictions in this case established their properties as golf courses be[494]*494cause prior zoning approvals and the threat of penalties under A.R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
967 P.2d 1026, 192 Ariz. 490, 278 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1998 Ariz. App. LEXIS 168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phxaz-ltd-partnership-v-maricopa-county-arizctapp-1998.