Powell St. I, LLC v. Multnomah Cnty. Assessor

445 P.3d 297, 365 Or. 245
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 25, 2019
DocketSC S065290 (Control, S065295)
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 445 P.3d 297 (Powell St. I, LLC v. Multnomah Cnty. Assessor) 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
Powell St. I, LLC v. Multnomah Cnty. Assessor, 445 P.3d 297, 365 Or. 245 (Or. 2019).

Opinion

BALMER, J.

**247The issue before us in this direct appeal from the Oregon Tax Court involves the proper valuation, for property tax purposes, of a shopping center that did not have an *299anchor tenant on the assessment date. The Tax Court accepted taxpayer's valuation that significantly decreased the value of the shopping center because it was missing an anchor tenant and was more than 50 percent vacant on the relevant date. Powell Street I LLC v. Dept. of Rev. , 22 OTR 423, 2017 WL 3310655 (2017). On appeal, the Department of Revenue contends that the Tax Court erred; according to the department, the shopping center was required to be valued the same as a shopping center that did have an anchor tenant and was only 8-10 percent vacant. For the reasons that follow, we reject the department's argument and affirm the Tax Court's judgment.

OVERVIEW OF LAW

We begin with an overview of several familiar property tax concepts: the definition of real market value, the requirement that the tax be assessed on the "fee simple interest" in the property, and the valuation methods used by appraisers to determine real market value.

In general, the calculation of the property tax levied on a particular property begins with the property's real market value (RMV). See ORS 308.232 ; Dept. of Rev. v. River's Edge Investments, LLC , 359 Or. 822, 825, 377 P.3d 540 (2016) (both so providing). The real market value is the amount that a hypothetical buyer would pay to a hypothetical seller on the assessment date. See Or. Const., Art XI, § 11 (11)(a)(A) (defining real market value as "the amount in cash that could reasonably be expected to be paid by an informed buyer to an informed seller, each acting without compulsion in an arm's length transaction occurring as of the assessment date for the tax year"); see also ORS 308.205(1) (using terms "informed buyer" and "informed seller"); ORS 308.205(2)(a) (referring to "amount a typical seller would accept or the amount a typical buyer would offer that could reasonably be expected by a seller of property"). The real market value is derived from the "highest and best use" of the property-the most profitable use, for which a buyer would be expected **248to pay the highest price. See Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Benton County Assessor , 357 Or. 598, 602, 356 P.3d 70 (2015) (so explaining).

When the property is subject to leases (as is the case for the shopping center here), the value for property tax purposes may differ from the price that the owner actually might receive for the property. That is because the property tax is assessed on the fee simple interest in the property, which is the value of all interests in the property, including those of the owner (ordinarily the lessor) and any lessees.1 That rule was relied upon and explained in Swan Lake Mldg. Co. v. Dept. of Rev. , 257 Or. 622, 478 P.2d 393 (1970), reh'g den , 257 Or. 622, 480 P.2d 713 (1971). In that case, substantial portions of the property being valued were subject to leases with remaining terms as long as 30 years. The question was whether the leases should affect the valuation. The taxpayer argued that they should because any buyer of the property would take the property subject to those leases.

This court disagreed. It held that the actual terms of those leases should not be used in calculating the value because the value of all of the interests in the property-including the lessee's interest-is to be taxed against the owner:

"In fixing the true cash value of land for property tax purposes[,] the effect of existing *300leases on the value to the owner is disregarded. The basis for such a principle is that the tax is levied upon the land and is a tax upon all the interests **249into which the land might be divided. Admittedly, a lease might decrease the price which the owner might receive; however, the tax is not merely upon the owner's interest; the tax is upon all the interests in the land, including the leasehold interest. This is so because of the corollary principle that taxes are assessed only against the one having title[.]"

257 Or. at 625, 478 P.2d 393. If a property owner leased a property at below-market rates, for example, then the value of the owner's interest in the property is lower, but at the same time the lessee's leasehold interest is that much more valuable and offsets the decrease:

"If the rent reserved in the lease is less than the property is capable of producing, the lessee's interest is more valuable and it is the entire group of interests in the property, lessor's and lessee's, that is valued."

257 Or. at 629, 478 P.2d 393 (denying rehearing).

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445 P.3d 297, 365 Or. 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/powell-st-i-llc-v-multnomah-cnty-assessor-or-2019.