Programmed Land, Inc. v. O'CONNOR

633 N.W.2d 517, 2001 Minn. LEXIS 625, 2001 WL 1097765
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 20, 2001
DocketCX-99-777, C7-99-1210
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 633 N.W.2d 517 (Programmed Land, Inc. v. O'CONNOR) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Programmed Land, Inc. v. O'CONNOR, 633 N.W.2d 517, 2001 Minn. LEXIS 625, 2001 WL 1097765 (Mich. 2001).

Opinions

[519]*519OPINION

ANDERSON, RUSSELL A., Justice.

Respondent taxpayers seek to recover real property tax overpayments resulting from the erroneous application of property tax class rates. The court of appeals held that the application of the wrong class rate [520]*520was not an assessment error and therefore not subject to challenge under Minn.Stat. § 278.01, subd. 1 (2000). The court also ruled that respondents could not seek refunds based on the class rate error under Minn.Stat. § 276.19 (1998) or based on their constitutional arguments. Because no statutory or constitutional remedy was available, the court concluded that respondents can proceed under common law and equitable theories. We conclude that Minn.Stat. § 278.01 does cover the claims asserted by respondents, and because a statutory procedure was available, common law and equitable remedies are not. Respondents’ claims are time-barred under the provisions of section 278.01, subdivision 1. We agree with the court of appeals that respondents cannot seek refunds based on the class rate error under Minn.Stat. § 276.19. We also agree with the court of appeals that respondent cannot seek refunds on constitutional grounds.

Respondent Harold Christian owned a vacant commercial lot in Dakota County between 1971 and 1997. In 1991, the legislature abolished the vacant land classification effective for taxes payable in 1993,1 and the Dakota County Assessor, pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 273.13, subd. 24 (Supp. 1993), classified the parcel as class 3(a). For taxes payable in 1993, class 3(a) property was valued for taxation purposes at a rate of 6.06 percent of market value, except that the first $100,000 of market value of one property per owner in the county was valued at a reduced rate of three percent. Minn.Stat. § 273.13, subd. 24. The Dakota County Assessor did not apply the reduced class rate to which Christian’s property was entitled, and, as a result, Christian overpaid his taxes for taxes payable in 1993 and 1994. Christian brought a timely challenge to his taxes payable in 1994 under Minn.Stat. § 278.01, subd. 1 (a chapter 278 petition), and after confirming with the Minnesota Department of Revenue that the reduced class rate applied to vacant class 3(a) property, the Dakota County Assessor adjusted Christian’s taxes for taxes payable in 1994 and applied the reduced class rate thereafter. In 1997, Christian filed a complaint with the county to challenge his taxes payable in 1993, but Dakota County refused to refund the excess taxes paid because the period within which to file a chapter 278 petition or to apply for an abatement under Minn.Stat. § 375.192 (Supp.1997) had lapsed.2

Following a court trial on stipulated facts, the Dakota County District Court ruled that chapter 278 did not apply under the circumstances and that Christian was entitled to a refund under the theory of money had and received for excess taxes paid in the amount of $1,988.04 plus prejudgment interest. The trial court rejected the county’s argument that the misapplied class rate was an error in classification and thus an assessment error that must be challenged exclusively under chapter 278. The court concluded that the ultimate responsibility for applying the correct class rate belongs not to the assessor but to the auditor, who in this case failed to ensure that the correct rate was applied. The court characterized the auditor’s error as “arithmetic” and, as such, not the type of error contemplated [521]*521by the legislature when it enacted chapter 278.

In Hennepin County District Court, respondents Programmed Land and others brought an action in 1998 similarly alleging that the county failed to apply the reduced class rate to which their class 3(a) properties were entitled under Minn.Stat. § 273.13, subd. 24, and as a result they overpaid their real property taxes between 1987 and 1997. Hennepin County made class rate changes for taxes payable in 1997 and applied the reduced class rates thereafter and made abatements for taxes payable in 1996, but it rejected claims for refunds and applications for abatements for pay years 1987 to 1995 because respondents’ claims and applications had not been timely filed pursuant to Minn.Stat. §§ 278.01, subd. 1 and 375.192.

The respondents brought an action in Hennepin County District Court seeking a declaration that they were entitled to relief under Minn.Stat. §§ 276.19 3 and 375.192 and several common law, equitable and constitutional theories and seeking an injunction compelling the county to refund the amounts that the respondents alleged were overpaid. The county moved for summary judgment dismissing the respondents’ actions, arguing that section 278.01 provides respondents’ exclusive judicial remedy, that therefore there is no relief available under section 276.19 or under common law, equitable or constitutional theories, and further that the period for abatement applications under section 375.192 had lapsed. The district court denied the county’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that chapter 278 does not provide respondents’ exclusive judicial remedy and that they could proceed to seek recovery of excess taxes paid under Minn.Stat. §§ 276.19 and 375.192 and under common law, equitable and constitutional theories. The court reasoned that chapter 278 does not provide a remedy for these claims because applying the erroneous class rate was not an assessment error but was instead the result of the auditor’s failure to compile an accurate ownership list and fix the correct rates.

The court of appeals consolidated both cases for appeal and affirmed the district courts’ rulings that respondents did not have a cause of action to challenge the erroneous class rates under section 278.01, subdivision 1 and could recover or proceed to seek recovery under common law and equitable theories. Programmed Land, Inc. v. O’Connor, 602 N.W.2d 895, 905 (Minn.App.1999), rev. granted (2000). The court reasoned that while all challenges to purported assessment errors must be brought, if at all, under chapter 278, the application of an erroneous class rate is not an assessment error. Programmed Land, 602 N.W.2d at 904-05. The court of appeals agreed with the district courts that the application of an erroneous class rate is not an error in classification, one aspect of the assessment process, reasoning that the reduced class rate does not constitute a separate class of commercial-industrial property, nor does the application of class rates require the assessor’s discretionary [522]*522decision making. Id. at 903-04. The court reversed the ruling of the Hennepin County District Court that respondents have a cause of action on federal and state constitutional due process and equal protection grounds, id. at 908, and under Minn.Stat. § 276.19, 602 N.W.2d at 906. The court held that respondents, having no statutory or constitutional remedy, may seek common law or equitable relief. Id. at 908-09.

While the cases come to us in different procedural postures, we are asked in both cases to review issues of law, which we do de novo. Burlington N. R.R. Co. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 606 N.W.2d 64, 57 (Minn.2000). For the purposes of this appeal the material facts are not in dispute.

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Programmed Land, Inc. v. O'CONNOR
633 N.W.2d 517 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
633 N.W.2d 517, 2001 Minn. LEXIS 625, 2001 WL 1097765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/programmed-land-inc-v-oconnor-minn-2001.