Rye Beach Country Club, Inc. v. Town of Rye

719 A.2d 623, 143 N.H. 122, 1998 N.H. LEXIS 80
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedNovember 4, 1998
DocketNo. 96-192
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 719 A.2d 623 (Rye Beach Country Club, Inc. v. Town of Rye) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rye Beach Country Club, Inc. v. Town of Rye, 719 A.2d 623, 143 N.H. 122, 1998 N.H. LEXIS 80 (N.H. 1998).

Opinion

THAYER, J.

The Town of Rye (town) appeals the decision of the Superior Court (Goode, J.) granting Rye Beach Country Club, Inc. now known as Abenaqui Country Club, Inc. (taxpayer), petition for abatement, and the decision of the Superior Court (McHugh, J.) denying its motion for reconsideration. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The parties stipulated to the following facts. The taxpayer’s property consists of an eighteen hole golf course with related buildings and improvements. This litigation focuses solely on that part of the taxpayer’s property which is located within the recreational zone of the Rye Beach Village District. The recreational zone specifically prohibits residential use.

In 1989, the town assessed the taxpayer’s property in the amount of $3,434,150 based upon the results of the town’s 1986 uniform property revaluation. Although the 1989 assessment included both the taxpayer’s land and buildings, the taxpayer sought an abate[124]*124ment only on the value of the land. The taxpayer filed inventories with the town for 1989 and 1992-1995. A separate petition for abatement of the taxpayer’s 1991 taxes was dismissed by the trial court for failure to file a 1991 inventory. In the action at issue, the board of selectmen denied the abatement, but the trial court reversed and granted the abatement for 1989 and 1991-1995. The Superior Court (McHugh, J.) denied the town’s motion for reconsideration, which presented evidence that the taxpayer did not file an inventory for 1991.

At trial, Alfred B. Ikeler testified for the town. As a staff appraiser, he assisted in the 1986 revaluation with appraisal supervisor, Richard Young, Sr. The parties stipulated, and the trial court incorporated into its decree, that the town’s valuation was based on the following methodology:

1. the number of “front” acres of [the taxpayer’s] land was determined by taking the total number of front feet on public roads, multiplying by a depth of 200 feet and dividing that figure by 43,560 (the number of square feet per acre);
3. market value was determined using comparable sales of residential land in the surrounding neighborhood, commercial sales using the Marshall-Swiff [sic] method of golf course evaluation, and a comparison of the Wentworth Fairways Golf Course [located in Rye].

The trial court rejected the comparable sales approach used by the town in favor of the income approach proposed by the taxpayer. Referring also to Young’s deposition testimony, the trial court concluded that the town’s appraiser erroneously assessed the taxpayer’s property as if it were residentially zoned and used rather than commercially zoned and used.

Using the income approach, the trial court concluded that the equalized value of the taxpayer’s land as of April 1, 1989, was $891,650, and ordered an abatement. Pursuant to the “subsequent years statute,” RSA 76:17-c (Supp. 1997), the trial court also abated the taxpayer’s 1991-1995 taxes.

I. Failure to File an Inventory

The superior court may grant tax abatements as justice requires. See RSA 76:17 (1991) (amended 1991, 1994, 1995). In order to be granted an abatement, however, the taxpayer must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he is paying more than his [125]*125proportional share of taxes. See City of Manchester v. Town of Auburn, 125 N.H. 147, 154, 480 A.2d 60, 65 (1984).

This case involves an interplay between RSA 74:7-a, which penalizes a taxpayer for failure to file an inventory, and RSA 76:17-c, commonly referred to as the “subsequent years statute,” which obviates the need for taxpayers to file separate petitions for abatement for subsequent years. The town argues that RSA 74:7-a barred the trial court from ordering an abatement pursuant to the subsequent years statute for a year in which the taxpayer did not file an inventory of taxable property. The taxpayer contends that application of the subsequent years statute is not conditioned upon the filing of inventory forms.

“This court, of course, is the final arbiter of the legislature’s intent as expressed in the words of [each] statute considered as a whole.” Pope v. Town of Hinsdale, 137 N.H. 233, 237, 624 A.2d 1360, 1362 (1993). “We interpret legislative intent from the statute as written, and therefore, we will not consider what the legislature might have said or add words that the legislature did not include.” Petition of Walker, 138 N.H. 471, 474, 641 A.2d 1021, 1024 (1994). Furthermore, we interpret statutes in the context of the overall statutory scheme and not in isolation. Appeal of Ashland Elec. Dept., 141 N.H. 336, 340, 682 A.2d 710, 712 (1996).

We begin by examining the language found in the statutes themselves. Town of Wolfeboro v. Smith, 131 N.H. 449, 452, 556 A.2d 755, 756 (1989). RSA 74:7-a provides in pertinent part:

Any person who fails to file an inventory form and who becomes liable to pay the penalty specified in this section shall lose his right to appeal ....

RSA 74:7-a, I (1991) (amended 1991, 1994, 1995). The inventory operates as a monitoring device for the town, putting the town on notice when a taxpayer acquires or disposes of assets. See Langford v. Town of Newton, 119 N.H. 470, 472, 403 A.2d 414, 416 (1979); see also Appeal of Gillin, 132 N.H. 311, 313, 564 A.2d 459, 460 (1989). Failure to file an inventory results in a penalty under RSA 74:7-a, including a fine and the loss of a taxpayer’s right to appeal an assessment. In fact, a properly filed inventory is a jurisdictional prerequisite for the superior court to order an abatement. See RSA 76:17; see also Bartlett v. New Boston, 77 N.H. 476, 478, 93 A. 796, 797 (1915).

In the instant case, the taxpayer concedes that it failed to file a 1991 inventory in accordance with RSA 74:7. Because the taxpayer did not satisfy the condition precedent of filing an inventory, RSA [126]*12674:7-a penalizes the taxpayer by removing its right to appeal the 1991 assessment. See Bartlett, 77 N.H. at 478, 93 A. at 797. Because the taxpayer lost its right to appeal, the town cannot be ordered to abate the 1991 assessment.

The taxpayer nevertheless argues that because the subsequent years statute controls once an abatement petition is properly lodged, it would be contrary to the plain meaning of the statute to hold that the failure to file an inventory form in a later year removes that year from the statute’s application. The subsequent years statute provides in pertinent part as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
719 A.2d 623, 143 N.H. 122, 1998 N.H. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rye-beach-country-club-inc-v-town-of-rye-nh-1998.