Sabow v. Pennington County

500 N.W.2d 257, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 52, 1993 WL 167810
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMay 19, 1993
Docket17937
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 500 N.W.2d 257 (Sabow v. Pennington County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sabow v. Pennington County, 500 N.W.2d 257, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 52, 1993 WL 167810 (S.D. 1993).

Opinions

WUEST, Justice.

This is an appeal by Pennington County from a circuit court judgment determining the 1991 tax assessment of John D. Sabow. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

John D. Sabow (hereinafter Taxpayer) appealed to the Pennington County Board of Equalization (hereinafter Board) the 1989 tax year assessment of his residence by the director of equalization. The Board made a slight reduction, but Taxpayer appealed to the circuit court. After a de novo trial was held, the court entered a judgment setting the value of the residence at $368,000.

For tax year 1991, the director of equalization set the value of the residence at $509,600. Taxpayer appealed; the Board upheld the valuation. Taxpayer again appealed to the circuit court.

Upon Taxpayer’s motion, the court entered an order for partial summary judgment. The court ruled the $368,000 value of the property was res judicata except for improvements to or appreciation of the property since the date of the previous decision.

A hearing was held to determine the value of any improvements to or appreciation of the property subsequent to the first judgment. The trial court found the evidence introduced by County was insufficient to establish any increase in the value of the property since the first judgment.

Pennington County appeals. We will address two issues, adding additional facts where necessary.

The proper scope of review of a trial court’s decision in a trial de novo of a tax assessment is whether the decision was clearly erroneous. Kindsfater v. Butte County, 458 N.W.2d 347, 350 (S.D.1990); Knodel v. Board of County Comm’n of Pennington Co., 269 N.W.2d 386, 389 (S.D.1978); Yadco, Inc. v. Yankton County, 89 S.D. 651, 659, 237 N.W.2d 665, 669-70 (1975).

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN HOLDING THE VALUATION OF PROPERTY FOR A PREVIOUS TAX YEAR WAS RES JUDICATA.

Taxpayer asserts the first judicially determined property value is res judicata in a subsequent tax year, absent a change in conditions. County claims the judicially determined value is conclusive only for the tax period at issue in the first action.-

We have previously ruled that an issue may be res judicata “if it is comprised of the facts which establish or give rise to the right a party seeks to enforce.” Schell v. Walker, 305 N.W.2d 920, 922-23 (S.D.1981); Golden v. Oahe Enterprises, Inc., 90 S.D. 263, 240 N.W.2d 102 (1976); Jerome v. Rust, 23 S.D. 409, 122 N.W. 344 (1909). We have applied the doctrine of res judicata in a tax case. In Schell, we determined that the method of real estate tax assessment challenged was the same cause of action previously litigated in Knodel. Schell, 305 N.W.2d at 922-23. The complaint in Schell involved the same facts, alleged the same wrong and, nominally, involved the same parties; therefore, it was the same cause of action and res judi-cata operated as an absolute bar to relit-igation. Id.

The question whether res judicata may be applied to a subsequent real estate valuation, as opposed to the method by which [259]*259that value was calculated, has never been addressed by this court. The overwhelming weight of authority from other jurisdictions supports the proposition that a real estate assessment for purposes of taxation is not res judicata concerning the property’s value for succeeding years because each tax period gives rise to a separate cause of action.

The seminal case in this area is People v. Fahrenkopf, 279 N.Y. 49, 17 N.E.2d 765 (1938). In Fahrenkopf the Court of Appeals of New York reversed the New York Supreme Court’s ruling that a tax value for one year was res judicata in a subsequent year.

It is of the essence of an assessment that it fixes a value as of a certain time. Each annual proceeding is separate and distinct from every other. Year by year an assessor must use his own judgment and must verify the roll.... the doctrine of res judicata can have no true application to the issues of value in recurring assessment proceedings.

Fahrenkopf 17 N.E.2d at 766.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held real estate value for purposes of taxation is not res judicata as to the value of the property in following years. In re 1229-35 Chestnut St., 362 Pa. 313, 66 A.2d 242 (1949). In Rieck, the Pennsylvania court opined:

[A] real estate assessment for purposes of taxation for one year is not res judica-ta of the question of the property’s fair market value for assessment purposes for a succeeding or later year.... The decisional law of other jurisdictions fully confirms the view we take of the matter.... The only States cited where the courts formerly held otherwise ... now hold[ ] that an assessment valuation for a particular year is not res judicata of a like question of value for a different year.

Appeal of Rieck Ice Cream Co., 417 Pa. 249, 209 A.2d 383, 385 (1965) (citing Sheldon Hotel Corp. Assessment Appeal, 66 A.2d 242 (Pa.1949)).

Courts in other jurisdictions agree. Jackson Park Yacht Club v. Illinois Dept’ of Local Gov’t Affairs, 93 Ill.App.3d 542, 49 Ill.Dec. 212, 417 N.E.2d 1039, 1042 (1981) (cause of action for taxes for one year is not identical to cause of action in subsequent year; therefore, decision adjudicating tax status one year is not res judicata in later years); Trustees of Flynn’s Estate v. Board of Review, 226 Iowa 1353, 286 N.W. 483, 487 (1939) (an assessment for each year is separate and its adjudication for one year cannot fix the value for succeeding years); Defenders’ Townhouse, Inc. v. Kansas City, 441 S.W.2d 365, 369 (Mo.1969) (each year’s tax is a separate transaction which gives rise to a new cause of action; Drey v. State Tax Comm’n, 345 S.W.2d 228, 235 (Mo.1961) (judicial determination of value is not res judicata in a subsequent year but is admissible evidence as to value); Beatrice Foods Co. v. Lindley, 24 O.O.3d 68, 70 Ohio St.2d 29, 434 N.E.2d 727, 731 (1982) (tax assessment for different audit period is not res judicata for later audit period); Standard Oil Co. v. Zangerle, 26 O.O. 82, 141 Ohio St. 505, 49 N.E.2d 406, 410-11 (1943) (assessment fixes value for definite date or year and is final and conclusive for that year only). “The courts agree that a judgment involving a tax for one period, irrespective of what has been litigated and determined by the judgment, never operates as an absolute bar precluding the maintenance of a subsequent suit concerning a tax of the same kind for another period.” 72 Am.Jur.2d State and Local Taxation § 1150 (1974).

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Sabow v. Pennington County
500 N.W.2d 257 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
500 N.W.2d 257, 1993 S.D. LEXIS 52, 1993 WL 167810, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sabow-v-pennington-county-sd-1993.