Serenity Lane, Inc. v. Multnomah County Assessor

CourtOregon Tax Court
DecidedAugust 8, 2014
DocketTC-MD 111141N
StatusUnpublished

This text of Serenity Lane, Inc. v. Multnomah County Assessor (Serenity Lane, Inc. v. Multnomah County Assessor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Serenity Lane, Inc. v. Multnomah County Assessor, (Or. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

IN THE OREGON TAX COURT MAGISTRATE DIVISION Property Tax

SERENITY LANE, INC. and ) SERENITY LANE HEALTH SERVICES, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) TC-MD 111141N ) v. ) ) MULTNOMAH COUNTY ASSESSOR, ) ) Defendant. ) FINAL DECISION

On July 10, 2014, the court entered its Decision in the above-entitled matter. Plaintiffs

filed a Statement for Costs and Disbursements on July 25, 2014. As of the date of this Final

Decision, Defendant has not filed a written objection or any other response to Plaintiffs’

Statement of Costs and Disbursements. This matter is now ready for the court’s Final Decision.

The court’s Final Decision incorporates its Decision without change and includes the court’s

analysis and determination of Plaintiffs’ request for costs and disbursements in section III.

Plaintiffs appeal Defendant’s exemption denial letter dated September 19, 2011, for the

2011-12 tax year. A trial was held in the Oregon Tax Courtroom on June 3, 2014, in Salem,

Oregon. Dennis W. Percell, Attorney at Law, appeared on behalf of Plaintiffs. Mike Dyer

(Dyer), President and CEO of Serenity Lane, and Ed Whitelaw (Whitelaw), ECO Northwest

Consultant and University of Oregon Professor Emeritus of Economics, testified on behalf of

Plaintiffs. Lindsay R. Kandra, Assistant County Attorney, appeared on behalf of Defendant.

Plaintiffs’ Exhibits 1 to12 were received without objection. Plaintiffs offered exhibits that were

not timely exchanged under Tax Court Rule-Magistrate Division 10 C. Defendant objected to

and the court excluded those exhibits. Defendant did not offer any exhibits.

///

FINAL DECISION TC-MD 111141N 1 I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

Dyer testified that Plaintiffs operate nine outpatient facilities in Oregon, one of which is

the subject property located on Barbur Boulevard in Portland. (Ptfs’ Ex 12 at 2.) He testified

that the subject property is owned by Serenity Lane Health Services, a real estate holding

company, and leased to Serenity Lane, Inc., an addiction treatment service provider.

(Ptfs’ Ex 7.) Dyer testified that Plaintiffs provide addiction treatment services including a

21- or 28-day residential treatment program, an “Intensive Outpatient” treatment program,

“Medically Managed Withdrawal (detox),” and a “Recovery Support” program. (Ptfs’ Ex 12

at 1-2.) He testified that the residential treatment and detox programs are available only at

Plaintiffs’ Eugene facility. Plaintiffs’ brochure states that admission to the detox and residential

programs at the Eugene facility “can be coordinated through the Portland Clinics.” (Ptfs’ Ex 12

at 1.) Dyer testified that intensive outpatient treatment is available at all of Plaintiffs’ facilities.

He testified that, depending on the patient’s needs, a patient may receive intensive outpatient

treatment following residential treatment or may receive intensive outpatient treatment only.

Dyer testified that intensive outpatient treatment is nine hours per week for 10 weeks. He

testified that Recovery Support is available to all patients who complete intensive outpatient

treatment. Dyer testified that Recovery Support is 1.5 hours per week for up to one year and

nine months.1

Dyer testified that the “vast majority” of services provided at the subject property are

intensive outpatient treatment. He testified that DUII services2 and employee counseling

services are also provided at the subject property. (See Ptfs’ Ex 12.) Dyer testified that Plaintiffs

1 Plaintiffs’ brochure states that recovery support is available for up to 11 months. (Ptfs’ Ex 12 at 2.) 2 DUII is an acronym for “driving under the influence of intoxicants.”

FINAL DECISION TC-MD 111141N 2 provide a “physician webcam” service in coordination with their Eugene facility whereby

patients at the subject property facility can receive a prescription from one of the Eugene facility

physicians if needed. Dyer testified that Plaintiffs provide intake assessments at the subject

property facility, about 90 percent of which are free. He testified that Plaintiffs only charge for

assessments when they are employer-mandated or medical assessments. Dyer testified that

assessments take 1.5 hours and the charge, if any, is $275 per assessment. He testified that the

assessment revenue from the subject property in the 2011-12 tax year was $9,600, whereas he

estimated that at least 350 assessments were performed given that 173 patients were admitted at

the subject property in the 2011-12 tax year.

Dyer testified that intensive outpatient and recovery support services are provided by

Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselors (CADCs). He testified that the subject property facility

was staffed by a clinic manager, about six CADCs, and several administrative staff. Dyer

testified that Plaintiffs’ rate for intensive outpatient treatment during the 2011-12 tax year was

$4,860 per person, or $54 per hour. He testified that rate was the same during the 2010-11 tax

year. Dyer testified that, in 2011, Plaintiffs commissioned a study of like-type services to

determine the market rate for its services.3 He testified that, based on that survey, Plaintiffs’ rate

for intensive outpatient treatment of $54 per hour was at or below the market rate.

Plaintiffs reported “net patient revenues” of $13,089,289 for the 2011-12 tax year.

(Ptfs’ Ex 8 at 1.) Dyer testified that the total gross income from the subject property for the

2011-12 tax year was $777,368, although that included a $98,500 account credit, therefore, the

true gross income was $678,868. He testified that the subject property incurred a net loss of

3 Whitelaw testified that that study was completed by one of his colleagues at ECO Northwest and submitted as an exhibit in Plaintiffs’ 2010-11 tax year appeal. He testified that he reviewed the report.

FINAL DECISION TC-MD 111141N 3 $70,933 in the 2011-12 tax year. Dyer testified that all of Plaintiffs’ revenue is reinvested back

into its operations, of which salaries and wages are the largest expense.

Plaintiffs reported total “recorded charity care” of $369,947, or 2.8 percent of net

revenue, in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. (Ptfs’ Ex 9 at 1.) Dyer testified that Plaintiffs

annually allocate to each of their regional facilities a fixed amount for financial aid or “charity

care.” He testified that Plaintiffs allocated $20,000 to the subject property facility in the 2011-12

tax year. Dyer testified that facility managers may request additional aid for patients on a case

by case basis. He testified that Plaintiffs consider patients’ ability to pay in determining the

amount of aid to provide. Dyer testified that, in the 2011-12 tax year, 13 patients at the subject

property facility received financial aid for total aid of $36,863.37. (See generally Ptfs’ Ex 9

at 2-13 (listing charity care provided at each facility).) On cross-examination, Dyer testified that

several of the charity care accounts reported for the Portland facility were patients who also

received services at the Eugene facility; thus, the total charity care allocable to the Portland

facility is less than $36,863.37, although the precise amount is unclear.4 (See id. at 2-3, 8-9.)

Dyer testified that, in the 2011-12 tax year, Plaintiffs provided 5,354 hours of Recovery

Support services at the subject property facility at no charge. He testified that the total value of

those services was $289,116, based on the hourly rate of $54 per hour. Dyer testified that he was

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