State ex rel. Brighton Square Co. v. City of Madison

504 N.W.2d 436, 178 Wis. 2d 577, 1993 Wisc. App. LEXIS 957
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 29, 1993
DocketNo. 92-1363
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 504 N.W.2d 436 (State ex rel. Brighton Square Co. v. City of Madison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Brighton Square Co. v. City of Madison, 504 N.W.2d 436, 178 Wis. 2d 577, 1993 Wisc. App. LEXIS 957 (Wis. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

SUNDBY, J.

The City of Madison appeals from an order under sec. 70.47(13), Stats., reversing the board of review's affirmance of the 1991 real property assessment of Brighton Square, an apartment complex owned by Brighton Square Company. The circuit court concluded that the assessment was not made according to sec. 70.32(1), Stats., because the assessor and the board failed to consider the 1989 sale of an adjacent apartment complex, Kingswood Hills. The court remanded the assessment to the board for reconsideration. We affirm.

The city claims that the Kingswood Hills sale was not an "arm's-length" transaction and therefore the [581]*581assessor and the board of review were not required to consider that sale when determining the fair market value of Brighton Square. However, the assessor conceded that he had assessed Kingswood Hills at its sales price before and after its sale in 1989. We conclude that the taxpayer was therefore entitled to rely on the 1989 sale as a sale at fair market value, in the absence of evidence presented by the city to the contrary. Because the city failed to present such evidence to the board, the board was required to accept the sale as an arm's-length transaction.

We further conclude that the taxpayer met its burden of showing that Brighton Square and Kingswood Hills are comparable properties. We therefore agree with the circuit court that the assessor and the board of review failed to determine Brighton Square's fair market value according to sec. 70.32(1), Stats., when they relied on the income approach rather than the comparable sales approach.

BACKGROUND

Brighton Square is a 122-unit complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments. In 1975, it was separated from the original complex of 262 units built yin 1972. The remainder now comprises Kingswood Hills, a 140-unit complex.

The taxpayer purchased Brighton Square in 1978 for $1,700,000. In May 1989, Anchor Savings and Loan Association sold Kingswood Hills to its present owners for $2,800,000, the assessed value of the property. In determining the fair market value of Kingswood Hills for subsequent assessments, the assessor has relied on the 1989 sale. The taxpayer also relied on that sale, adjusted for differences between the complexes' units and amenities, to support its claim that Brighton [582]*582Square's January 1, 1991 fair market value was $1,750,000.

The city now claims that the assessor erred in relying on the May 1989 sale to determine the fair market value of Kingswood Hills. It contends that the sale was not an arm's-length transaction and that Brighton Square and Kingswood Hills are not comparable properties. The circuit court concluded, however, that the taxpayer had met its burden of showing that the sale was an arm's-length sale of a comparable property. It therefore set aside the 1991 assessment and remanded the assessment to the board for reconsideration.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A court has no jurisdiction to disturb the findings and determination of the board of review except where the board acts in bad faith or exceeds its jurisdiction. Dempze Cranberry Co. v. Board of Review, 143 Wis. 2d 879, 883, 422 N.W.2d 902, 904 (Ct. App. 1988). Our review does not include mere errors of judgment as to the preponderance of the evidence. Id.

The assessor's valuation is presumed correct. Id. at 884, 422 N.W.2d at 904; sec. 70.49(2), Stats. It will not be set aside in the absence of evidence showing it to be incorrect. Dempze, 143 Wis. 2d at 884, 422 N.W.2d at 904. We will not disturb the findings of the board of review if the evidence presented in favor of the assessment furnishes a substantial basis for that valuation. Id. However, these rules assume that the method of valuation is in accordance with the statutes. Id. Failure to make an assessment on the statutory basis is an error of law, correctable by the courts on certiorari. Id.

[583]*583Section 70.32(1), Stats., provides that the assessor shall value real estate for purposes of property tax assessment from actual view or from the "best information" that the assessor can practicably obtain, "at the full value which could ordinarily be obtained therefor at private sale." Section 70.32(1) requires real estate to be assessed at its fair market value.

The "best information" from which fair market value of real estate may be derived is a sale of the property or if there has been no such sale, then sales of reasonably comparable property. In the absence of such sales, the assessor may consider all the factors collectively which have bearing on the value of the property.

Dempze, 143 Wis. 2d at 885, 422 N.W.2d at 904 (citation omitted). One of the factors which the assessor may consider is the income produced by the property. State ex rel. Enter. Realty Co. v. Swiderski, 269 Wis. 642, 645, 70 N.W.2d 34, 35 (1955). However, when the market value is established by a fair sale of the property in question or like property, there is no occasion to resort to other factors such as income. Id. In Rosen v. City of Milwaukee, 72 Wis. 2d 653, 670, 242 N.W.2d 681, 688 (1976), the court said:

Income is a proper element to consider depending upon its circumstances, along with other factors, in determining market value. However, such factors may only be considered where there has been no sale of the property in question or of reasonably comparable property.

Where it appears that the assessor has failed to value property according to law, an assessment based [584]*584on such value must be set aside. "Errors of law should be corrected by the court on certiorari and the failure to make an assessment on the statutory basis is an error of law." State ex rel. Markarian v. City of Cudahy, 45 Wis. 2d 683, 686-87, 173 N.W.2d 627, 629 (1970). See also Metropolitan Holding Co. v. Board of Review, 173 Wis. 2d 626, 631, 495 N.W.2d 314, 316 (1993) (valuation which exceeds fair market value violates sec. 70.32(1), Stats.).

In Parts I and II of this opinion we discuss our specific standard of review of the board's and the circuit court's determinations of the issues.

HH

SALE OF KINGSWOOD HILLS: ARM'S-LENGTH SALE

The circuit court concluded that the assessor and the board should have relied on the sale of the King-swood Hills property to determine the fair market value of Brighton Square because the sale was an arm's-length sale of comparable property. We review the board of review's decision independent of the circuit court's conclusions. Steenberg v. Town of Oakfield, 167 Wis. 2d 566, 571, 482 N.W.2d 326, 327 (1992).

"If there is credible evidence before the board that may in any reasonable view support the assessor's valuation, that valuation must be upheld." Id. at 572, 482 N.W.2d at 328 (quoting Rosen v.

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Bluebook (online)
504 N.W.2d 436, 178 Wis. 2d 577, 1993 Wisc. App. LEXIS 957, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-brighton-square-co-v-city-of-madison-wisctapp-1993.