Target Corp. v. Greene County Board of Revision

2009 Ohio 2492, 909 N.E.2d 605, 122 Ohio St. 3d 142
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJune 3, 2009
Docket2008-1231
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2009 Ohio 2492 (Target Corp. v. Greene County Board of Revision) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Target Corp. v. Greene County Board of Revision, 2009 Ohio 2492, 909 N.E.2d 605, 122 Ohio St. 3d 142 (Ohio 2009).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Appellants, the Greene County Auditor and the Greene County Board of Revision (collectively, “the county”), appeal from a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”) that adopted a reduced valuation of the property owned by the appellee, Target Corporation. The BTA based its determination of value on an appraisal report and testimony that Target presented to the board of revision (“BOR”).

{¶ 2} The tax year at issue is 2005, and the property at issue consists of an 11.82-acre parcel improved in 1998 with a Target discount store that encompasses 122,522 square feet. The auditor valued the property at $8,188,290. The appraisal report that Target presented to the BOR relied principally on a sales-[143]*143comparison approach that used “big box” stores originally built to suit the needs of Kmart and Ames but later sold in the context of the bankruptcy of those retailers. The report concluded that the value of the property was $4,500,000 for 2005, and the BTA adopted that figure as the value of the property.

{¶ 3} The county advances two propositions of law, both of which fault the appraisal that the BTA relied upon for using sales of other properties that were, in the county’s view, not comparable to the property at issue. Because we find that the BTA’s decision is supported by reliable and probative evidence and is, given the evidence before the BTA, both reasonable and lawful, we affirm.

Facts

{¶ 4} On March 24, 2006, Target Corporation (formerly known as Dayton Hudson Corporation) initiated this case by filing a complaint that challenged the auditor’s valuation. The auditor had determined a land value of $2,599,860 plus a $5,588,430 budding value for a total value of $8,188,290. The complaint requested a reduction in value to $5,000,000. At the hearing before the BOR on May 15, 2006, Target presented an appraisal report authored by Robin Lorms and Curtis Hannah, along with Hannah’s testimony. The appraisal determined that the highest and best use of the property if vacant was retail use. As improved, the highest and best use was “continued discount storeroom” — but the appraisers qualified that finding by observing that the “improvements have significant obsolescence that is typical of most big box developments,” a feature that “results in a market value which is significantly less than replacement cost less physical depreciation.”

{¶ 5} Indeed, the topic of economic obsolescence dominates the appraisal report. Although big-box “retailers thrive on efficiency, knowing that their stores are of identical dimensions for purposes of store design, product and display placement and restocking,” from the standpoint of their marketability such big-box structures suffer “functional and external obsolescence” because “few retailers are capable of occupying a space of this size” and accordingly “tenants pay rents which are much lower than rents which would make new construction financially feasible.” Moreover, the “[c]osts to retrofit existing big boxes to accommodate the needs of ‘first generation’ retailers are too high for financial feasibility.” After a lengthy discussion of big-box marketability, the appraisal states that “the fee simple market value of these properties is substantially lower than replacement costs, not only due to physical depreciation but also obsolescence. This obsolescence occurs the day they are completed[;] thus even brand new big box stores are worth less than their cost to rebuild.”

{¶ 6} These considerations guided the appraisers when they performed the sales-comparison and income-capitalization approaches to valuing the property. Namely, the appraisers selected both as sale and as rent comparables properties [144]*144that had been either sold to second-generation users or leased to second-generation tenants. In particular, four stores — two abandoned Ames stores and two abandoned Kmarts — constituted the basis for the sales-comparison approach; that approach yielded a value of $4,500,000. As for rent comparables, the appraisers specifically rejected the use of new discount stores because they were either owner-occupied or leased on a build-to-suit basis. The income approach yielded a valuation of $3,800,000.

{¶ 7} After performing an appraisal on the cost approach but rejecting it because of the external obsolescence, the appraisal report relied principally on the sales-comparison approach and viewed the income-capitalization approach as supporting the lower value for the property. As noted, the appraisal determined the value of the property to be $4,500,000.

{¶ 8} In its decision, the BOR retained the land value at $2,599,860 and reduced the building value to $5,059,520. This adjustment resulted in a total value of $7,659,380. Target appealed to the BTA, where the parties waived a hearing.

{¶ 9} The BTA reviewed the record and found no “evidence or rationale which supports the BOR’s decision to value the subject at $7,659,380.” Target Corp. v. Greene Cty. Bd. of Revision (May 27, 2008), BTA No. 2006-V-751, at 8. In its review of the appraisal, the BTA essentially agreed with the appraisers’ emphasis on the sales-comparison approach. Id. at 11. The BTA specifically observed that the county “elected not to provide us with any competing market information that could allow us to come to a different conclusion concerning the subject’s value.” Id. at 12. Additionally, the board rejected the county’s suggestion that the appraisal should have relied on first-generation leasing terms, in particular build-to-suit lease terms, based upon the absence of any evidence to support that theory. Id. The BTA found that Target’s appraisal sustained its burden to show a value different from the one adopted by the BOR. Noting that the county had presented no evidence in rebuttal, the BTA adopted $4,500,000 as the value of the property.

Analysis

{¶ 10} Under our cases, we “ ‘will not hesitate to reverse a BTA decision that is based on an incorrect legal conclusion.’ ” Satullo v. Wilkins, 111 Ohio St.3d 399, 2006-Ohio-5856, 856 N.E.2d 954, ¶ 14, quoting Gahanna-Jefferson Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Zaino (2001), 93 Ohio St.3d 231, 232, 754 N.E.2d 789. On the other hand, “ ‘[t]he BTA is responsible for determining factual issues and, if the record contains reliable and probative support’ ” for the BTA’s decision, we will affirm. Id., quoting Am. Natl. Can Co. v. Tracy (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 150, 152, 648 N.E.2d 483. Moreover, we “ ‘will not reverse the BTA’s determination on credibility of witnesses and weight given to their testimony unless we find an [145]*145abuse of * * * discretion.’ ” Strongsville Bd. of Edn. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision, 112 Ohio St.3d 309, 2007-Ohio-6, 859 N.E.2d 540, ¶ 15, quoting Natl. Church Residence v. Licking Cty. Bd. of Revision (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 397, 398, 653 N.E.2d 240.

{¶ 11} In this case, the county advances two grounds for reversing the BTA’s decision. Both amount to objections to the manner in which the BTA evaluated the evidence before it, and therefore both must be reviewed with deference to the BTA’s fact-finding. Because the BTA’s decision is supported by reliable and probative evidence, and because the county presented no controverting evidence, we must affirm.

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Bluebook (online)
2009 Ohio 2492, 909 N.E.2d 605, 122 Ohio St. 3d 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/target-corp-v-greene-county-board-of-revision-ohio-2009.