Terrell County Board of Tax Assessors v. Goolsby

751 S.E.2d 158, 324 Ga. App. 535, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3435, 2013 WL 5943444, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 879
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedNovember 7, 2013
DocketA13A0981
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 751 S.E.2d 158 (Terrell County Board of Tax Assessors v. Goolsby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terrell County Board of Tax Assessors v. Goolsby, 751 S.E.2d 158, 324 Ga. App. 535, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3435, 2013 WL 5943444, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 879 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

McFadden, Judge.

The Terrell County Board of Tax Assessors (“the board”) appeals the decision of the superior court that Jason and Brian Goolsby did not breach a conservation use covenant. As to the threshold issue of jurisdiction, we reject the Goolsbys’ argument that the notice of appeal was untimely; the superior court properly extended the appeal deadline.

As to the merits, the board contends that the Goolsbys breached the covenant by operating a commercial grain business on the property, notwithstanding that the property otherwise qualified as a bona fide conservation use property. The superior court rej ected the board’s contention, holding that procuring or operating a business on the subject property cannot constitute a breach of the covenant. In so holding the superior court erred. But if use of the property in a business is incidental, occasional, intermediate or temporary and not detrimental to or in conflict with its primary, qualifying use of the property, procuring or operating a business on otherwise qualified property is not a breach of the agreement and does not prevent the property from being classified as bona fide conservation use property. Because the superior court’s analysis was founded on an erroneous construction of the bona fide conservation use covenant statute, we vacate the judgment and remand to the superior court for reconsideration.

The parties entered a stipulation of facts. The superior court conducted a hearing and made additional findings of fact, which the parties do not dispute. “On appeal, the application of law to undisputed facts is subject to de novo review.” Wheeler County Bd. of Tax Assessors v. Gilder, 256 Ga. App. 478 (568 SE2d 786) (2002) (citation omitted).

[536]*536The bona fide conservation use covenant statute is OCGA § 48-5-7.4. Under that provision,

owners of “bona fide conservation use property,” including property used for certain agricultural purposes and meeting other statutory criteria and conditions, may apply to the county board of tax assessors for “current use assessment” of their property for purposes of calculating ad valorem taxes. If the application is granted, the property is assessed for tax purposes at 40 percent of its “current use value” instead of 40 percent of its “fair market value,” OCGA § 48-5-7 (a), (c.2), resulting in tax savings.

Morrison v. Claborn, 294 Ga.App. 508, 509, n. 1 (669 SE2d 492) (2008) (citation omitted). When such an application is granted, “the landowner receives a significant tax advantage, and a portion of the tax burden is shifted to other land owners, [so] the qualifying landowner must make substantial promises and covenants.” Susan L. Daniels, Ad Valorem Taxation of Property: Provide for the Ad Valorem Taxation of Timber and Current Use Valuation/Taxation of Bona Fide Conservation Use Property and Bona Fide Residential Transitional Property, 8 Ga. St. U. L. R. 181, 186 (1991). (Available at: http://scholarworks. gsu.edu/gsulr/vol8/issl/34).

In pertinent part, the statute defines “bona fide conservation use property” to mean:

Not more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property of a single person, the primary purpose of which is any good faith production, including but not limited to ... commercial production, from or on the land of agricultural products ..., subject to the following qualifications: (A) Such property includes the value of tangible property permanently affixed to the real property which is directly connected to such owner’s production of agricultural products ... and which is devoted to the storage and processing of such agricultural products . . . from or on such real property^]

OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (a) (1). “Primary purpose” means the principal use to which the property is devoted. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-11-6-.02 (e). An “incidental, occasional, intermediate or temporary use [of the property] for some other purpose not detrimental to or in conflict with its primary purpose” does not prevent otherwise qualified property from being classified as bona fide conservation use property. Id. Permissible primary purposes include using the property for raising, [537]*537harvesting, or storing crops; feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry; producing plants or animals; and producing horticulture, dairy and livestock products. OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (a) (1) (E) (i)-(iv). OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (b) (1), which sets out additional rules for the qualification of conservation use property for current use assessment, provides in pertinent part “When one-half or more of the area of a single tract of real property is used for a qualifying purpose, then such tract shall be considered as used for such qualifying purpose unless some other type of business is being operated on the unused portion. . . .” (Emphasis supplied.)

In order to obtain current use assessment, the owner of property that qualifies as bona fide conservation use property must “agree [ ] by covenant with the appropriate taxing authority to maintain the eligible property in bona fide qualifying use for a period of ten years ....” OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (d). Failure to maintain the property in qualifying use status breaches the covenant. OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (d). If a covenant is breached, the property is no longer eligible for current use assessment, and the taxpayer must pay a penalty. OCGA § 48-5-7.4 (h), (1).

The Goolsbys own 448.5 acres in Terrell County. In order to obtain certain tax advantages, effective January 1, 2007, they applied for current use assessment and entered the property in a ten-year “conservation use assessment of agricultural property covenant agreement” under OCGA § 48-5-7.4. After entering the covenant, the Goolsbys began Goolsby Farm Supply, a commercial grain business, on a portion of the property. It maintains a website and is listed in the Yellow Pages as a grain dealer. The nature of Goolsby Farm Supply is not clear from the record before us; the bench trial at which Jason Goolsby testified about the business apparently was not recorded. In any event, no transcript of that trial was included in the appellate record.

The board notified the Goolsbys that they were in violation of their conservation use covenant, specifying that they “applied for a business license on 12/9/09 and a commercial business constitutes a breach of [their] covenant.”

The Goolsbys appealed the board’s decision to the Terrell County Board of Equalization, which upheld the decision. The Goolsbys then appealed to the superior court, which ruled that they had not violated the conservation use covenant. The board filed this appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
751 S.E.2d 158, 324 Ga. App. 535, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3435, 2013 WL 5943444, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terrell-county-board-of-tax-assessors-v-goolsby-gactapp-2013.