Victor Valley Housing Corp. v. County of San Bernardino

290 P.2d 565, 45 Cal. 2d 580, 1955 Cal. LEXIS 346
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 25, 1955
DocketL. A. 23494; L. A. 23495
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 290 P.2d 565 (Victor Valley Housing Corp. v. County of San Bernardino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Victor Valley Housing Corp. v. County of San Bernardino, 290 P.2d 565, 45 Cal. 2d 580, 1955 Cal. LEXIS 346 (Cal. 1955).

Opinion

TRAYNOR, J.

— Victor Valley Housing Corporation and Mesa Estates, Inc., California corporations, hereinafter called Victor Valley and Mesa, brought actions against the county of San Bernardino (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 5103) for recovery of taxes paid under protest that were levied against possessory interests in tax exempt land and improvements for the tax year 1953-1954. The actions were consolidated for trial, and the county appeals from judgments in favor of plaintiffs and orders remanding the proceedings to the county board of equalization.

*582 Victor Valley and Mesa are housing projects of 400 and 250 units, respectively, for military and civilian personnel assigned to duty at George Air Force Base in San Bernardino County. The projects are located on land owned by the United States government and leased to Victor Valley and Mesa for 75 years at annual rentals of $100, were constructed by the lessees pursuant to the provisions of title VIII of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.A. §§ 1748-1748h) and section 1270 of title 10 of the United States Code, were financed by loans secured by mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, and were subleased to persons designated as tenants by the commanding officer at rents regulated by the Federal Housing Administration and the Air Force. On completion, all improvements became the property of the federal government, and Victor Valley and Mesa manage the projects under leases that are essentially identical with the lease between De Luz Homes and the government (see De Luz Homes v. County of San Diego, ante, p. 546 [290 P.2d 544]) and that provide, as in the case of De Luz, that the lessee shall pay “all taxes, assessments, and similar charges which, at any time during the term of the lease, may be taxed, assessed or imposed upon the Government or upon the Lessee with respect to or upon the leased premises.” (10 U.S.C.A. § 1270d; 12 U.S.C.A. §17481)

The assessor valued the possessory interests of Victor Valley and Mesa in land improvements for the tax year 1953-1954 at $484,200 and $344,000, respectively, and levied taxes thereon of $25,226.82 and $17,922.40. * Victor Valley and Mesa paid the levies under protest and filed applications with the county board of equalization for reduction of the valuations to zero. At the hearing of the application, the assessor testified that in valuing the leaseholds he estimated the fee value of the land, imputed an income thereto of 7.5 per cent, deducted the annual" rent paid to the government from such income, capitalized the difference between imputed income and rent at 7.5 per cent, deducted 5 per cent of the product “in recognition of the restrictive conditions of the lease,” and deemed the resulting figure the present value of the possessory interest in land. The replacement cost of improvements, less deductions for depreciation and restrictions created *583 by the lease, was deemed the value of the possessory interest in improvements, and the sum of the values of the possessory interests in land and improvements was considered the present value of the leasehold.

As a check on the foregoing method, the assessor made an analysis of anticipated earning power by estimating future annual gross income, deducting therefrom operating expenses, payment into a replacement reserve required by the Federal Housing Administration, and rent paid to the government, and capitalizing the difference at a rate thought adequate to allow for risk, interest, and taxes. He did not deduct payments of principal and interest on the lessees’ mortgage debts or amortization of their investments in the leaseholds. Since he thought that the buildings would be greatly depreciated in 53 years, he limited his expectation of actual income to such period, and determined the present value of the remaining 20 years of the lease by imputing an income to the land, deducting therefrom rent to be paid to the government, and capitalizing the difference. The sum of the capitalized values of anticipated and imputed earnings was deemed the value of the leasehold. Since the figure obtained by the first method was lower than that obtained by the immediately foregoing method, he selected the former as the basis of his assessment, reduced it to 20 per cent thereof to allow for the ratio of assessment value to market value, and entered it on the tax roll. Victor Valley and Mesa substantially agreed with the amount of gross income and operating expenses forecast by the assessor, but contended that in estimating net income, he should deduct allowances for deferred replacement of assets and payment of principal, interest, and insurance on their mortgage debts.

The board of equalization ordered that the present value of improvements that will revert to the government on termination of the leases be deducted from the value of the leaseholds and otherwise affirmed the method of valuation employed by the assessor. The amount of the valuation of Mesa was not affected by the board’s order, and that of Victor Valley was reduced by but $1,000. Claims for refund were denied by the board of supervisors. (Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 5096-5099.) After receiving in evidence the documents and transcript of testimony introduced before the board of equalization, the court held the assessor’s method of valuation improper and remanded the proceedings to the board with directions to take evidence on the amount of money in *584 vested in the leaseholds and the “reserve necessary for future but presently anticipable ordinary maintenance and repair.” The board was directed to deduct rent to the government, operating expenses, amortization, a specified sum “for deferred maintenance reserve for replacement of household equipment,” and a specified sum “for the future but presently anticipable ordinary maintenance and repair of the housing units” from anticipated annual gross income, to capitalize the difference for the remaining years of the lease at 7.5 per cent, to reduce the amount so computed to 20 per cent thereof to allow for the ratio of assessed value to market value, and to enter the net amount on the tax roll, provided that it enter an amount no less than $3,900.

The method used by the assessor was held inappropriate for valuing leaseholds of the kind in question in De Luz Homes v. County of San Diego, ante, p. 546 [290 P.2d 544]), wherein it was stated that under the circumstances attending such leaseholds, the value of plaintiffs’ possessory interests can best be estimated in terms of actual income rather than imputed income, and that in any event, an analysis of imputed income must make an adequate distinction between imputed gross income and imputed net income.

The income analysis used by the assessor as a cheek against his imputed income estimate requires further discussion. In the assessor’s income analysis, it is assumed that since the buildings will be greatly depreciated at the end of 53 years, actual income can be anticipated only for such time, and that to value the remaining 20 years of the lease, it is necessary to impute an income to the land alone.

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Bluebook (online)
290 P.2d 565, 45 Cal. 2d 580, 1955 Cal. LEXIS 346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/victor-valley-housing-corp-v-county-of-san-bernardino-cal-1955.