BEFORE THE STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

FOR THE STATE OF WYOMING

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPEAL OF )

JOHN W. WALLACE )

FROM A DECISION OF THE ALBANY ) Docket No. 98-190

COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION ) Docket No. 99-113

CONCERNING THE 1998 AND 1999 )

ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY )

OWNED BY JOHN, SHANE W. AND )

ANTHONY WALLACE )

FINDINGS OF FACT

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

DECISION AND ORDER

APPEARANCES

John W. Wallace, appearing for himself and as agent for his sons Anthony Wallace and Shane W. Wallace.

Debbie Nagel Smith, Albany County Assessor, by and through Cal Rerucha, Albany County Attorney.

This matter was considered by the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) consisting of Edmund J. Schmidt, Chairman, Roberta A. Coates, Vice-Chairman, and Ron Arnold, Member, on written information pursuant to a Consolidation and Briefing Order (Locally Assessed Property) dated November 9, 1999. Originally, John W. Wallace, Shane W. Wallace and Anthony Wallace (Taxpayer) appealed the 1998 valuation of their property located in Bosler, Albany County, Wyoming. The record of the proceeding for the 1998 County Board of Equalization hearing was inaudible and a transcript of the proceedings was not available and therefore the parties agreed to consolidate the 1998 and 1999 appeals. The appeal arises from a decision of the Albany County Board of Equalization (CBOE) affirming the value set by the Albany County Assessor of land located in Albany County, Wyoming. The issue is:

       Was the CBOE decision affirming the Assessor's value of Petitioner's property located in the platted town of Bosler,          Wyoming supported by substantial evidence, according to procedures required by law, and neither arbitrary, capricious,          nor inconsistent with law?

JURISDICTION

The State Board of Equalization (SBOE) is mandated to "hear appeals from county boards of equalization . . . upon application of any interested person adversely affected" and hold hearings after due notice pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act and prescribed rules and regulations. Wyo. Stat. 39-11-102.1(c). An appeal from a county board of equalization decision must be filed with the SBOE within thirty (30) days from entry of the county board decision. Rules, Chapter 3, 2, Wyoming State Board of Equalization.

DISCUSSION

Taxpayer appealed the valuation of lots that he and his sons own in the incorporated community of Bosler, Wyoming. Bosler, Wyoming, has become an abandoned community since the highway and the railroad changed. Many of the lots are vacant. The Assessor testified at the CBOE hearing that Taxpayer's property was valued as salvaged lots in accordance with the Wyoming statutes and the rules of the Department of Revenue and the CAMA system was used in valuing the lots. All lots were assigned a salvage value which the computer does not allow a lower value than the $100 per lot to be assigned. In an effort to reduce the burden the Assessor combined contiguous lots and assigned a value of $100 to the contiguous lots. The Assessor testified that no sales had occurred in this plat to provide sales data to verify the value as set. Fremont County was contacted to ascertain how a similar abandoned community, Jeffrey City, was being valued. The values assigned to the lots in Bosler were similar to the values of lots assigned in Jeffrey City. The Taxpayer presented information that for the tax years prior to the years in question the value was consistently set at $20.00 per lot. The Taxpayer stated that the change in 1998 and 1999 was to value lots from $30 to $100 per lot and that this was an increase from 45% to 400%.

The CBOE issued its 1998 decision affirming the Assessor's value on September 17, 1998. The Taxpayer appealed the 1998 valuation to the SBOE; however, the tape recording of the CBOE hearing was inaudible and the court reporter could not transcribe the proceedings. The Taxpayer appealed the 1999 valuation to the CBOE and a decision was issued on August 3, 1999, and Taxpayer appealed the CBOE decision. Both appeals are combined by consent of the parties.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Taxpayer owns numerous undeveloped lots in the incorporated community of Bosler, Wyoming, located in Albany County, Wyoming. [CBOE 1998 Exhibit A-3, A-4 and CBOE 1999 Exhibit A-3, A-4]. Some of the lots are contiguous and were combined by the Assessor for valuation purposes and some of the lots are isolated and valued separately as a single lot. [CBOE Transcript, p. 19]

2. The lots are unique and the Assessor's agent, Mr. Troy Babbitt, testified:

"Bosler is a unique situation in that it's a platted city, but yet in reality it's basically a vacant piece of land." [CBOE Transcript, p. 15]. The Assessor characterized the Bosler property as "salvage-type" lots. [CBOE Transcript, p. 21].

3. The unique characteristics became a problem for the Albany County Assessor in 1997 when the Assessor attempted to map property ownership of lots in Bosler.

Previous to 1997, if a property owner owns several parcels in Bosler they may have been combined even if they were not contiguous. 1997, by order of the State we separated each lot and block out depending on the property owner and -- How shall I say this? Whether the lots and block are contiguous, then we can put those onto one of the property owners.

In 1997, our old county computer system allowed us to do just a manual override, and Bosler was priced at $20 per lot of market value. When we remapped the town of Bosler we wanted [sic] utilize the State of Wyoming CAMA system, which no matter what has a minimum lot value of $100. If it's $1 it will round to the nearest $100. So utilizing that system is how this situation occurred. [CBOE Transcript, p. 16].

4. The land in Bosler is also unique because of the size of the lots. Lots in Laramie, the main town of Albany County average 7,000 square feet but the lots in Bosler are only 2,500 square feet. [CBOE Transcript, p. 21].

5. The Albany County Assessor's Office contacted other counties and ascertained that no other lots were being valued at less than $100 per lot. [CBOE Transcript, p. 21]. There is no minimum lot that would be valued less than $100 even if it were 5 feet by 5 feet. [CBOE Transcript, p. 33].

6. The Assessor's Office determined that it was not fair to value all lots in Bosler at $100, as was originally done in 1998, and instead valued larger contiguous lots at a lower value. [CBOE Transcript, p. 22]. This was based on the principle that the larger the parcel then the smaller the price is per square foot. A principle used in other places in Wyoming. [CBOE Transcript, p. 30].

7. In 1997 the tax paid was $73.16. The tax due for 1998 is $110.00 and in 1999 the tax is $105.16. [CBOE Transcript, p. 26 and 32]. The market value as set by the Assessor for 1999 for all of the Wallace lots was $16,800.

8. The lots in Bosler had not been revalued since 1986. [CBOE Transcript, p. 37]. There were no sales of lots in Bosler to determine market value in the last five years. [CBOE Transcript, p. 31, 35].

9. Lots in Albany County averaged an increase in valuation of ten per cent (10%) per year since 1992. [CBOE Transcript, p. 27].

10. No other lots in Albany County were valued at an increase of 50% of the valuation other than the property in question and most lots experienced a forty per cent (40%) increase valuation from 1995.[CBOE Transcript, p. 21].

11. The Assessor's Office contacted other counties and found the most similar situation in Jeffrey City, Fremont County, Wyoming. Jeffrey City was similar because it has many abandoned lots and those lots were also valued at $100 per lot. [CBOE Transcript, p. 21]. However the Assessor's representative did not know the size of the lots in Jeffrey City. He assumed water was available to the lots and that electricity was available. He also did not know what access was available in Jeffrey City.[CBOE Transcript, p. 32 and 34].

12. The Assessor's representative admitted that if the property was not platted and valued as vacant acreage it would have been valued at $28 per acre or approximately $2.18 per lot for the square footage. [CBOE Transcript, p. 45].

13. Originally, John W. Wallace, Shane W. Wallace and Anthony Wallace (Taxpayer) appealed the 1998 valuation of their property located in Bosler, Albany County, Wyoming. The record of the proceeding for the 1998 County Board of Equalization hearing was inaudible and a transcript of the proceedings was not available and therefore the parties agreed to consolidate the 1998 and 1999 appeals.

14. Any Discussion above or Conclusion of Law below which includes a finding of fact may also be considered a Finding of Fact and, therefore, is incorporated herein by this reference.

15. Petitioner's notice of appeal was timely filed and the SBOE has jurisdiction to determine this matter.

16. All taxable property must be valued annually at fair market value. Wyo. Stat. 39-13-103(b)(ii). Fair market value is defined as:

[T]he amount in cash, or terms reasonably equivalent to cash, a well informed buyer is justified in paying for a property and a well informed seller

is justified in accepting, assuming neither party to the transaction is acting under undue compulsion, and assuming the property has been offered in the open market for a reasonable time . . . .

Wyo. Stat. 39-11-101(a)(vi).

17. The decision in this matter would be simple if there were sales of comparable property. If there were sales then the value could easily be set to reflect those sales. However, there have been no sales of property in Bosler in the last five years, other than tax sales which are not a reflection of a fair market sale. Gray v. Wyoming State Bd. Of Equalization 896 P.2d 1347 (Wyo. 1995).

18. Article 15, Section 11, Wyo. Const. provides "[a]ll propertyshall be uniformly assessed for taxation, and the legislature shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, real and personal."

19. Our inquiry is limited to whether the 1998 and the 1999 value established by the CBOE is: (a) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law; (b) in excess of statutory jurisdiction or authority; (c) without observance of procedures required by law; or (d) unsupported by substantial evidence. Rules, Chapter 3, 9, Wyoming State Board of Equalization.

20. The CBOE is limited to hear and determine the complaint of any person relative to any property assessed or valued. Wyo. Stat. 39-13-102(c)(iv).

21. An assessor's valuation is presumed valid, accurate, and correct, a presumption which survives until overturned by credible evidence. Teton Valley Ranch v. State Board of Equalization, 735 P. 2d 107,113 (Wyo. 1987). A mere difference of opinion as to value is not sufficient to overturn this presumption. J. Ray McDermott & Company v. Hudson, 370 P. 2d 364, 370 (Wyo. 1962). The presumption is especially valid where, as herein, the Assessor valued the property according to the Department's Rules and Regulations which prescribe use of the CAMA system in the assessment of real property. Rules, Chapter 9, 6(b) and (d). The Wyoming Supreme Court has recognized the validity of the valuations derived from the CAMA system in Gray v. Wyoming State Board of Equalization, 896 P.2d 1347 (Wyo. 1995). In fact the Court rejected the actual sales price of the properties in favor of the value established by the CAMA system because of the uniformity derived from the use of the CAMA system.

22. The burden of going forward and the ultimate burden of persuasion is upon Taxpayer and Taxpayer shall meet that burden by a preponderance of the evidence. Rules, Chapter 2, 19, State Board of Equalization.

23. Taxpayer has presented no evidence to support a value. He is requesting that the value be returned to the historical level but presents no evidence to support the historical level of twenty dollars per lot.

24. One question before us is whether there is substantial evidence in the record that reasonably supports the conclusions reached by the CBOE. As a reviewing body, we will not substitute our judgment for findings reasonably supported by evidence in the CBOE record. Laramie County Board of Equalization v. State Board, 915 P.2d 1184, 1188-1189 (Wyo.1996); Amax Coal v. State Bd. Of Equalization, 819 P.2d 825 (Wyo. 1991); Sage Club, Inc. v. Employment Sec. Comm'n., 601 P.2d 1306, 1310 (Wyo. 1979). While substantial evidence may be less than the weight of the evidence, it cannot be clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. As the Wyoming Supreme Court has stated, substantial evidence ". . . is more than a mere scintilla of evidence or suspicion of a fact to be established." Mountain Fuel Supply Company v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, 662 P.2d 878, 882 (Wyo. 1983). "Substantial evidence is relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the conclusions of the agency."Amax Coal v. State Bd. Of Equalization, 819 P.2d 825 at 828 (Wyo. 1991).

25. The Wyoming Supreme Court has held that "an agency's action is arbitrary and capricious and must be reversed if any essential finding is not supported by substantial evidence." Amax Coal West, Inc., 896 P.2d 1329, 1335 (Wyo. 1995); citing, Majority of working interest owners in Buck Draw Field Area v. Wyoming Oil and Gas conservation Commission, 721 P.2d 1070,1079 (Wyo. 1986) and Amax Coal v. State Bd. Of Equalization, 819 P.2d 825(Wyo. 1991). "Substantial evidence is that quantum of relevant evidence which would be accepted by a reasonable mind as adequate to support the conclusion."

26. If there was truly other property in the State of Wyoming that had similar land attributes and similar market conditions then the value for this property could be set. The Assessor attempted to find this information by contacting other counties and believed that the land and market conditions in Jeffrey City was similar to those existing in Bosler and also found that other counties were valuing salvage land at $100 per acre. Taxpayer presented no evidence to refute this valuation. The CBOE accepted the Assessor's valuation judgment, and there is no evidence in the record for this SBOE to do otherwise.

27. We agree with the testimony of the Assessor's Office that the original value set in 1998 was not "fair" and the value set for 1999 should be the same value for 1998.

The decision of the Albany County Board of Equalization affirming the Assessor's 1998 is reversed and remanded to be calculated consistent with the value set in 1999 and 1999 fair market value of the Taxpayer's lots in Bosler, Wyoming, is affirmed.

DATED this 24^th day of February, 2000.

Edmund J. Schmidt, Chairman

Roberta A. Coates, Vice-Chairman

Ron Arnold, Member

ATTEST:

Wendy Soto, Executive Assistant