98-0865
Property Tax/ Centrally Assessed
Signed 10/19/98
BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
____________________________________
PETITIONER, :
: ORDER
Petitioner, :
: Appeal No.
98-0865
v. : .
:
PROPERTY TAX
DIVISION : Tax Type: Property
Tax/Centrally Assessed
OF THE UTAH
STATE TAX )
COMMISSION, : Presiding: Phan
:
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
Presiding:
Jane Phan,
Administrative Law Judge
Appearances:
For
Petitioner: PETITIONER
REP
For
Respondent: Kelly
Wright, Assistant Attorney General
Elliot Foote, Appraiser
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for an Initial Hearing
pursuant to the provisions of Utah Code Ann. §59-1-502.5, on September 28,
1998.
Petitioner
is appealing the 1998 property tax assessment for property located in COUNTY
owned by way of a mining patent. The
subject property is very steep in slope, over 30% grade and has no legal
right-of-way for access.
Petitioner
asked that the value for the 1998 tax year be lowered to the value set for
1995. Petitioner presented five
comparable sales which ranged in sale price from $$$$$ to $$$$$ per acre. Petitioner also discussed the slope and lack of access for which
he felt there should be a 50% adjustment.
In addition the property had no water and it was his opinion that there
could be no other value for the property than its value as a mining claim. He
felt that the comparables had other
uses for example recreation or possible ski resort expansion. However, some of the comparables he
presented also had no direct access and were very steeply sloping like the
subject property. Petitioner did not
explain which comparables should be adjusted by 50% and which should be
adjusted by a lesser amount or what that lesser amount would be.
It
was Respondent's position that the comparable sales in the area more than
supported the value they had placed on the subject property which was $$$$$ per
acre. Respondent's representative
explained that this was the value they had placed on all the centrally assessed
mining properties in COUNTY. In
addition Petitioner explained that after the 1995 assessment the mining
properties in COUNTY were reappraised.
APPLICABLE LAW
The
Petitioner has the burden to establish that the market value of the subject
property is other than that as determined by Respondent. Utah Adman. R. R861-1A-7(G). To prevail in a real property tax dispute, the
Petitioner must (1) demonstrate that the County's original assessment contained
error, and (2) provide the Commission with a sound evidentiary basis for
reducing the original valuation to the amount proposed by Petitioner. Nelson V. Bd. Of Equalization of Salt Lake
County, 943 P.2d 1354 (Utah 1997).
DECISION AND ORDER
Petitioner's
representative has not sufficiently supported his requested value. Respondent's value is more than supported by
the comparables. Based on the foregoing
the Commission sustains the value for the subject property set for the 1998 tax
year. It is so ordered.
This
decision does not limit a party's right to a Formal Hearing. However, this Decision and Order will become
the Final Decision and Order of the Commission unless any party to this case
files a written request within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision to
proceed to a Formal Hearing. Such a
request shall be mailed to the address listed below and must include the
Petitioner's name, address, and appeal number:
Utah State Tax Commission
Appeals Division
210 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84134
Failure
to request a Formal Hearing will preclude any further appeal rights in this
matter.
DATED
this 19 day of October, 1998.
___________________________________
Jane Phan
Administrative Law
Judge
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
The
Commission has reviewed this case and the undersigned concur in this decision.
DATED
this 19 day of October, 1998.
Richard B.
McKeown
Chairman
Joe B.
Pacheco Pam
Hendrickson
Commissioner Commissioner
^^