98-1201
Property Tax
Signed 5/14/99
____________________________________
EVAN O.
KOLLER, ) ORDER
:
Petitioner, : Appeal No. 98-1201
: Parcel No.
Multipe-14
v. :
: Tax
Type: Property
Tax
BOARD OF
EQUALIZATION OF )
CACHE COUNTY, : Tax Year:
UTAH, )
: Judge: Davis
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
Presiding:
G. Blaine Davis, Administrative Law Judge
Appearances:
For
Petitioner: Mr.
Evan O. Koller
For
Respondent: Ms.
Kathleen Howell, Cache County Assessor
Mr. Ray Thorsen, Mr. Brian Hickman, Cache County Assessor's
office
Ms. Tamara Stone, Cache County Treasurer
Mr. Lynn Lemon, Cache County Manager
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This
matter came before the Commission for an Initial Hearing pursuant to the
provisions of Utah Code Ann. §59-1-502.5, on April 21, 1999.
Petitioner
has appealed the determination of the
Greenbelt values placed upon his property pursuant to Rule R884-24P-53, Utah
Administrative Code.
Petitioner
has a dry farm of many acres in Cache County, and pursuant to the tables
contained in the above stated rule, the agricultural value of his property is
more than three times the agricultural value for the same property in Box Elder
County, which is right next door to Cache County. The position of Petitioner is that much of his property is on a
slope, so he has to purchase special equipment which is capable of farming such
steep property, whereas most of the property in Box Elder County is flat and
does not require such expensive equipment to farm. Therefore, he argues, it is more expensive for him to produce a
crop on his land than it would be if he owned flat land in Box Elder County, so
his land should have a lower value than Box Elder County land.
Petitioner
did not present any evidence to indicate the values adopted by the schedules in
said rule are not correct, nor did he present any evidence of the correct
agricultural value of the property if the values set forth by Rule R884-24P-53
are not correct.
Petitioner
was referred to the State Farm Land Evaluation Advisory Committee and
encouraged to discuss his issues with them and to submit relevant information
to help them arrive at the correct values to be used for agricultural purposes
in Cache County.
APPLICABLE LAW
Petitioner
has the burden to establish that the value as shown in the schedules is not
correct, and also has the burden to establish the correct values if the values
set by the tables are not correct.
Petitioner failed to meet that burden of proof.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that Petitioner has failed to meet
his burden of proof to establish that the values set forth by Rule R884-24P-53 are
not correct, or to establish the correct values if such values are wrong. Accordingly, the Petition for
Reconsideration is hereby denied.
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 14TH day
of May, 1999.
____________________________________
G. Blaine Davis
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 14th day of
May, 1999.
Richard B.
McKeown Pam
Hendrickson
Chairman Commissioner
R. Bruce
Johnson
Commissioner
^^