County of Webster v. Nebraska Tax Equal. & Rev. Comm., 296 Neb. 751

Webster County challenged a TERC order increasing the assessed value of the "Majority Land Use Grass" subclass (grassland) by 6%, which raised the subclass to 72% and overall agricultural land to 69% of market value.
The Nebraska Property Tax Administrator (Administrator) prepared narrative and statistical reports using a 3-year sales study and, because Webster County sales were sparse, included comparable sales from adjacent counties. Administrator recommended a 9% increase for grassland.
TERC issued a show-cause order and held a hearing where the county assessor disputed inclusion of three sales (two Webster County sales she had disqualified after changes in use, and one Nuckolls County sale with timber cover).
The assessment division testified that its reports and use of out-of-county comparable sales complied with its regulations and that timber over grassland can still be classified as grassland.
After considering supplemental analyses, TERC adopted a 6% increase (less than the Administrator’s 9% recommendation). Webster County appealed arguing the Administrator’s reports lacked competent evidence and included noncomparable out-of-county sales.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether TERC may rely on Administrator’s annual narrative and statistical reports without attaching each underlying sales file entry	Webster: §77-5016(4) requires records relied on be part of the record; reports must list each sale, sale price, assessed value, and geographic data	TERC: §77-5027(3) does not require itemized sales in the report; assessors get sales rosters and can request sales files; show-cause hearing allows challenge	Court: Administrator’s statutory reports are competent evidence without including every sales file entry; show-cause hearing shifts burden to county to rebut reports
Whether assessment division used noncomparable out-of-county sales to determine grassland value	Webster: some borrowed sales (esp. a Nuckolls County parcel with timber) were not comparable and distorted median	TERC/Administrator: regulations allow use of comparable sales from similar market areas; timber-over-grassland can still be classified as grassland; Nuckolls sale was reported as 80% grassland	Court: Webster failed to prove noncomparability; assessor offered no evidence contradicting county-level classification and admissions limited disputes to specific sales, which did not undermine the overall analysis

JQH La Vista Conf. Ctr. v. Sarpy Cty. Bd. of Equal., 285 Neb. 120 (standard of review for TERC final decisions)
Brenner v. Banner Cty. Bd. of Equal., 276 Neb. 275 (arbitrariness standard for agency decisions)
Blakely v. Lancaster County, 284 Neb. 659 (agency action contrary to its rules is arbitrary)
Johnson v. Neth, 276 Neb. 886 (presumption that public officers perform duties faithfully)