2013 IL App (1st) 120493
Ill. App. Ct.2014Background
- John J. Moroney & Co. owned a vacant industrial property (63,840 sq ft building on ~133,554 sq ft land) that was vacated in March 2005 and later sold in Nov. 2006 for $2.1 million.
- The 2005 assessed value ($713,627) was challenged by Moroney before the Cook County Board of Review; Moroney failed to comply with Cook County Board Rule 21 (no proper vacancy affidavit) and the board denied relief.
- Moroney appealed to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB); at the PTAB hearing Moroney’s witness (attorney Glenn Guttman) testified about prior vacancy reductions but was barred from testifying about the assessor/board’s internal policies.
- PTAB found Moroney failed to meet its burden to show (1) a board policy of automatic vacancy-based reductions and (2) that the subject property met any criteria for vacancy relief; PTAB affirmed the Board of Review’s “no change.”
- Moroney sought to introduce evidence of other assessor/board vacancy reductions; the exhibits often included reasons or supporting documents showing why vacancy relief was granted in those cases.
- Moroney appealed to this court arguing (a) the Board of Review has a policy of granting reductions for vacancy without market-value inquiry and (b) PTAB abused discretion by excluding Guttman’s opinion on that alleged policy; the appellate court affirmed PTAB.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Board of Review has a policy of automatically granting vacancy-based assessment reductions | Moroney: Board/assessor routinely grants reductions based on vacancy alone | Board/intervenors: No automatic policy; Rule 21 requires evidence of duration, reason, and leasing efforts; other cases had supporting evidence for vacancy relief | Held: No automatic-policy shown; Moroney failed to present evidence of such a policy or why its property met vacancy-relief criteria |
| Whether Moroney met burden to obtain vacancy reduction for 2005 | Moroney: Vacancy itself warranted reduction; subsequent 2006 reduction shows prior error | Respondents: Moroney failed to comply with Rule 21 and failed to prove why property was vacant in 2005; 2006 relief does not prove 2005 error | Held: Moroney failed to meet burden (clear and convincing standard); 2006 reduction irrelevant to 2005 without 2005-specific proof |
| Admissibility: whether PTAB abused discretion by excluding Guttman’s opinion about assessor/board policy | Moroney: Guttman could testify from his practice about consistent vacancy-based relief | Respondents: Guttman lacked personal knowledge of internal policies and was not qualified as expert; exclusion was within PTAB discretion | Held: PTAB did not abuse its discretion; Guttman lacked personal experience with internal policies and was not qualified as an expert |
| Whether PTAB’s factual findings were against the manifest weight of the evidence | Moroney: PTAB ignored other PTAB decisions and assessor letters showing vacancy reductions | Respondents: Exhibits actually showed reasons/criteria for reductions; record lacks evidence of an across-the-board vacancy policy | Held: PTAB’s factual findings affirmed; not against manifest weight of evidence |
Key Cases Cited
- Walsh v. Property Tax Appeal Board, 181 Ill. 2d 228 (1998) (taxpayer bears burden of proving assessment disparity by clear and convincing evidence)
- Cinkus v. Village of Stickney Municipal Officers Electoral Board, 228 Ill. 2d 200 (2008) (appellate court will not reweigh administrative factfinding)
- Cook County Board of Review v. Property Tax Appeal Board, 395 Ill. App. 3d 776 (2009) (standards of review and PTAB deference principles)
- Du Page County Board of Review v. Property Tax Appeal Board, 284 Ill. App. 3d 649 (1996) (if any evidence fairly supports agency finding, decision must be sustained)
- Board of Education of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley C.U.S.D. No. 5 v. Property Tax Appeal Board, 354 Ill. App. 3d 812 (2005) (official with personal knowledge may establish assessor policy)
- Hoyne Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Hare, 60 Ill. 2d 84 (1974) (limited, fact-specific authority on correcting prior assessment mistakes)