43 Conn. App. 169 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1996
The plaintiffs appeal from the judgment of the trial court dismissing their challenge to the decision of the board of tax review of the town of Darien regarding a tax assessment on real property they own. On appeal, they claim that the trial court (1) improperly failed to consider disproportionate valuation questions when the decennial revaluation process, as set forth in General Statutes § 12-62, failed to conform to the statutory requirements for revaluation in violation of General Statutes § 12-119
The trial court found the following facts. The plaintiffs own 2.88 acres of waterfront residential property at 25 Contentment Island Road, Darien, which they purchased in October, 1986, for $3,400,000. The subject property fronts on its own sandy beach and is improved by a residence built in 1916, consisting of ten rooms, including five bedrooms, plus five full baths and a half bath.
On October 1,1988, the defendants, pursuant to General Statutes § 12-62, performed a decennial revaluation of all of the real estate in the town of Darien. As a result of the revaluation, the tax assessor of the town of Darien determined that the fair market value of the subject property was $2,500,900 ($1,602,500 for the land and $898,400 for improvements), and the assessment value
We note that in the trial court’s original memorandum of decision dated December 15, 1993, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the assessment was either excessive or manifestly excessive, and, therefore, “dismissed” the case for lack of aggrievement.
In an appeal involving a decision of an administrative body,
I
The plaintiffs first claim that the trial court improperly failed to consider “disproportionate valuation questions where the trial court itself found that the mass appraiser failed sufficiently to take into account individual characteristics of particular pieces of property.”
“[Section] 12-119 allows a taxpayer to bring a claim [1] that the tax was imposed by a town that had no authority to tax the subject property, or [2] that the assessment was manifestly excessive and could not have been arrived at except by disregarding the provi
On the face of § 12-119, as well as under Pauker v. Roig, supra, 232 Conn. 335, in order to prevail on a claim under the statute, the plaintiffs must demonstrate both a “manifestly excessive” assessment and disregard of the statutes in arriving at that assessment. “There is no mandatory formula for determining what is ‘manifestly excessive’ . . . and in any assessment case, the trial court is confronted with conflicting accounting methods; giving credence to one over the other is a proper exercise of its function as a trier of fact.” (Citations omitted.) Connecticut Coke Co. v. New Haven, 169 Conn. 663, 666, 364 A.2d 178 (1975).
“Courts must be cautious in choosing between conflicting systems [of assessment] since those calculations, although made in the best of faith, can lead to widely divergent results. ... At the same time, proper deference must be given to the judgment and experience of assessors. In reviewing valuations, we must bear’ in mind that the process of estimating the value of property for taxation is, at best, one of approximation and judgment, and that there is a margin for a difference of opinion. . . . The law contemplates that a wide discretion is to be accorded to assessors, and unless their action is discriminatory or so unreasonable that property is substantially overvalued and thus injustice and illegality would result, their opinion and judgment should control in the determination of value for taxation purposes.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 667-68.
In making factual findings, “[t]he trier is not limited to arbitrating the differing opinions of the witnesses
The record, including the trial court’s twelve page memorandum of decision, reveals that the court conducted a trial de novo, at which it heard considerable testimony with regard to the value of the improvements on the property, including appraisal reports and testimony from several sources on the issue of relative property values, and that it carefully considered all of the evidence presented. The court’s memorandum of decision indicates that the trial court, in particular, considered the testimony presented by both the plaintiffs’ and the defendants’ experts on the issue of valuation, and found the testimony of the defendants’ expert more
We conclude that the trial court properly determined the value of the property, which valuation coincided with that of the defendants, and properly determined that the assessment was neither excessive nor manifestly excessive.
II
The plaintiffs’ second claim is that the trial court’s fair market valuation of the improvements on the property at $898,400 was clearly erroneous. The basis of
The burden is on the party claiming aggrievement to prove that “the assessor’s valuation [is] not the true and actual value of the property.” Executive Square Ltd. Partnership v. Board of Tax Review, 11 Conn. App. 566, 571, 528 A.2d 409 (1987). As discussed in part I, the plaintiffs have failed to carry that burden. Where the value placed on the property by the assessor is correct and “[t]he trial court has found the true and actual values of the property] to be the same as [that] determined by the assessors, and . . . these findings [of the trial court] . . . are obviously made . . . upon all the evidence in the case” there is no remedy. Slosberg v. Norwich, 115 Conn. 578, 581, 162 A. 772 (1932). The trial court, by its own independent valuation of the property based on the evidence placed before it at trial, found that the assessor’s valuation of the improvements was correct. Following our review of the record, discussed in part I, we cannot say that that finding was clearly erroneous.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
Although the plaintiffs’ brief appeared to base this argument on both General Statutes § 12-118 (now § 12-117a) and § 12-119, counsel for the plaintiffs informed the court at oral argument in this appeal that the plaintiffs
General Statutes § 12-119 provides: “Remedy when property wrongfully assessed. When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not taxable in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or that a tax laid on property was computed on an assessment which, under all the circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not have been arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for determining the valuation of such property, the owner thereof or any lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as provided in section 47-19 and who is bound under the terms of his lease to pay real property taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, in addition to the other remedies provided by law, make application for relief to the superior court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated. Such application may be made within one year from the date as of which the property was last evaluated for purposes of taxation and shall be served and returned in the same manner as is required in the case of a summons in a civil action, and the pendency of such application shall not suspend action upon the tax against the applicant. In all such actions, the superior court shall have power to grant such relief upon such terms and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, and costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If such assessment is reduced by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes in accordance with the judgment of said court.”
The trial court equated lack of aggrievement with a failure to sustain the plaintiffs’ burden of proof that their property was overvalued. Aggrievement, instead, relates to the standing of a plaintiff to bring an action and is to be decided by a court before reaching the merits. “Standing focuses on whether a party is the proper party to request adjudication of the issues, rather than on the substantive rights of the aggrieved parties.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Herzog Foundation, Inc. v. University of Bridgeport, 41 Conn. App. 790, 793, 677 A.2d 1378 (1996). The trial court’s reference to “standing” did not relate to jurisdiction. In any event, the court clearly had jurisdiction.
Unlike a § 12-117a appeal, an appeal pursuant to § 12-119 is not an appeal from an administrative decision, but, rather, is a separate action to the trial court. The administrative decision is nevertheless the subject of the Superior Court action.
Moreover, counsel ior the plaintiffs stated at oral argument that “the entire thrust of [their] case is that they are not claiming overvaluation” and, in fact, that “all of the properties [in this area] were undervalued.” Thus, the plaintiffs do not even claim the “manifestly excessive” valuation required to prevail under § 12-119.