228 Conn. 79 | Conn. | 1993
The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether a trial court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine the merits of a taxpayer action without first deciding whether the taxpayer has standing to pursue such a claim. A number of taxpayers
The trial court dismissed the plaintiffs cause of action for failure to have made out a prima facie case pursuant to Practice Book § 302.
In her appeal to this court, the plaintiff urges reversal of the trial court’s substantive conclusion. The defendants, however, have raised the plaintiff’s failure to prove her standing as an alternative ground for sustaining the trial court’s judgment of dismissal. We agree with the defendants that, without a finding with respect to the plaintiff’s standing, the trial court had no authority to consider the plaintiff’s case on its merits. We disagree, however, that the present record is sufficient for us to determine whether the plaintiff had standing, and we therefore cannot sustain the judgment of dismissal.
The parties cannot waive a showing that the plaintiff has standing because, in the absence of standing, the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to determine the merits of the case. Tomlinson v. Board of Education, 226 Conn. 704, 717-18, 629 A.2d 333 (1993); Stroiney v. Crescent Lake Tax District, 205 Conn. 290, 294, 533 A.2d 208 (1987); Belford v. New Haven, supra,
A possible absence of subject matter jurisdiction must be addressed and decided whenever the issue is raised. The parties cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction on the court, either by waiver or by consent. Serrani v. Board of Ethics, 225 Conn. 305, 308, 622 A.2d 1009 (1993); In re Judicial Inquiry No. 85-01, 221 Conn. 625, 629, 605 A.2d 545 (1992); Castro v. Viera, 207 Conn. 420, 429-30, 541 A.2d 1216 (1988); Practice Book §§ 143,145. The trial court in this case should not have considered the merits of the plaintiffs case without having first made a finding about whether she had standing and, consequently, whether the court had subject matter jurisdiction.
We cannot supply the finding that the trial court failed to make. Although the plaintiff presented her own testimony and that of an expert witness to establish that her property taxes had increased subsequent to the implementation of the tax assessment agreement, the defendants denied that there was a causal relationship between these two events and represented
The judgment is set aside and the case is remanded for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
The original plaintiffs were Elizabeth Sadloski, Virginia Celinski, Harvey Steeves, Joyce R. Senkbeil and Adele Katkauskas, all of whom identified themselves as residents, voters and taxpayers of the town of Manchester.
General Statutes § 12-65b provides: “agreements between municipality AND OWNER OR LESSEE OF REAL PROPERTY OR AIR SPACE FIXING THE ASSESSMENT OF SUCH PROPERTY OR AIR SPACE, (a) Any municipality may, by affirmative vote of its legislative body, enter into a written agreement with any party owning or proposing to acquire an interest in real property in such municipality, or with any party owning or proposing to acquire an interest in air space in such municipality, or with any party who is the lessee of, or who proposes to be the lessee of, air space in such municipality in such a manner that the air space leased or proposed to be leased shall be assessed to the lessee pursuant to section 12-64, fixing the assessment of the real property or air space which is the subject of the agreement, and all improvements thereon or therein and to be constructed thereon or therein, subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, (1) for a period of not more than seven years, provided the cost of such improvements to be constructed is not less than three million dollars, (2) for a period of not more than two years, provided the cost of such improvements to be constructed is not less than five hundred thousand dollars or (3) to the extent of fifty per cent of such increased assessment, for a period of not more than three years, provided the cost of such improvements to be constructed is not less than one hundred thousand dollars.
“(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall only apply if at least one of the following requirements is satisfied: (i) The improvements are for office use; (ii) the improvements are for retail use; (iii) the improvements are for permanent residential use; (iv) the improvements are for transient residential use; (v) the improvements are for manufacturing use; (vi) the improvements are for warehouse, storage or distribution use; (vii) the improvements are for structured multilevel parking use necessary in connection with a mass transit system.”
The plaintiffs claimed that the tax assessment agreement violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution as well as the public emoluments clause contained in article first, § 1, of the Connecticut constitution.
This dismissal has not been appealed.
Practice Book § 302 provides: “dismissal in court cases for failure TO MAKE OUT A PRIMA FACIE CASE
“If, on the trial of any issue of fact in a civil action tried to the court, the plaintiff has produced his evidence and rested his cause, the defendant may move for judgment of dismissal, and the court may grant such motion, if in its opinion the plaintiff has failed to make out a prima facie case. The defendant may offer evidence in the event the motion is not granted, without having reserved the right to do so and to the same extent as if the motion had not been made.”