The Newberry County Tax Assessor (Assessor) appeals from a circuit court order affirming the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) valuation of property at $269 per waterfront foot. We affirm.
FACTS
In 1996 Howitt and Hazeleen Smith, purchased a lot and two thirds of an adjoining lot located in Summerset Bay development on Lake Greenwood for $76,000. The Smiths testified that they knew $76,000 was higher than the amount paid for the most attractive lot in the development, but they were not concerned because they purchased their property for sentimental reasons and were not interested in resale.
For the 1999 tax year, Assessor valued the Smiths’ property at $85,800. To reach this figure, she conducted a mass appraisal analyzing the resale information for lots contained within Summerset Bay during 1997 and 1998.
The Smiths appealed Assessor’s valuation to the Newberry County Tax Appeals and Review Board. The Board accepted the value offered by Assessor and denied any change to the valuation of the property. The Smiths then sought review of the Board’s decision in front of an ALJ.
The Smiths’ independent appraiser, Scott Wishart, testified at the ALJ hearing that he assessed the value of the property by using the fee appraisal method and conducting a market sales comparison approach.
Wishart testified that the most important component in using a market sales comparison approach is making adjustments to the value of the comparable properties to approximate the value of the property appraised. Wishart stated Comparables 1 and 2 did not require any adjustments and Comparable 3 required a $100 per foot upward adjustment to compensate for its inferior view. After reviewing the sales of the three comparable properties, Wishart valued the Smiths’ property at $61,000 based upon a $246 per waterfront foot figure multiplied by 248 feet of waterfront property.
Wishart also performed a regression analysis and found that when a property has more than 200 feet of waterfront, the price per foot decreases to the $240 to $250 range. Wishart
The ALJ rejected Assessor’s value and found that the Smiths’ market sales appraisal was the most accurate evidence of the property’s market value because “no individual evaluation was made of the Taxpayers’ property,” and “[t]he taxpayers’ property was not among the lots evaluated for the mass appraisal.” The ALJ found that Wishart’s Comparable 3 was the best reflection of the value of the Smiths’ property; however, he rejected Wishart’s $100 per square foot adjustment and used a $120 upward adjustment from Comparable 3. This resulted in a finding of the value for the Smiths’ property of $269 per waterfront foot. The ALJ’s assessment of the value of the Smiths’ property was $66,712 (248 waterfront feet times $269 per waterfront foot).
The Newberry County Tax Assessor appealed the ALJ’s findings to the circuit court. The circuit court affirmed the ALJ’s decision and dismissed the case. Assessor appeals.
DISCUSSION
I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Assessor argues the ALJ lacked the ability to decide the case at the time of the hearing because the Smiths failed to present all of their evidence supporting their appraisal value before the county board. We disagree. A taxpayer who is aggrieved by the Assessor’s valuation of his property may appeal the assessment value to the County Board of Assessment Appeals and then to the ALJ Division. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 12-60-2530 through 12-60-2540 (2000). Section 12-60-2540(B) reads in relevant part:
(B).... If the taxpayer failed to provide the county board with the facts, law, and other authority supporting his position, he shall provide the representative of the county at the hearing with the facts, law, and other authority he failed to present to the county board earlier. The [ALJ] shall then remand the case to the county board for reconsideration in light of the new facts or issues unless the representative of the county at the hearing elects to forego the remand.
(emphasis added).
Assessor argues that when the Smiths presented'Wishart’s regression analysis as evidence supporting his $246 appraisal
II. ALJ’s Valuation of the Property
Assessor next challenges the circuit court’s order affirming the ALJ’s decision on three grounds. First, Assessor argues the ALJ lacked the ability to select $269 per waterfront foot as the proper value because neither expert testified that the value of the property should be assessed at $269 and, if the ALJ chose to ignore the expert’s proposed values, he should have used the purchase price of the property as the fair market value. Second, she claims there was no substantial evidence in the record to support the ALJ’s $269 figure. Lastly, Assessor argues that the ALJ erred when he ruled the market sales comparison approach was the proper valuation method.
A. Standard of Review
The case reached the ALJ as a request for judicial review of the County Board of Assessment Appeals decision upholding Assessor’s valuation. When a tax assessment case reaches the ALJ in this posture, the proceeding in front of the ALJ is a de novo hearing. See Reliance Ins. Co. v. Smith,
This court must affirm an administrative agency’s decision if the decision is supported by substantial evidence and
B. ALJ’s Authority to Select Valué of Property
Assessor first argues that the ALJ should have selected either her $350 figure as the correct value per waterfront foot, or Wishart’s $246 value because they are the only experts in this matter. Alternatively, if the ALJ failed to accept the experts’ valuations, he should have used the purchase price as the fair market value for the property. We disagree.
In City of Folly Beach v. Atlantic House Props., Ltd.,
Although the present case does not involve condemnation, we find the analysis of City of Folly Beach instructive. When the Smiths purchased all of lot 46 and two-thirds of lot 47 and combined them into one property, they created a new piece of property which had never before been valued in the market. Both appraisers testified regarding the difficulty of assessing the value of an individual piece of property. The ALJ functioned as the finder of fact and his value fell within the range
Furthermore, we find no merit to Assessor’s argument that the ALJ should have used the purchase price paid by the Smiths as the fair market value when he rejected the experts’ values. While the purchase price of the property is some evidence of the fair market value, it is not conclusive. Belk Dep’t Stores v. Taylor,
C. Substantial Evidence in the Record to Support ALJ’s Findings
Assessor next argues the circuit court erred in affirming the ALJ’s valuation because there was no substantial evidence to support his decision. We disagree. The ALJ based his valuation on the price per waterfront foot value from Comparable 3. He added $120 to the price as an upward adjustment to compensate for Comparable 3’s inferior sight line, while Wishart adjusted its price upward only $100 per waterfront foot. Assessor argues the ALJ had no basis to independently consider the value of Comparable 3 or to adjust upward by $120.
Assessor’s and Wishart’s respective values of $350 and $246 formed the range of values. Comparable 3 was the only one of Wishart’s three comparable properties involving a sale between two parties which was clearly an arm’s length transaction. Wishart’s adjustment of the value of Comparable 3 by $100 to compensate for the inferior sight line provided the basis for the ALJ to adjust the value of the property. We find substantial evidence existed in the record to support the ALJ’s finding. The adjustment fell within the range of values presented by the experts. Since Comparable 3 was the only property sold which was unquestionably an arm’s length transaction, the ALJ did not err by basing the Smiths’ property value upon its adjusted value. Wishart provided the basis for
D. Use of Market Sales Comparison Approach
Assessor lastly argues the ALJ lacked substantial evidence in the record to use a market sales comparison approach as opposed to the mass appraisal approach and the circuit court erred when it affirmed the ALJ’s decision. We disagree. Wishart testified that the only way to assess the fair market value at that particular time was using a market sales comparison approach. Mrs. Smith, also a licensed appraiser, testified that to accurately assess the fair market value of the subject property, an assessor must use comparable properties and make adjustments to compensate for the differences in the land. Even Assessor acknowledged that property could be valued using a fee appraisal approach. Considering that all three appraisers who testified during the hearing acknowledged the validity of using the market sales comparison approach, we find there was substantial evidence in the record to support the ALJ’s decision to value the Smiths’ property using that approach. Accordingly, the circuit court did not err when it affirmed the ALJ’s findings.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
. We affirm this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.
. A mass appraisal method is one that looks at the sales from a region to determine the value per square foot and applies .that value to the square footage of the assessed property.
. A later appraisal revealed that the Smith’s actually had 248 feet of waterfront instead of 258 feet.
. A fee appraisal is a method that looks at the resale value of the individual parcel alone to determine its fair market value.