The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiffs appeal from the order of the district court dismissing their action for mandamus, an accounting, declaratory and injunctive relief, recovery of taxes paid together with interest, and recovery of costs, including attorney fees, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988). The plaintiffs filed this action as a class action on behalf of taxpayers whose motor vehicle registration month was any month after February. The class was not certified, and plaintiffs’ action was dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to plaintiffs’ failure to exhaust their administrative remedies. The primary defendants are the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.
The single underlying issue is whether the alphabetical “staggered registration system” for motor vehicle registration and taxation, established by K.A.R. 92-51-21, unconstitutionally discriminated against persons whose registration month was any month after February. The solé issue in this appeal is whether the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction on the ground that plaintiffs had failed to exhaust administrative remedies.
K.A.R. 92-51-21, which became effective May 1, 1982, established the staggered registration system for motor vehicles. This regulation was adopted as “[authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 1981 Supp. 8-134, 8-134a.” Under the system, persons whose last names begin with a letter toward the end of the alphabet paid more in motor vehicle taxes than identically situated taxpayers whose names begin with a letter close to the beginning of the alphabet. This inequality resulted from the differential availability of depreciation. A new method of computing depreciation eliminated the discrepancies as of January 1, 1991. K.A.R. 92-55-2a. 9 Kan. Reg. 1513 (1990). An original petition in quo warranto filed by the attorney, general was voluntarily , dismissed upon adoption of this curative regulation.
*366 In October 1989, a memorandum was prepared in the Kansas Legislative Research Department in response to a request for an example of the “application of the motor vehicle tax for two hypothetical taxpayers in the same county who purchase the same new car at the same time, but have surnames at different extremes of the alphabet.” On a 1989 model vehicle valued at $15,000 with taxes calculated on a constant mill levy, Mr. T would pay $236 more in taxes during a 5V2-year period of ownership than Mr. A would pay. The same example was given in Attorney General Opinion No. 90-100, which concluded that the system violated constitutionally guaranteed equal protection.
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 79-2005 and K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 74-2426 set out the administrative procedure for protesting the payment of taxes and for recovery of protested taxes. It is uncontroverted that plaintiffs did not follow the procedure. It also is uncontroverted that the time has expired in which named plaintiffs could have followed these procedures for protesting motor vehicle taxes collected before the method of computing depreciation was reformed.
The administrative procedure for a taxpayer’s protesting the collection of allegedly unlawful taxes has as its first step, at the time of paying the taxes, the filing of a written statement with the county treasurer stating the grounds for protest. K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 79-2005(c) provides: “If the grounds of such protest shall be that any tax levy, or any part thereof, is illegal, such statement shall further state the exact portion of such tax which is being protested.” The county appraiser must consider the taxpayer’s grievance, and the taxpayer may appeal an unsatisfactory result to the State Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA).
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 74-2426(c)(4) provides that any action of BOTA may be reviewed by the district court of the county in which the property is located. Review must be “in accordance with the act for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions,” K.S.A. 77-601 et seq. K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 74-2426(c).
K.S.A. 77-612 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: “A person may file a petition for judicial review under this act only after exhausting all administrative remedies available within the agency whose action is being challenged and within any other -agency authorized to exercise administrative review.” This court’s statement of the rule is less rigid: “The well-recognized rule in this state is
*367
that where a
full
and
adequate
administrative remedy is provided in tax matters by statute, such remedy must
ordinarily
be exhausted before a litigant may resort to the courts.” (Emphasis added.)
State ex rel. Smith v. Miller,
There is no claim by plaintiffs that they exhausted, or even initiated, the administrative remedies. They argue, however, that, since the administrative remedies available to them are not “full and adequate,” it was not necessary for them to do so. Plaintiffs contend that the district court has not only original jurisdiction of their claims, but also jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
In support of their contention, plaintiffs argue that the controlling issue is “purely judicial” and the purpose in requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies is not served by deferring the matter to BOTA. In this regard, this court has stated:
“The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies is directed toward promoting proper relationships between the courts and administrative agencies charged with particular administrative and regulatory duties. It promotes orderly procedure and requires a party to exhaust the administrative sifting process with respect to matters peculiarly within the competence of the agency.” Jenkins v. Newman Memorial County Hospital,212 Kan. 92 , 95,510 P.2d 132 (1973).
Under Kansas law, it would be unwarranted for a court to entertain a tax suit on any of these matters of administrative expertise where administrative remedies had not been pursued. Plaintiffs argue, however, that BOTA does not have authority to determine constitutional issues and, therefore, the issues involved in their action are not within the competence or expertise of BOTA. Plaintiffs contend that most of the cases relied upon by defendants for the proposition that exhaustion of administrative remedies is a condition precedent to filing suit in the district court involve challenges to administrative matters. For example,
Tri-County Public Airport Authority v. Board of Morris County Comm'rs,
*368
Another case cited by defendants is
State ex rel. Smith,
In re Appeal of News Publishing Co.,
Defendants also cite two cases for the proposition that BOTA has authority to consider constitutional issues. The first is
Wray v. State Dept. of Revenue,
Wray attempted to bypass BOTA and appeal an order of the director of taxation to the district court. This court’s decision affirming the district court’s dismissal is very short and
per curiam.
The taxpayer’s issues are not. revealed. It is stated: “Constitutional issues may properly be considered by the state board of tax appeals.” The authority cited is
Topeka Cemetery Ass’n v. Schnellbacher,
In neither Wray nor Topeka Cemetery is there any discussion of the relative areas of expertise of the administrative and judicial levels. In neither case is it possible to determine whether there were disputed matters which were within the expertise of the administrative agency and were decided before the cases reached the judicial forum on strictly constitutional questions."'
Whére there are no issues raised which lend themselves to administrative determination and the only issues present either
*369
require judicial determination or are subject to judicial de novo review, it follows that plaintiffs should be permitted to seek court relief without first presenting the case to the administrative agency. Whether viewed as a deficiency or inadequacy in the administrative procedure as to the issue on which plaintiffs’ case depends or as a matter of the administrative agency’s simply not being designed or equipped to handle the issue, the conclusion is the same — there would be no purpose served by requiring plaintiffs to exhaust administrative procedures. See
Beaver v. Chaffee,
Although we agree that this case turns on a single constitutional issue, it involves more than just a resolution of that constitutional question. Plaintiffs, in challenging the constitutionality of the regulation, are seeking injunctive, declaratory, and tax relief. It is obvious the purpose and ultimate goal of their challenge is to allow recovery of the motor vehicle taxes paid by them and others. Their challenge is to the regulations adopted by the Department of Revenue in implementing the statutes, which are clearly products of an administrative function.
In
Felten Truck Line v. State Board of Tax Appeals,
In so ruling, this court made a distinction between a challenge to the commission’s acts in implementing the statute and a challenge to the statute itself. One of the arguments raised by defendants was that “plaintiffs had an adequate remedy at law by
*370
way of administrative proceedings under G.S. 1949, 79-1702.”
“Insofar as the plaintiffs complain of the commission’s valuation of their property and other acts of the commission in its application of the statute, the commission’s position is well taken. The commission should not be subjected to litigation in the courts until the alleged error has been called to its attention and it has had an opportunity to consider and correct the grievance. (Gray v. Jenkins,183 Kan. 251 ,326 P.2d 319 .)
“However, a different situation exists where the tax statute under which the commission is operating is challenged as unconstitutional. G.S. 1949, 79-1702 was not intended to cover a situation where the constitutionality of a tax statute is challenged. The commission is not set up as a court to review the constitutionality of legislative enactments. It is an administrative body. It is the commission’s duty to presume that the statutes are constitutional and valid. The plaintiffs had a right to seek court relief on the question of the constitutionality of the statute without first presenting the question to the commission for review.”183 Kan. at 293 .
Clearly, based on
Felten
and
In re Appeal of News Publishing Co.,
BOTA is not vested with authority to determine the constitutionality of a statute. The statement in
Wray
to the contrary is disapproved. In the typical case in which administrative issues such as assessment were presented to the administrative agency along with a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute, the agency would presume the validity of the statute and apply its expertise to sorting out the assessment question. However, in the present case, plaintiffs are not challenging the constitutionality of the statute, but the regulations adopted by the Department of Revenue to implement K.S.A. 1981 Supp. 8-134 and -134a. Nonetheless, BOTA’s authority is similarly limited in considering a constitutional challenge to a regulation. In
In re Residency Application of Bybee,
*371 In the present case, the plaintiffs could have sought a declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of the regulations and injunctive relief in the district court without first presenting these two issues to BOTA. The district court did have jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs’ prayer for a declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of the staggered registration and taxation system and for a permanent injunction against further utilization of that system.
However, plaintiffs also prayed for recovery of the taxes collected and paid pursuant to the implementation of K.A.R. 92-51-21. Clearly, plaintiffs are seeking tax relief by challenging the regulation adopted by the Department of Revenue in its application of the statute. In Tri-County, this court, in noting that K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 79-2005 was part of the 1980 reforms in the tax procedure, said:
“The 1980 reforms in tax procedure are contained primarily in three statutes. The first is K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 79-2005 which was effective July 1, 1980. The former language in that section, which permitted an aggrieved taxpayer to pay his taxes under protest and then file an action within thirty days in a court of competent jurisdiction, was eliminated. His sole remedy is now to file an application for refund within the thirty-day period with BOTA. This statutory change achieved the legislative objective of eliminating direct action in the district court, thus channeling all tax matters through BOTA, the paramount taxing authority in the state. Northern Natural Gas Co. v. Dwyer,208 Kan. 337 ,492 P.2d 147 (1971), cert. denied406 U.S. 967 (1972).” (Emphasis added.)233 Kan. at 964 .
Although in
Felten,
In
State ex rel. Smith,
“A party aggrieved by an administrative ruling is not free to pick and choose a procedure in an action in the district court in order to avoid the necessity of pursuing his remedy through administrative channels. Since the adoption of the act for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions (K.S.A. 77-601 et seq.), it would appear that relief such as sought here should be raised as new issues in the district court on appeal from the BOTA. See K.S.A. 77-617.
“Although appellant asserts the unconstitutionality of the statutes and seeks extraordinary relief, its obvious complaint is that the assessed valuation' of its real property is too high. This is an issue that must be determined by exhaustion of administrative remedies before resorting to the courts.” (Emphasis added.)239 Kan. at 190 .
Plaintiffs further argue that the exhaustion of state admininstrative remedies is not required before an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is filed in state courts. Plaintiffs rely on the recent United States Supreme Court decisions in
Felder v. Casey,
Defendants respond that
Fair Assessment in Real Estate Assn. v. McNary,
“ ‘The special reasons justifying the policy of federal noninterference with state tax collection are obvious. The procedures for mass assessment and collection of state taxes and for administration and adjudication of taxpayers’ disputes with tax officials are generally complex and necessarily designed to operate according to established rules. State tax agencies are organized to discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the state procedures. If federal declaratory relief were available to test state tax assessments, state tax administration might be thrown into disarray, and taxpayers might escape the ordinary procedural requirements imposed by state law. During the pendency of the federal suit the collection of revenue under the challenged law might be obstructed, with consequent damage to the State’s budget, and perhaps a shift to the State of the risk of taxpayer insolvency.’ ”454 U.S. at 137 n.27 (Brennan, J., concurring) (quoting Perez v. Ledesma,401 U.S. 82 , 128 n. 17,27 L. Ed. 2d 701 ,91 S. Ct. 674 [1971] [Brennan, J., concurring and dissenting]).
His concern leads to the conclusion that “[w]here administrative remedies are a precondition to suit for monetary relief in state court, absent some substantial consideration compelling a contrary result in a particular case, those remedies should be deemed a precondition to suit in federal court as well.”
In the recent case of
McKesson Corp. v. Florida Alcohol & Tobacco Div.,
“When a State penalizes taxpayers for failure to remit their taxes in timely fashion, thus requiring them to pay first before obtaining review of the tax’s validity, federal due process principles long recognized by our cases require the State’s postdeprivation procedure to provide a ‘clear and certain remedy’ *374 [citation omitted] for the deprivation of tax moneys in an unconstitutional manner.”496 U.S. at 51 .
The plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate how the remedies provided by K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 79-2005 and K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 74-2426 are unclear, uncertain, incomplete, or inadequate. The plaintiffs could have complied with K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 79-2005 and still have pursued their constitutional claims. Although constitutional claims cannot be acted upon by BOTA, such claims would be resolved by the district court on appeal.
Plaintiffs’ prayer for recovery of monies paid under the staggered registration and taxation system established by K.A.R. 92-51-21 is an attempt to seek tax relief without first exhausting their administrative remedies available under 79-2005 and 74-2426. We conclude that K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 79-2005 and K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 74-2426 provide plaintiffs with a clear and certain remedy for full, adequate, and complete relief. Thus, the district court did not have jurisdiction to grant such relief, and properly dismissed that part of plaintiffs’ action.
Although the district court’s order of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction was too sweeping in that it included plaintiffs’ prayer for declaratory and injunctive relief, there was nothing to enjoin since the plaintiffs’ complaints do not extend to any taxation which occurred after December 31, 1990, and plaintiffs’ failure to comply with 79-2005 precluded their recovery of any taxes paid. Therefore, those actions are moot as to the plaintiffs and should have been dismissed for that reason and not for lack of jurisdiction. A correct ruling will not be reversed because the district court relied upon an incorrect ground or assigned an erroneous reason for its ruling.
State v. Wilburn,
The júdgment of the district court is affirmed.