Acree v. Walls

• Decision Date: 22 February 1978
• Docket Number: Nos. 32991-32993,s. 32991-32993
• Citation: 240 Ga. 778,243 S.E.2d 489
• Parties: John W. ACREE et al. v. Reuben WALLS, Probate Judge, et al.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

Page 489

243 S.E.2d 489

240 Ga. 778

John W. ACREE et al. v. Reuben WALLS, Probate Judge, et al.

Nos. 32991-32993.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Feb. 22, 1978.

Smith, Cohen, Ringel, Kohler & Martin, John A. Blackmon, Atlanta, for appellants.

Robert A. Del Bello, Hiawassee, Martin W. Welch, Cleveland, Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., R. Douglas Lackey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellees.

MARSHALL, Justice.

In 1975 the Towns County Board of Tax Assessors undertook a complete reassessment of all property located within their tax district. The real property tax digest, valued at $42,850,000 in 1974, was increased to $67,500,000 under this proposed 1975 tax digest. More than 5% of the taxpayers filed appeals to the Towns County Board of Tax Equalization, thereby delaying submission of the digest to the State Revenue Commissioner for approval. See Code Ann. § 92-8407.1 (Ga.L.1972, p. 824). The tax assessors received adverse rulings from the board of tax equalization in several appeals. An agreement was reached between the board of tax assessors and board of tax equalization under which the tax assessors decided to appeal the rulings of the board to the superior court in a Mr. Brown's case and a Mr. Burrell's case, because questions concerning the uniformity of the entire digest were raised in these cases. See Code Ann. § 92-6912(5)(B) and (6)(A) (Ga.L.1972, pp. 1094, 1097).

It is necessary at this point to state that the Towns County Board of Tax Assessors divides property into four categories: farm land, mountain land, residential property, and commercial property. Burrell's property is mountain land and Brown's property is farm land.

In Burrell's case, the board of equalization found that the tax assessors did not assess "mountain land" uniformly with other property of the same class in the tax digest. The board of equalization directed the tax assessors to "reassess all mountain land in the county now assessed at a market value of above $600 to a fair market value of $600 per acre." The board of equalization found that factors, viz., road frontage, topography, accessibility, obsolescence, used by the board of tax assessors in establishing a valuation for a given piece of property had not been applied uniformly. Without directing the assessors as to how to apply such factors in other cases, the board of equalization in Burrell's case granted Burrell a "seventy-five per cent (75%) discount factor for lack of accessibility."

The board of tax assessors appealed to the superior court as to the fair market value of Burrell's property. The tax assessors also appealed that portion of the order of the tax equalization board directing the assessors to reassess all mountain land in the county. Burrell's case came on for trial before a jury in Towns Superior Court; and as to both of the foregoing questions, the jury returned a verdict "in favor of the equalizers."

In Brown's case, the board of equalization found that "farm land was not uniformly assessed with other property of the same class included in the tax digest." The tax equalization board directed "the assessors to reassess all farm land in the county now assessed at a market value of above $600 to a fair market value of $600 per acre." No question was raised in Brown's appeal as to the tax assessors' application of the factors which were in issue in Burrell's case.

The tax assessors appealed to the superior court "as to the fair market value of property owned by Mr. James Brown" and also as to "the decision of the Towns County Board of Equalization directing the assessors to assess all farm land in the county now assessed at a market value of above $600 to a fair market value of $600 per acre." This appeal came on for trial before a jury, and as to each of the foregoing questions of market value, the jury returned a verdict "in favor of the equalizers."

One judgment, consolidating the verdicts of the juries in both Burrell's and Brown's cases, was rendered by the superior court in July of 1976. That judgment, limited by its own terms to only farm and mountain lands, ordered that the tax digest be reassessed by the board of tax assessors by "reassessing the appellees' land and all farm and mountain land to a base value of $600, applying thereto all factors in effect."

The tax assessors then recomputed the 1975 Towns County Tax Digest by putting all land, with the exception of commercial property and city lots, on the digest at a full value of $600 per acre and without applying such factors as topography, obsolescence, etc. This revised digest was rejected by the State Revenue Commissioner in September of 1976 because it did not meet the requirements of Georgia law that property be returned at fair market value and assessed at 40% of fair market value.

Thereafter, Brown and Burrell filed an application for mandamus and to hold the tax assessors in contempt for failure to recompute the tax digest in accordance with the judgment of the Towns Superior Court.

Prior to holding a hearing on this application, the trial judge requested the interested parties the board of tax assessors, the board of tax equalization, the incoming and outgoing county commissioners, representatives from the State Department of Revenue, and Brown's and Burrell's attorneys to meet in conference. These parties, who were all present at the subsequent hearing, reached a consent agreement as to how to recompute the 1975 tax digest.

Pursuant to this agreement, the superior court entered an order in September of 1976 on Burrell's and Brown's contempt application. This order provided that "(a)ll farm and mountain land now assessed at a base acre value of above $600 shall be reassessed to a base acre value of $600 . . . All existing factors used by the Board of Tax Assessors of Towns County which were in effect prior to the lawsuit will be applied, except as specifically changed by the Board of Tax Equalization of Towns County in each individual appeal." This order further provided that, "(a)ll non-commercial and unsubdivided tracts of seventeen (17) acres and larger will be presumed to be farm and/or mountain land. Also all tracts less than four (4) acres will be presumed to be nonfarm and/or mountain land. All tracts between four (4) and sixteen (16) acres will not be affected by any presumption and will be categorized by zoning, if any exists; existing use of the property; covenants and restrictions; and topography within the discretion of the Towns County Board of Tax Assessors . . . All taxpayers shall receive reassessment notices and the Towns County Board of Tax Assessors shall begin immediately to revise the Towns County Tax Digest to reflect the changes required by this Order." The order specified that it was to apply only to the 1975 ad valorem tax digest.

The board of tax assessors then proposed a 1975 ad valorem tax digest for Towns County assessing all tracts of land seventeen (17) acres and above at $600 per acre base value. All tracts of land in the county under four (4) acres were denied the $600 per acre base value. The factors, hereinbefore mentioned, were then applied to these base values, resulting in a proposed 1975 ad valorem tax digest for Towns County.

A sufficient number of appeals of assessments to the board of equalization were filed after the notices of assessment under this proposed digest were sent out in January of 1977 to prevent submission of the digest to the State Revenue Commissioner. However, a sufficient number of these appeals were subsequently dropped so that the tax digest was submitted to the State Revenue Commissioner and approved by him in April of 1977.

On January 27, 1977, Reuben Walls, in his capacity as Probate Judge Commissioner of Towns County, filed what was styled an "In Rem Petition in Equity" in Towns Superior Court alleging that due to these legal proceedings Towns County had neither billed nor collected ad valorem taxes for 1975 or 1976. The petition alleged that Towns County was in great and immediate need of tax revenues to provide government services and avoid school closings. The petition prayed for a court order allowing taxes for 1975 to be collected on a temporary basis under the latest proposed tax digest, subject to later adjustment. On January 27, the date this petition was filed, the superior court acted with dispatch in issuing the order prayed for.

One week later the appellants herein, several taxpayers in Towns County who have filed appeals to the board of equalization from their latest notices of assessment, filed a motion for leave to intervene in Walls' action for temporary collection of 1975 ad valorem taxes. Also filed with the motion to intervene were motions to add state and local tax officials, as well as Burrell and Brown, as involuntary plaintiffs or defendants, and a motion to set aside the judgment entered in Brown's and Burrell's cases. The superior court granted the appellants' motion to intervene, but afterward the court entered an order providing that taxes would be collected on a temporary basis under the proposed 1975 tax digest and denying the appellants' motion that some other basis be used for temporary collection of taxes.

No action had been taken on the appellants' motion to add Brown and Burrell as parties in Walls' action. Nor had any action been taken on the appellants' motion to set aside the judgment in Brown's and Burrell's cases. On March 14, 1977, the appellants reasserted these two motions.

On March 16, 1977, the appellants filed a separate class action in Towns Superior Court seeking to set aside the proposed 1975 tax digest and superior court judgment on which it was based. The local and state tax officials, among others, were named as party defendants. The appellants were denied temporary restraining orders, and interlocutory and permanent injunctions, seeking to prohibit the preparation, approval or use of the proposed 1975 tax digest. This matter came on for final...