Beebe & Runyan Furniture Company v. Board of Equalization of Douglas County
| Decision Date | 07 March 1941 |
| Docket Number | 30973 |
| Citation | 296 N.W. 764,139 Neb. 158 |
| Parties | BEEBE & RUNYAN FURNITURE COMPANY, APPELLEE, v. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, APPELLANT |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the district court for Douglas county: FRANCIS M DINEEN, JUDGE. Reversed.
REVERSED.
Syllabus by the Court.
A county assessor, with 22 years, of experience in such office as clerk, deputy assessor and assessor, who is acquainted with and has inspected a building, its type of construction location and the dimensions of the land on which it stands, and who is also acquainted with the value of lands and buildings in the immediate neighborhood, used for like purposes, is a competent witness to testify as to the value of the improvements and real estate for taxation purposes, and the refusal of the trial court to permit such witness to testify is an abuse of sound discretion and constitutes prejudicial error.
Appeal from District Court, Douglas County; Dineen, Judge.
Proceeding by Beebe & Runyan Furniture Company against the Board of Equalization of Douglas County, Nebraska, to review the action of the Board of Equalization. From an adverse judgment, defendant appeals.
Reversed and remanded with direction.
James T. English, Paul J. Garrotto and Oscar T. Doerr, for appellant.
Sidney W. Smith, contra.
Heard before SIMMONS, C. J., ROSE, EBERLY, CARTER, MESSMORE and YEAGER, JJ.
This is a proceeding to review the action of the board of equalization of Douglas county, Nebraska, in that the value placed on plaintiff's property for assessment purposes is unjust and in excess of the legal and proper value thereof for taxation purposes.
The plaintiff owns lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, in block E, of the original plat of the city of Omaha, consisting of a warehouse of brick exterior, mill construction, six stories in height and two basement stories, containing the warehouse and offices. On part of lot 1 is a one-story building, 66 by 22 feet, used as a boiler room. The balance of said lot is vacant, used for trucking, loading and receiving freight. Comparison is made with reference to the limited purposes of use to which the building may be put, as compared with modern construction for warehouse use. The fact that industrial properties in the city have been depreciating in value is likewise stressed. The property was assessed for the year 1939 by the county assessor; the land at $ 39,190 and assessed valuation of improvements at $ 95,010.
The plaintiff filed a complaint with the board of equalization complaining that the assessment for the year 1939 was too high, and offered a proposed reduction as follows: Land $ 24,392, improvements $ 63,124, total $ 87,516. The county board of equalization dismissed the complaint. Appeal was taken by plaintiff to the district court. The evidence in the district court in behalf of plaintiff discloses that witnesses, properly qualified and experienced in the real estate business, acquainted with wholesale properties, sales and values thereof, over a period of from 21 to 34 years, fixed the valuation as follows: One witness, land $ 29,600, improvements $ 73,400, total $ 103,000; another witness, land $ 34,840, improvements $ 65,160, total $ 100,000; another witness fixed the value of the land at $ 34,484. Of the defendant's witnesses, properly qualified to testify, one fixed the value of the building at $ 125,350; another fixed the value of the land at $ 37,026 and the improvements at $ 125,640, a total of $ 162,666; and another, land $ 34,848, improvements $ 120,000, total $ 154,848. The court decreed the value of the land to be $ 24,393, the...
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