BLDG v. Bd. of Sup'rs of Polk Cnty., 45669.

• Citation: 231 Iowa 133,300 N.W. 717
• Decision Date: 18 November 1941
• Docket Number: No. 45669.,45669.
• Parties: INSURANCE EXCHANGE BLDG. et al. v. BOARD OF SUP'RS OF POLK COUNTY et al.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

231 Iowa 133
300 N.W. 717

INSURANCE EXCHANGE BLDG. et al.
v.
BOARD OF SUP'RS OF POLK COUNTY et al.

No. 45669.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Nov. 18, 1941.

Appeal from District Court, Polk County; W. S. Cooper, Judge.

Action in mandamus wherein taxpayer sought to require board of supervisors to approve a refund of taxes and county auditor to issue a warrant to pay same for taxes claimed to have been overpaid. The district court dismissed plaintiff's petition. Plaintiffs appeal.

Affirmed.

[300 N.W. 718]

Allan W. Denny and Clark, Byers & Garber, all of Des Moines, for appellants.

Charles Hutchinson, Francis J. Kuble, Co. Atty., James P. Irish, and Howard M. Hall, all of Des Moines, for appellees.

WENNERSTRUM, Justice.

Plaintiffs, in an action for mandamus, sought to require the Board of Supervisors of Polk County, Iowa, to approve a refund of taxes claimed to have been excessively paid on the property known as the Insurance Exchange Building in Des Moines. The taxes in question cover the 1937 taxing period and were paid under protest in 1938. The defendants asserted, by way of defense, that a decree obtained in another action and covering the assessment period beginning January 1, 1938, estopped plaintiffs from further protesting as to the 1937 taxes. The trial court dismissed plaintiff's petition, holding that the matter now in controversy had been submitted and determined by the district court in its decree relative to the 1938 taxes. The plaintiffs have appealed.

We shall not set out the facts relative to prior litigation pertaining to the 1937 tax assessments in Des Moines in this opinion. However, for a more detailed resume of the assessment and taxing difficulties growing out of the 1937 assessments in Des Moines, reference is here made to the following case: State of Iowa ex rel. State Board of Assessment and Review v. Local Board of Review of City of Des Moines, 225 Iowa 855, 283 N.W. 87.

The Insurance Exchange Building was originally assessed for the 1937 taxing period at a valuation of $548,670. In June, 1937, the city council of Des Moines, acting as a board of review, reduced all properties in the particular taxing district in which the Insurance Exchange Building is located in the amount of 7 1/2 per cent of their original assessment. This proportionate reduction of the valuation reduced the taxable value of the Insurance Exchange Building to $507,517.

During the year 1937, certain appeal proceedings were commenced before the state board of assessment and review relative to the general mode and manner of assessments in Des Moines. This board made an order relative to the several taxing districts and ordered a reduction in valuation in the particular zone or district in which the property in question is located in the amount of 18.91 per cent. The board of review refused to comply with this order of the state board but made a further general reduction of 7 per cent on all properties in the city which reduced the assessment valuation on the property in question for the year 1937 to $471,993.

These plaintiffs paid the 1937 taxes, payable in the year 1938, on the basis of the valuation of $471,993. This payment, however, was made under protest. In the year 1938 the interested plaintiffs protested to the local board of review as to the valuation of $471,993 placed on the property for the assessment period from and after January 1, 1938. An appeal was made to the local board of review relative to the 1938 valuation. However, this appeal was denied by that board and a further appeal was taken to the district court where a decree was entered on December 20, 1938, fixing the valuation of the Insurance Exchange Building at $405,000 for 1938 and subsequent years during the assessment period. No mention was made in the decree as to any change in the assessed valuation of this property for the year 1937.

The refusal of the board of review, previously referred to, to comply with the orders of the state board of assessment and review resulted in the litigation which received the consideration of this court in the case of State of Iowa ex rel. State Board of...