Boekeloo v. Board of Review of City of Clinton

• Citation: 529 N.W.2d 275
• Decision Date: 29 March 1995
• Docket Number: No. 93-1683,93-1683
• Parties: Robert J. BOEKELOO and Vicki J. Boekeloo, Husband and Wife, Appellants, v. BOARD OF REVIEW OF the CITY OF CLINTON, Iowa; Kenneth Dunn, Chairman of the Board of Review of the City of Clinton, Iowa; Eugene Kaczinski, Donald Sorenson, and Tony Quartell, Appellees.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Page 275

529 N.W.2d 275

Robert J. BOEKELOO and Vicki J. Boekeloo, Husband and Wife, Appellants, v. BOARD OF REVIEW OF the CITY OF CLINTON, Iowa; Kenneth Dunn, Chairman of the Board of Review of the City of Clinton, Iowa; Eugene Kaczinski, Donald Sorenson, and Tony Quartell, Appellees.

No. 93-1683.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 29, 1995.

J. Drew Chambers of Holleran, Shaw, Murphy & Stoutner, Clinton, for appellants.

Gary J. Rolfes of Mayer, Mayer, Lonergan & Rolfes, Clinton, for appellees.

Considered by CARTER, P.J., and LAVORATO, NEUMAN, SNELL, and TERNUS, JJ.

TERNUS, Justice.

This case presents the interesting and difficult issue of what effect environmental contamination has on the tax valuation of property. Property owned by Robert J. Boekeloo and Vicki J. Boekeloo, appellants, has groundwater contamination. The Clinton city assessor did not consider the existence of this contamination when he valued the Boekeloos' property. The appellees, Board of Review of the City of Clinton and its members, affirmed the tax valuation, as did the district court.

Although we believe the assessor should have considered the effect of the contamination on the value of the Boekeloos' property, we conclude that the Boekeloos did not carry their burden to prove the amount of any reduction in value caused by the contamination. See Heritage Cablevision v. Board of Review, 457 N.W.2d 594, 598 (Iowa 1990) (property owner must prove not only that assessment is excessive, but also the amount of the correct valuation). Therefore, we affirm.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

The Boekeloos have owned the Liberty Tavern and the land on which it sits for twenty years. In 1988 the bank restructured the Boekeloos' business loan. As part of this restructuring, the bank required an environmental assessment of the property. This assessment revealed significant hydrocarbon contamination of the groundwater on the property. As of the date of trial no governmental agency had required the Boekeloos to remedy the contamination and the cost of cleanup was unknown.

The Boekeloos had listed the property for sale before they discovered the groundwater contamination. The property was on the market for six months but did not sell. Later, in 1992 the property was the subject of a tax sale after the Boekeloos failed to pay property taxes on the land. It was announced at the sale that the property had groundwater contamination. No one bid on the property. Sometime shortly before trial, the real estate agent with whom the Boekeloos had originally listed the property contacted them about a potential buyer. After the Boekeloos informed the agent of the groundwater contamination, the buyer was no longer interested.

The Clinton city assessor assessed this property at $235,220 as of January 1, 1992, using a cost approach. He was unaware of the groundwater contamination when he made his valuation.

The Boekeloos filed an objection with the board. They claimed that the city assessor assessed their property at more than the value authorized by law because its actual value was zero. The board refused to change the assessment. On appeal to the district court and after hearing evidence, the district court affirmed. The Boekeloos appealed.

Our review of this tax protest is de novo. Metropolitan Jacobson Dev. Venture v. Board of Review, 524 N.W.2d 189, 192 (Iowa 1994). Although we give weight to the trial court's findings of fact, we are not bound by them. Iowa R.App.P. 14(f)(7). We are especially deferential to the court's assessment of the credibility of witnesses. Id.

II. Applicable Statutory Law.

To properly consider the valuation issue presented to us, we first review the statutory framework upon which our analysis must rest. All property subject to taxation must be "valued at its actual value." Iowa Code § 441.21(1)(a) (1993). The Boekeloos have asserted at every stage of this proceeding that the city assessor's valuation of their property was more than the actual value of the property. See id. § 441.37(1)(b) (authorizing appeal where property is assessed for more than the value authorized by law).

An appealing property owner has a twofold burden on appeal. Heritage Cablevision, 457 N.W.2d at 598. First, the property owner bears the burden to prove that an assessment is excessive. Id.; Iowa Code § 441.21(3) (1993). Second, the appealing party "must establish what the correct valuation should be." Heritage Cablevision, 457 N.W.2d at 598; accord Milroy v. Board of Review, 226 N.W.2d 814, 818 (Iowa 1975). If the property owner "offers competent evidence by at least two disinterested witnesses that the market value of the property is less than the market value determined by the assessor," the burden of proof shifts to the board of review to uphold the assessed value. Iowa Code § 441.21(3) (1993).

The Iowa Code provides the following guidance on determining actual value:

The actual value of all property subject to assessment and taxation shall be the fair and reasonable market value of such property except as otherwise provided in this section. "Market value " is defined as the fair and reasonable exchange in the year in which the property is listed and valued between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and each being familiar with all the facts relating to the particular property. Sale prices of the property or comparable property in normal transactions reflecting market value, and the probable availability or unavailability of persons interested in purchasing the property, shall be taken into consideration in arriving at its market value....

Id. § 441.21(1)(b). We have interpreted this section to state a preference for establishing value using evidence of the sales price of the property being assessed or using evidence of comparable sales. Heritage Cablevision, 457 N.W.2d at 597.

Recognizing that it may not always be easy to ascertain what a willing buyer would pay and a willing seller would accept under a comparable sales approach, the statute provides for alternate means of determining market value:

In the event market value of the property being assessed cannot be readily established in the foregoing manner, then the assessor may determine the value of the property using the other uniform and recognized appraisal methods including its productive and earning capacity, if any, industrial conditions, its cost, physical and functional depreciation and obsolescence and replacement cost, and all other factors which would assist in determining the fair and reasonable market value of the property but the actual value shall not be determined by use of only one such factor. The following shall not be taken into consideration: Special value or use value of the property to its present owner, and the good will or value of a business which uses the property as distinguished from the value of the property as property.

Id. § 441.21(2). These alternate means of valuation may be used only when market value cannot be readily established using a comparable sales approach. Heritage Cablevision, 457 N.W.2d at 597.

III. Evidence of Valuation at Hearing.

Two real estate agents, Sheila Thompson and Stephen Howes, testified for the Boekeloos that property with groundwater contamination is virtually unsalable. However, the testimony of these witnesses suggested that the property could be sold if a potential buyer knew exactly how much it would cost to clean up the contamination. Because no one knows what the cleanup costs will be, Thompson and Howes testified that there would be no willing buyer for the property. They concluded, therefore, that the Boekeloos' property has no market value.

The city assessor testified that he valued the property by computing the replacement cost of the building and then depreciating that value. He based the land value on a footage price of $300. (Howes testified that property along Comanche Avenue, where the Liberty Tavern is located, is generally valued at a per foot price between $300 and $400.) The assessor valued the building at $183,770 and the land at $51,450 for a total tax valuation of $235,220.

Because of the contamination, the city assessor thought the willing seller/willing buyer approach to valuation could not be used. The city assessor believed a cost approach was the most appropriate valuation method. He testified there was not enough information available about the contamination and cleanup costs to consider the impact of the groundwater contamination on the value.

Howes agreed that because of the contamination, a value based on a willing seller/willing buyer approach cannot be readily established. In fact, Howes testified that for the same reason the property's value could not be readily established under the income or cost methods either.

Mrs. Boekeloo testified that the contamination has not affected their business operations. She and the real estate agents agreed that the contamination is not visible and has no impact on the aesthetic appeal of the property.

IV. Impact of Contamination on Valuation.

The Boekeloos argue that the contamination renders their property valueless; the city claims the contamination has no impact on the property's value. Under the circumstances of this case, we think both are wrong.

A. Should the contamination on the property be considered? Courts have only recently begun to deal with the impact of contamination on the valuation of property for tax assessment purposes. Those courts which have faced this issue have usually acknowledged that environmental contamination has an adverse effect on property values or have concluded that the assessor must at least consider the effect of contamination on the fair market value of the property. E.g., Reliable Elec. Finishing Co. v. Board of Assessors, 410 Mass. 381, 573 N.E.2d 959, 960 (1991); Inmar Assocs., Inc. v. Borough of Carlstadt, 112 N.J. 593, 549 A.2d 38, 41 (1988); B.P. Oil...