Camps Newfound/Owatonna Corp. v. Town of Harrison

• Decision Date: 26 January 1998
• Citation: 705 A.2d 1109
• Parties: CAMPS NEWFOUND/OWATONNA CORP. v. TOWN OF HARRISON, et al.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 1109

705 A.2d 1109

1998 ME 20

CAMPS NEWFOUND/OWATONNA CORP. v. TOWN OF HARRISON, et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued Nov. 12, 1997.

Decided Jan. 26, 1998.

William H. Dale (orally), Emily A. Bloch, Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry, Portland, for plaintiff.

William L. Plouffe (orally), Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon, Portland, for defendant.

Before WATHEN, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, and SAUFLEY, JJ.

RUDMAN, Justice.

[p 1] The Town of Harrison and six of its municipal officers (collectively, "the Town") appeal from the summary judgment entered in the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Lipez, J.) in favor of Camps Newfound/Owatonna Corporation ("the Camp") on its constitutional challenge to 36 M.R.S.A § 652(1)(A)(1) (1990 & Supp.1997). The Camp cross-appeals from the judgment entered in the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Perkins, J.) dismissing pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 12(c) its claims for relief pursuant 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

I.

¶2 This case returns on remand from the United States Supreme Court. Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison, 520 U.S. 564, 117 S.Ct. 1590, 137 L.Ed.2d 852 (1997). In its decision, the Supreme Court determined that 36 M.R.S.A. § 652(1)(A)(1) (1990 & Supp.1997), which denied property tax exemptions, otherwise available, to any nonprofit institution "that is in fact conducted or operated principally for the benefit of persons who are not residents of Maine and makes charges that result in an average weekly rate per person ... in excess of $30 ...," violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 1608. In so doing, the Supreme Court vacated our decision in Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison, 655 A.2d 876 (Me.1995). In light of § 652(1)(A)(1)'s unconstitutionality, we now address the issues that remain between the parties.

II.

¶3 The Camp contends that the Superior Court erred by dismissing its claims for relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988. We disagree and affirm the dismissal.

We review the dismissal of a cause of action by examining:

the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff to determine whether it sets forth elements of a cause of action or alleges facts that would entitle the plaintiff to relief pursuant to some legal theory. We will uphold a dismissal 'only when it appears beyond doubt that a plaintiff is entitled to no relief under any set of facts that he might prove in support of his claim.'

Shaw v. Southern Aroostook Community Sch. Dist., 683 A.2d 502, 503 (Me.1996) (quotations and citations omitted). In National Private Truck Council, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, the Supreme Court held that state courts must refrain in tax cases from granting relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when state law provides an adequate legal remedy. 515 U.S. 582, 592, 115 S.Ct. 2351, 2357, 132 L.Ed.2d 509 (1995). The Camp's § 1983 claim is comprised solely of its Commerce Clause and Privileges and Immunities Clause challenges to 36 M.R.S.A. § 652(1)(A)(1). Thus, if our law provides an adequate remedy, the Camp cannot maintain a § 1983 claim. ¹

¶4 We find that Maine law does provide an adequate remedy. Section 841 of Title 36 sets forth the statutory mechanism for seeking a tax abatement. The legislature has provided that:

The assessors, either upon written application filed within 185 days from commitment stating the grounds for an abatement or on their own initiative within one year from commitment, may make such reasonable abatement as they consider proper to correct an illegality, error or irregularity in assessment, provided that the taxpayer has complied with section 706.

The municipal officers, either upon written application filed after one year but within 3 years from commitment stating the grounds for an abatement or on their own initiative within that time period, may make such reasonable abatement as they consider proper to correct any illegality, error or irregularity in assessment, provided the taxpayer has complied with section 706. The municipal officers may not grant an abatement to correct an error in the valuation of property.

36 M.R.S.A. § 841(1) (1990 & Supp.1997). Pursuant to 36 M.R.S.A. §§ 843-844 (1990 & Supp.1997), taxpayers may appeal administrative decisions on their abatement requests to the Superior Court in accordance with M.R. Civ. P. 80B. We have observed:

[a]n abatement proceeding is a proper vehicle in which to challenge the taxation of property claimed to be exempt. Abatement proceedings and the Administrative Procedure Act clearly provide taxpayers with 'the essential elements of adjudication' and with an adequate opportunity to obtain direct judicial review of the taxing authority's denial of a request for an abatement....

Maine Central R.R. Co. v. Town of Dexter, 588 A.2d 289, 292 (Me.1991) (citations omitted). Alternatively, we have acknowledged that the Superior Court's declaratory judgment authority, bestowed by 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 5951-63 (1980 & Supp.1997), may be invoked in tax exemption cases. Id. at 293.

¶5 We reject the Camp's argument that because it had to pursue its constitutional claim to the United States Supreme Court this statutory scheme does not provide an adequate remedy. A taxpayer cannot argue that a legal remedy is inadequate merely because such taxpayer had to seek appellate review to secure it. Moreover, in this case, the Camp raised an issue of constitutional law never before addressed by the Supreme Court, a fact that that Court explicitly acknowledged. ² The Camp cannot reasonably contend that the several stages through which this litigation has progressed render our adjudicatory process inadequate.

¶6 The Camp relies, however, upon dictum contained in a footnote of the National Private Truck opinion in which the Supreme Court stated, "there may be extraordinary circumstances under which injunctive or declaratory relief is available even when a legal remedy exists." 515 U.S. at 591 n. 6, 115 S.Ct. at 2357 n. 6. Assuming arguendo that parties may invoke this "exception," we reject the Camp's assertion that this case presents extraordinary circumstances. To the extent that the tax lien mortgage certificate filed by the Town on the Camp's property has cast a cloud on the Camp's title, the Camp may seek a declaratory judgment that the lien certificate is invalid pursuant to the Declaratory Judgments Act, 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 5951-5963 (1980 & Supp.1997).

¶7 Thus, we find no error in the dismissal of the Camp's § 1983 claim. ³ Accordingly, we find no error in the dismissal of the Camp's § 1988 claim, because "when no relief can be awarded pursuant to § 1983, no attorney's fees can be awarded under § 1988." National Private Truck, 515 U.S. at 592, 115 S.Ct. at 2357.

III.

¶8 Contending that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel bar the Camp's claims for refunds of its 1989 and 1990 taxes, the Town argues that the Superior Court erred in granting the Camp a summary judgment. A party is entitled to a summary judgment if no genuine issue of material fact exists and if the party on the undisputed facts is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Seashore Performing Arts Ctr., Inc. v. Town of Old Orchard Beach, 676 A.2d 482, 484 (Me.1996). We review the grant of a summary judgment for an error of law, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment has been granted. Key Trust Co of Maine v. Nasson College, 1997 ME 145, § 9, 697 A.2d 408, 409.

¶9 In 1989, the Town assessed the value of the Camp's property at $2,099,300. The Camp applied to the Town for an abatement, contending that because the property was subject to a twenty-five year irrevocable conservation easement, its value was only $575,000. After the Town assessors granted the Camp a partial abatement that reduced the assessed value of the property to $1,687,668, the Camp appealed to the Cumberland County Commissioners. The County Commissioners denied a further abatement and the Camp then appealed to the Superior Court. In its appeal to the Superior Court (hereinafter, "the 1989 abatement challenge"), the Camp contested the sufficiency of the abatement only; it did not challenge the validity of 36 M.R.S.A. § 652(1)(A)(1). The Superior Court affirmed the judgment of the County Commissioners, and, on February 28, 1992, we affirmed the Superior Court's judgment in Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison, 604 A.2d 908 (Me.1992) ("Camps I "). On April 15, 1992, the Camp wrote to the Harrison Town Manager to demand both a tax refund for 1989, 1990, and 1991 and a continuing tax exemption, asserting that 36 M.R.S.A. § 652(1)(A)(1) violated the Commerce Clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause, and the Fourteenth Amendment. After the Town's Board of Assessors denied this request, the Camp initiated this action.

¶10 In 1994, the Superior Court granted the Camp's motion for a summary judgment, which argued the merits of its constitutional claims, and denied the Town's motion for a summary judgment, which argued in part that the Camp's constitutional claims were barred by res judicata because the Camp could have raised them as part of its 1989 abatement challenge. In denying the Town's motion, the court stated that because "the Board of Assessors does not have authority to determine the constitutionality of state taxing statutes[,][i]t would have been futile for plaintiff to challenge the constitutionality of Maine's charitable exemption statute before the Board of Assessors."

¶11 "The doctrine of res judicata 'is a court-made collection of rules designed to ensure that the same matter will not be litigated more than once.' " Machias Sav. Bank v. Ramsdell, 1997 ME 20, p 11, 689 A.2d 595, 599 (quoting Beegan v. Schmidt, 451 A.2d 642, 643-44 (Me.1982)). "Unlike the related rule of collateral estoppel or 'issue preclusion,' which merely prevents the reopening...