Chicago Sheraton Corp. v. Zaban
| Decision Date | 20 January 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 49487,49487 |
| Citation | 373 N.E.2d 1318,71 Ill.2d 85,15 Ill.Dec. 634 |
| Parties | , 15 Ill.Dec. 634 CHICAGO SHERATON CORPORATION et al., Appellants. v. Seymour ZABAN et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Gerald Rose, Chicago (James B. Muskal, John E. Rosenquist, and Leydig, Voit, Osann, Mayer & Holt, Ltd., Chicago, of counsel), for appellants.
Bernard Carey, State's Atty., Chicago (Paul P. Biebel, Jr., and Michael F. Baccash, Asst. State's Attys., Chicago, of counsel), for appellees.
Plaintiff, Chicago Sheraton Corporation, appealed from the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County entered in favor of defendants, Seymour Zaban and Harry H. Semrow, sued individually and as members of the Cook County board of appeals, and Thomas M. Tully, Stanley T. Kusper, Jr., and Edward J. Rosewell, respectively assessor, county clerk and treasurer of Cook County, upon allowance of their motion to dismiss plaintiff's action seeking an injunction and other relief. We allowed plaintiff's motion filed pursuant to Rule 302(b) (58 Ill.2d R. 302(b)) and ordered that the appeal be taken directly to this court.
In plaintiff's complaint containing five counts, it is alleged in counts I through IV that plaintiff is the owner of real estate located at 505 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago improved with a hotel building, that the property is located in the north quadrant of Cook County and for real estate tax purposes is comprised of four parcels of improved real estate; that the tax year 1972 was the first year of the quadrennium for the north quadrant of Cook County; that the assessor gave notice of a proposed increase in assessed valuation from $6,095,952, its assessed value during the 1968 quadrennium, to $8,315,456; that "Plaintiff complained to the Assessor and presented evidence sufficient to obtain from the Assessor a reduction in the proposed assessment of the hotel for the 1972 quadrennium to $6,090,152"; that the assessor's property record cards were formally revised to reflect the assessment reduction; that errors in transcribing data from the property records cards for entry into the assessment books or errors of calculation resulted in an assessed valuation for 1972 of $8,750,335; that the assessor's property record cards acknowledged that such errors were made; that the board of appeals certified the erroneous 1972 assessments and the treasurer extended them and sent out 1972 tax bills based on those erroneous assessments; that upon receipt of the 1972 real property tax bills plaintiff complained to the assessor, that the assessor acknowledged the mistakes in the assessment of the property "causing to be marked on each of the bills * * * a Certificate of Error (citation) to reduce the assessments to those which he had previously determined to be correct"; that plaintiff paid the real property taxes for the year 1972 on the basis of the tax bills as corrected and relying on the said certificates of error did not pay the erroneous taxes based on the erroneous assessments; that for each succeeding year of the 1972 quadrennium, the real property taxes assessed and levied against the property were based on the assessor's revised assessments for the quadrennium; that the defendant members of the board of appeals delayed issuing statutory notice and delayed holding a hearing with respect to whether the board of appeals would endorse the certificates of error until 1976, long after the collector's 1972 annual application for judgment and order of sale; that plaintiff appeared at the hearing and presented evidence of the aforesaid mistakes, but the defendant members of the board of appeals refused to endorse the certificates of error with their concurrence. It was further alleged that the board's refusal to endorse the certificates of error was arbitrary and capricious, and resulted in an assessment increase without notice and in a constructively fraudulent assessment and tax and that plaintiff had exhausted all administrative remedies and had no adequate remedy at law. The allegations of count V will be considered later in this opinion. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that plaintiff had not exhausted its administrative remedies and that it had an adequate remedy at law. Upon allowance of the motion, the circuit court dismissed plaintiff's action with prejudice and this appeal followed.
It appears from the pleadings that the notice of assessments for the 1972 quadrennium was published in a newspaper of general circulation within the assessment district and that thereafter the board of appeals gave notice by publication (Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 120, par. 596) that from January 29, 1973, until February 13, 1973, it would receive complaints concerning assessments for the tax year 1972. Plaintiff admittedly did not file a complaint (ch. 120, pars. 597, 598) with the board of appeals challenging the assessment.
Plaintiff contends that the assessments were grossly excessive and constructively fraudulent; that where assessments are constructively fraudulent and there is no adequate remedy at law, the diligent taxpayer may seek equitable relief; that by reason of its delay in holding a hearing the board of appeals is estopped from refusing to endorse the certificates of error; that the hearing held before the board of appeals did not meet the requirements of the due process clause and that its decision not to endorse the certificates of error is reviewable on the ground that such refusal was constructively fraudulent. It is defendants' position that the statute does not provide for participation by the taxpayer in the procedure for certificate of error and that it involves only the tax assessment officials and the court; that plaintiff had an adequate remedy at law, of which it failed to avail itself; that it should have complained of the assessment to the board of appeals, and failing to obtain relief, should have objected at the collector's application for judgment.
The statutory provisions relevant to this controversy are sections 123, 117, 118 and 194 of the Revenue Act of 1939 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 120, pars. 604, 598, 599, 675). Section 123 provided:
"In counties containing 1,000,000 or more inhabitants, if, at any time before judgment is rendered in any proceeding to collect or to enjoin the collection of taxes based upon any assessment of any property belonging to any person or corporation, the county assessor shall discover an error or mistake in such assessment, such assessor shall execute a certificate setting forth the nature of such error, and the cause or causes which operated to produce it. The certificate when endorsed by the board of appeals showing its concurrence therein, and not otherwise may be received in evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction, and when so introduced in evidence such certificate shall become a part of the court records, and shall not be removed from the files except upon the order of the court.
A certificate executed pursuant to this Section may be issued to the person erroneously assessed or may be presented by the assessor to the court as an objection in the application for judgment and order of sale for the year in relation to which the certificate is made. " Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 120, par. 604.
Sections 117 and 118 provided that any taxpayer believing his property "is over assessed or under assessed or is exempt" may also file a written complaint with the board of appeals which, after a hearing, may order the assessment corrected. (Ch. 120, pars. 598, 599.) Under the provisions of section 194, if the taxpayer is not satisfied with the order of the board of appeals, he may pay the tax under protest (ch. 120, par. 675) and object to the collector's application for judgment and order of sale, thus obtaining judicial review of the assessment and tax. An examination of the statutory scheme shows that the certificate of error procedure provided in section 123 is intended to be separate and distinct from the procedure available to a taxpayer under sections 117, 118 and 194.
Prior to the amendment effected by the enactment of Public Act 77-1466 (approved September 7, 1971), section 123 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1969, ch. 120, par. 604) provided that if at any time before judgment was rendered in any proceeding to collect or enjoin the collection of taxes the board of appeals discovered "an error or mistake (other than errors of judgment as to the valuation of any real or personal property)," it could issue a...
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