Coquina Oil Corp. v. Larimer County Bd. of Equalization, 85CA0756
| Decision Date | 05 March 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 85CA0756,85CA0756 |
| Citation | 742 P.2d 932 |
| Parties | COQUINA OIL CORPORATION, a Nevada Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. The LARIMER COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION; the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Larimer, State of Colorado; Courtlyn W. Hotchkiss, Nona Thayer and James P. Lloyd, in their official capacity as members of the Larimer County Board of Equalization and the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Larimer, State of Colorado; the Board of Assessment Appeals of the State of Colorado; Henry F. Shriver, and F. William Beier, in their official capacity as members of the Board of Assessment Appeals; and Richard W. Green, Larimer County Assessor, Defendants-Appellants and Cross-Appellees. . III |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
Downey & Murray, Thomas E. Downey, Jr., Gina Swets, Kurt G. Stiegelmeier, Englewood, for plaintiff-appellee and cross-appellant.
Hall & Evans, Alan Epstein, Denver, for State defendants-appellants and cross-appellees.
Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Larry Williams, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for defendant-appellant Bd. of Assessment Appeals of the State of Colorado.
Harden, Schmidt & Hass, P.C., George H. Hass, Fort Collins, for defendants-appellants Bd. of Equalization of the County of Larimer and the Larimer County Assessor, Richard Green.
This appeal of a property tax assessment ruling presents the following question: If an assessor increases the valuation of a taxpayer's property based on data provided by the taxpayer and no challenge is made to the increased valuation under the over-assessment statute and the tax is paid, may the taxpayer invoke the refund statute upon discovery that the data it submitted was erroneous? We hold that the refund statute is inapplicable and therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court which reached a contrary conclusion.
Coquina Oil Corporation owns oil wells and gas leases in Larimer County. It reported the 1981 production revenue figures from its leases to the assessor as required by statute. The assessor calculated the assessed valuation of the production and the taxes thereon based on the production figures provided by Coquina. This computation resulted in an increased assessed valuation for the leases and notice of the increase was mailed to Coquina on June 14, 1982. Coquina did not protest the notice. Instead, on February 22, 1983, Coquina paid the taxes due as assessed.
On or about April 19, 1983, Coquina discovered that its accountants had erred in the 1981 production revenue figures they had reported. Shortly thereafter, Coquina informed the assessor's office of the error in reporting, submitted corrected production figures, and requested permission to file for an abatement or a refund pursuant to § 39-10-114, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 10B). The assessor recommended disapproval and the Board of Equalization denied the refund. The Board of Assessment Appeals affirmed the decision, but on C.R.C.P. 106 review the district court held that Coquina was entitled to a refund of $66,422.10 plus interest.
A taxpayer's remedy with respect to taxes that have been erroneously or illegally levied is to petition the Board of County Commissioners for a refund under §§ 39-1-113 and 39-10-114, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16B). This procedure may be employed only when an assessment is "wholly illegal or entirely...
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Coquina Oil Corp. v. Larimer County Bd. of Equalization, 87SC162
...Icenogle, Daniel B. Slattery, Englewood, amicus curiae for Amoco Production Co. VOLLACK, Justice. In Coquina Oil Corp. v. Larimer County Board of Equalization, 742 P.2d 932 (Colo.App.1987), the court of appeals held that a taxpayer who had supplied erroneous information to the county assess......