In re Walsh (Nh Bd. of Tax & Land Appeals)
| Decision Date | 18 October 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 2007-189.,2007-189. |
| Citation | 934 A.2d 528 |
| Parties | Appeal of Patrick WALSH and another (NEW HAMPSHIRE BOARD OF TAX AND LAND APPEALS). |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
The taxpayers, Patrick and Karen Walsh, William Walsh, and Thomas and Linda Walsh, appeal a decision of the New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA or board), granting the motion of the respondent, Town of North Hampton (Town), to dismiss their respective tax abatement applications. We affirm.
The record supports the following. On March 1, 2006, the taxpayers filed separate applications for tax abatements with the Town, claiming that the tax assessment, both as to land and buildings, on each of their properties for the tax year 2005 was disproportionately high when compared to the general level of assessment in the town. Following receipt of the applications, the Town sought to inspect the taxpayers' homes. To this end, the Town's tax assessor attempted to contact the taxpayers' counsel on at least two occasions, including a written request sent on June 22, 2006. The taxpayers never responded to these requests. In mid-August 2006, the Town denied the abatement applications because the taxpayers had neither responded to the requests for inspections nor provided any evidence indicating that their assessments were incorrect. The taxpayers then timely appealed the denials to the board.
Approximately two months later, the board notified the Town of the appeals and asked for certain information concerning the properties. For each appeal, the Town provided the requested information and further asked the board to deny the appeal for, among other things, "lack of local level information." Specifically, the Town asserted that the taxpayers' counsel had "not respond[ed] to numerous requests by the Town for . . . inspection[s] of the subject propert[ies,]" and attached the June 22, 2006 letter in support of its position. The board treated the Town's responses as motions to dismiss "pursuant to RSA 74:17." The taxpayers in turn objected. They denied that the Town contacted them "numerous times," but admitted that their counsel had received the June 22, 2006 letter and one telephone call from a Town representative. The taxpayers maintained that, while "the parties were unable to coordinate a date for the inspection, . . . consent to an inspection was never denied."
On December 6, 2006, the board ordered the parties to "arrange for inspections" of the properties "within twenty (20) days" and deferred ruling on the Town's motions to dismiss. The parties engaged in no further communications until January 2, 2007, when the Town's tax assessor called the taxpayers' counsel to request inspections of the properties. Receiving no response, the assessor sent a letter that same day asking the taxpayers' counsel to contact him to schedule the inspections. By letter dated January 9, 2007, the taxpayers' counsel informed the assessor that he "ha[d] asked [his] clients to provide [him] with some dates and [ ] w[ould] get back to [the assessor] as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, on January 8, 2007, the board telephoned the Town for an update on the status of the inspections. The next day, the Town sent a letter to the board advising it of the Town's January 2, 2007 telephone call and letter to the taxpayers' counsel. On January 18, 2007, the board dismissed the taxpayers' appeals because the taxpayers' counsel "ha[d] been unresponsive to the Town and the board."
On January 22, 2007, the taxpayers' counsel telephoned the Town's assessor, and, the next day, sent a letter to the assessor confirming this telephone call and informing him that February 1 or 2, 2007, were convenient dates for the inspections. The letter also states, in pertinent part: "I had previously informed you that the taxpayers would be out of town over the holidays, and that a convenient time for the inspection of their premises would be toward the end of the month."
Also on January 23, 2007, the taxpayers moved for reconsideration of the board's dismissal of the appeals. The taxpayers asserted two grounds for reconsideration. First, relying primarily upon the information contained in their letter of the same date, the taxpayers argued that they had not been unresponsive to the Town's request. Second, the taxpayers contended that inspections of their homes were unnecessary because the inspections were irrelevant to determining whether the land was disproportionately assessed.
On February 6, 2007, before the board ruled upon the motion for reconsideration, the Town inspected the properties. The record contains no evidence indicating that either party notified the board of these inspections. On February 14, 2007, the board denied the taxpayers' motion for reconsideration. First, the board found that the taxpayers and their counsel "were unresponsive both to its December 6, 2006 letter to arrange inspections `within twenty (20) days' and to the Town's attempts to schedule the inspections." Specifically, the board noted that the taxpayers had not responded to the Town until after the board had contacted the Town to determine the status of the appeals, and after the twenty-day deadline. It emphasized that it was "only after the board dismissed the appeals [that the taxpayers' counsel] contact[ed] the Town regarding `convenient' dates for inspection." Second, the board found that inspections of the properties were relevant because "[a]ny property tax assessment appeal based on disproportionality requires a review of the market value of the property in its entirety (i.e., land and buildings) and the Town's level of assessment." According to the board, these inspections "further assure[ ] what is being assessed (the entire property) is accurately depicted on the assessment-record card[s]." On March 15, 2007, the taxpayers filed this appeal.
RSA chapter 541 governs appeals from BTLA decisions. RSA 71-B:12 (2003 & Supp.2006); Appeal of Town of Wolfeboro, 152 N.H. 455, 458, 879 A.2d 1137 (2005). Under RSA 541:13 (2007), "we will not set aside the board's order except for errors of law, unless we are satisfied, by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that it is unjust or unreasonable." In re Huston, 150 N.H. 410, 411, 840 A.2d 773 (2003). "Findings of fact made by the BTLA on questions properly before it are deemed prima facie lawful and reasonable." Wolfeboro, 152 N.H. at 458, 879 A.2d 1137; see RSA 76:16-a, V (2003); RSA 541:13. "This presumption may be overcome only by a showing that there was no evidence from which the board could conclude as it did." Huston, 150 N.H. at 411, 840 A.2d 773. "[W]e will set aside an order of the board if we find that it misapprehended or misapplied the law." Appeal of Reid, 143 N.H. 246, 248, 722 A.2d 489 (1998); see RSA 76:16-a, V.
On appeal, the taxpayers assign five errors to the board's decision. First, they contend that the Town had no authority to seek inspections of the properties, and even if it did, the board's finding that the taxpayers were "unresponsive" to the Town's request for inspections is unsupported by the evidence. Second, the taxpayers maintain that the Town was required to obtain administrative inspection warrants under RSA 74:17, I (2003) before denying their abatement requests based upon their alleged unresponsiveness to the Town's inspection requests. Third, the taxpayers assert that the board improperly dismissed their abatement requests with respect to the land valuation assessments because inspections of their homes were not required for the board to review these aspects of their appeals. Finally, in their fourth and fifth bases for appeal, the taxpayers argue that with respect to the building valuation assessments, the board erred in dismissing their appeals for lack of inspections because they did not contest their buildings' characterizations, but rather, only the disproportionality of the assessments within those characterizations.
Before addressing the merits of the taxpayers' assignments of error, we first take note of procedural deficiencies that infect the taxpayers' positions in this appeal. Appeal of White Mtns. Educ. Assoc., 125 N.H. 771, 774, 486 A.2d 283 (1984). "In an administrative appeal pursuant to RSA chapter 541, the appealing party must first file a motion for rehearing setting forth fully every ground upon which it is claimed that the decision or order complained of is unlawful or unreasonable." Appeal of Coffey, 144 N.H. 531, 533, 744 A.2d 603 (1999) (quotation omitted); see RSA 541:4 (2007); Appeal of Hardy, 154 N.H. 805, 809, 917 A.2d 1237 (2007). "Any ground not set forth in the motion for rehearing is not reviewable on appeal, absent good cause shown to specify additional grounds." Appeal of Barry, 141 N.H. 170, 173, 681 A.2d 75 (1996) (citation omitted); see RSA 541:4. "The reason for these requirements is obvious: administrative agencies should have a chance to correct their own alleged mistakes before time is spent appealing from them." White Mtns., 125 N.H. at 774, 486 A.2d 283. "[W]hen a record does not demonstrate that the appealing party has met the requirements of [RSA 541:4] we will refuse the appeal or dismiss it on our own motion." Id. at 775, 486 A.2d 283; see Hardy, 154 N.H. at 811, 917 A.2d 1237.
In their motion for reconsideration, the taxpayers asserted two reasons why the board should not have dismissed their appeals: (1) the taxpayers had not been unresponsive to the Town's request for inspections; and (2) the inspections were irrelevant to determining whether the land itself was disproportionately assessed. The taxpayers have reasserted these two bases for reconsideration in their...
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