McCluskey v. Sparks

• Decision Date: 20 December 1955
• Docket Number: No. 6153,6153
• Citation: 291 P.2d 791,80 Ariz. 15
• Parties: H. S. McCLUSKEY and Helen B. McCluskey, et al., Appellants, v. C. L. SPARKS, Maricopa County Assessor, and James T. O'Neil, James G. Hart and James E. Lindsay, acting as members of the Maricopa County Board of Equalization, Appellees.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 791

291 P.2d 791

80 Ariz. 15

H. S. McCLUSKEY and Helen B. McCluskey, et al., Appellants, v. C. L. SPARKS, Maricopa County Assessor, and James T. O'Neil, James G. Hart and James E. Lindsay, acting as members of the Maricopa County Board of Equalization, Appellees.

No. 6153.

Supreme Court of Arizona.

Dec. 20, 1955.

H. S. McCluskey, Phoenix, for appellants.

Wm. P. Mahoney, Jr., County Atty., and Charles L. Hardy, Deputy County Atty., Phoenix, for appellees.

WINDES, Justice.

H. S. and Helen B. McCluskey, together with a large number of other plaintiffs, filed a complaint against C. L. Sparks, county assessor of Maricopa county, and James T. O'Neil, James E. Lindsay and James G. Hart, as the board of supervisors and county board of equalization of Maricopa county. The complaint seeks to enjoin the defendants from extending property of the plaintiffs on the tax roll for the year 1955. Upon motion of defendants, the court dismissed the complaint upon the ground that plaintiffs had an adequate remedy at law under the statutes of the state and particularly under section 73-419, A.C.A.1939. Plaintiffs appeal. The parties will be designated as they appear in the lower court.

The complaint occupies forty pages of the abstract for record and contains many confusing, nonessential allegations. Reading the entire document one can gather that there is alleged that the county assessor prepared a series of maps or plats of certain areas lying between 7th and 32nd Streets on East McDowell Road and spot areas on East Thomas, East Osborn, East Indian School and East Camelback Roads east of 7th Street. It is further alleged that plaintiffs are owners of property within these areas. The complaint states that the assessed values of plaintiffs' properties were increased from 300 to 1600 percent over previous assessments whereas the values of like or similar properties in the county were not increased; that the assessor arbitrarily used some chart, plan or method, table or tables, in valuing plaintiffs' properties and that such method or charts were applied solely to increasing the valuation of plaintiffs' property. The effect of these allegations is that by using a special method of arriving at the assessed values of plaintiffs' properties, which method was not used in valuing other properties of the same class, there resulted a disproportionate increase in the valuation of plaintiffs' property as compared with the assessed value of other like properties in the county. It is further alleged that other properties are assessed at from five to forty percent of full cash value; and that the assessor deliberately, consciously, intentionally and systematically singled out these spot areas for this different method of arriving at the assessed value of property therein.

The complaint alleges that plaintiffs appeared before the defendant county board of equalization seeking to have the values equalized and presented evidence in support of their contention; that one member of the board voted to disapprove the assessments for the expressed reason that he questioned the equity of increasing values in spotted areas while permitting other sections to escape and that it was unfair to send values soaring in one section while permitting values in other areas at absurdly low levels; that another member of the board approved the assessments of the assessor for the stated reason that the values were equitable in relation to the cash value of the properties but that he had a grave doubt as to the legality of increasing valuations in one section while permitting those in comparable areas to remain unchanged. This member further stated that there should be a court determination of the matter and the only way this could be accomplished was to approve the valuations set by the assessor. The third member voted to approve the valuations. It is alleged that the newspaper quoted him as giving a reason for his vote; however, this is no allegation of fact but merely an allegation of hearsay.

From the foregoing it may fairly be said that the alleged statements of two members of the board are susceptible of the interpretation that at least a majority thereof, with knowledge of the methods pursued by the assessor, recognized a deliberate and intentional fixing by the assessor of unequal values of plaintiffs' property as compared with the values fixed for other like properties in the county.

Defendants say that the trial court correctly dismissed the complaint for the reason that section 73-419, A.C.A.1939, provides plaintiffs with an adequate remedy at law for the alleged unequal assessment of their properties. This section makes provision for an appeal to the superior court from the action of the county board of equalization when a taxpayer is dissatisfied with the amount of his assessment. To determine whether this remedy is adequate we must observe what relief the court may grant under such an appeal. In availing himself of this appeal remedy the taxpayer must pay under protest the full amount of the tax levied. Under the provisions of section 73-110, A.C.A.1939, he may only prove the full cash value of the property in question and the court is limited to finding the full cash value of to rendering judgment for the payment of the tax on that basis, whether it be more or less than the value fixed by the taxing officials. Plaintiffs' lawsuit in this case is based upon the alleged proposition that plaintiffs have been discriminated against by valuing other properties at below full cash value and, by the use of...