MLS Props. LLC v. Weld Cnty. Bd. of Equal.
| Decision Date | 06 October 2022 |
| Docket Number | Court of Appeals No. 21CA0552 |
| Citation | 523 P.3d 458,2022 COA 117 |
| Parties | MLS PROPERTIES LLC, 736 Baseline LLC, 2528 W. 16th Street LLC, 3200 Village Vista Drive LLC, Adams Bank Trust, Ashton Greeley Property LLC, Scott T. Banzhaf, BFI Medical Waste Inc., Boulder Marine Inc., Boulder Scientific Company, Brown Business Properties LLC, C & K Investment Properties LLC, Capitol 3109 LLC, Carbon Element SPE LLC, Code 3 Associates, Inc., Crestone Peak Resource Holdings LLC, Diesel Service Property LLC, Early Education Enterprises LLC, EJ Holdings Inc., Exit LTP Investments LLC, FEI Energy Fund LLC, Ferrous Development LLC, First National Bank of Johnstown, Garretson Family Partnership LLLP, GEP Investments Inc., Gtuida LLC, Highway 119 LLC, Jagadar LLC, Kersey Hotel LLC, Liberty Aviation LLC, Marsid Land LLC, MJ 3106 LLC, Mountain States Rosen LLC, MP 4665 LLC, Nan Madeira Stuart Trust, Norlarco Credit Union, NVW LLC, Par 4 Properties LLC, Phi Enterprises LLC, Raw Property LLC, RC 4689 LLC, Riggs & Dicken Properties LLC, Ritchie Bros. Properties Inc., Rolinda Colorado Co LTD, Silver Coin Investments, Texas Roadhouse Holdings LLC, Union Colony Bank, Ana Uyemjura, Weaver 880 LLC, Westlake Village II LLC, Westlake Village LLC, White Peaks Property II LLC, Wide Open Real Estate LLC, Willco IV Development LLLP, Willco VIII Development LLLP, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. WELD COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION and Brenda Dones, Weld County Assessor, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
Hutchinson Black and Cook, Glen F. Gordon, Boulder, Colorado; Law Offices of James P. Bick, Jr. PC, James P. Bick, Jr., Chesterfield, Missouri, for Plaintiffs-Appellants
Bruce Barker, County Attorney, Karin McDougal, Assistant County Attorney, Greeley, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees
Nancy Rodgers, City and County Attorney, Patricia W. Gilbert, Deputy City and County Attorney, Broomfield, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae City and County of Broomfield Assessor and Board of Equalization
Ron Carl, County Attorney, Benjamin P. Swartzendruber, Assistant County Attorney, Littleton, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Arapahoe County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Ben Pearlman, County Attorney, Michael A. Koertje, Assistant County Attorney, Boulder, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Boulder County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Heidi M. Miller, County Attorney, Meredith P. Van Horn, Assistant County Attorney, Brighton, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Adams County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Kimberly Sorrells, County Attorney, Rebecca Klymkowsky, Assistant Deputy County Attorney, Rachel Bender, Parker Smith, Jason Soronson, Assistant County Attorneys, Golden, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Jefferson County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Kenneth R. Hodges, County Attorney, Steven Klaffky, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae El Paso County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Amy T. Markwell, County Attorney, Telluride, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae San Miguel County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Lance J. Ingalls, County Attorney, Dawn L. Johnson, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Megan L. Taggart, Assistant County Attorney, Castle Rock, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Douglas County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Erick Knaus, County Attorney, Lynaia M. South, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Routt County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Robert H. Dodd, First Assistant Attorney General, John H. Ridge, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Jessica E. Ross, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae The Colorado Property Tax Administrator
Todd M. Starr, County Attorney, Andrea Nina Atencio, Chief Deputy County Attorney, John R. Rhoads, Assistant County Attorney II, Grand Junction, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Mesa County Assessor and Board of Equalization
Kathryn L. Schroeder, Pueblo West, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Assessors’ Association
Kristin Bronson, City Attorney, Charles T. Solomon, Assistant City Attorney, Paige A. Arrants, Assistant City Attorney, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae City and County of Denver Assessor and Board of Equalization
William G. Ressue, County Attorney, David P. Ayraud, Deputy County Attorney, Fort Collins, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Larimer County Assessor
Opinion by JUDGE KUHN
¶ 1 In Colorado, real property value for property tax assessment is calculated every two years. The county assessor determines the "level of value" of a property, which takes effect on January 1 of odd-numbered years. § 39-1-104(10.2)(d), C.R.S. 2021. Typically, the property's level of value is carried over to the even-numbered year and can only be modified under three circumstances: (1) to correct a clerical error or omission; (2) to correct an incorrect value; or (3) to adjust for an unusual condition affecting the property. Thibodeau v. Denver Cnty. Bd. of Comm'rs , 2018 COA 124, ¶ 12, 428 P.3d 706 ; 24, Inc. v. Bd. of Equalization , 800 P.2d 1366, 1368 (Colo. App. 1990).
¶ 2 The plaintiffs—fifty-five Weld County commercial property owners and taxpayers (the taxpayers)—filed this action in district court after exhausting their administrative remedies for protesting their 2020 property valuations. In both the administrative and district court proceedings, the taxpayers alleged that two unusual conditions had occurred under section 39-1-104(11)(b)(I) (), requiring the assessor to revalue their properties for the 2020 tax year: (1) the COVID-19 pandemic was a "detrimental act[ ] of nature," and (2) the various governmental orders issued in response to the pandemic were "new regulations restricting ... the use of their land."
¶ 3 The defendants—the Weld County Board of Equalization (BOE) and Weld County Assessor Brenda Dones (collectively, Weld County)—moved to dismiss the action under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). The district court granted the motion on the grounds that the taxpayers’ claims were nonspecific and conclusory, and that, as a matter of law, the pandemic and resulting orders occurred too late to be considered for 2020 property valuations.
¶ 4 We reverse for two reasons. First, as a matter of first impression, we conclude that, under section 39-1-104(11)(b)(I), the assessor is required to consider unusual conditions that occur at any point during the even-numbered calendar year1 of the reassessment cycle, not just those that exist before January 1 of the even year. Second, we conclude that the complaint was specific enough to survive a C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss.
¶ 5 In May 2020, after receiving their 2020 property valuations, the taxpayers sent a letter to Weld County's assessor requesting revaluation of their properties under the unusual conditions statute because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting governmental orders.
¶ 6 The assessor denied the taxpayers’ request and, in a letter to the taxpayers’ counsel, said that the pandemic and resulting orders were not relevant to the 2020 property valuations because they occurred after January 1, 2020—the assessment date for the 2020 tax year. The assessor wrote that "any documented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on property values will be taken into consideration for purposes of the 2021 biennial reappraisal."
¶ 8 The assessor denied the protests on the grounds that the pandemic and orders occurred too late to be considered for 2020 tax purposes. The taxpayers timely appealed the assessor's denials to the BOE. After a hearing, the BOE denied the taxpayers’ appeals.
¶ 9 Then the taxpayers filed suit in Weld County District Court. Weld County filed a motion to dismiss under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). The district court, after finding that the "allegations in the complaint [were] purely conclusory," dismissed the taxpayers’ claims without prejudice.
¶ 10 The taxpayers filed an amended complaint that, unlike the original complaint, identified the fifty-five taxpayers by name and their properties by legal address, parcel ID number, and county tax account number. It also set forth each property's 2020 assessed value. Attached to the complaint was a list of the pandemic-related governmental orders that the taxpayers alleged had devalued their properties.
¶ 11 In the amended complaint, the taxpayers sought three types of relief: (1) a writ of mandamus under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(2) ; (2) de novo review of the denials of their property assessment appeals under section 39-8-108(1), C.R.S. 2021; and (3) a declaratory judgment that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting governmental orders were unusual conditions under section 39-1-104(11)(b)(I) that required the assessor to revalue the subject properties for the 2020 tax year.
¶ 12 Weld County again filed a Rule 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss. It argued that the amended complaint lacked specificity and was conclusory, and that the taxpayers’ claims failed as a matter of law because even if the pandemic and resulting governmental orders were unusual conditions, they could not be considered for the 2020 tax year because they occurred after January 1, 2020.
¶ 13 The district court granted Weld County's motion and dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice....
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