Nevada Gold & Silver v. Andrews Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 25 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 08-04-00229-CV.,08-04-00229-CV.
• Citation: 225 S.W.3d 68
• Parties: NEVADA GOLD & SILVER, INC., Ruben White, Lonnie D. Clark, and Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark, Appellants, v. ANDREWS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

225 S.W.3d 68

NEVADA GOLD & SILVER, INC., Ruben White, Lonnie D. Clark, and Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark, Appellants, v. ANDREWS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Appellees.

No. 08-04-00229-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

August 25, 2005.

Ruben White, Brownfield, pro se.

Lonnie Dean Clark, Lafayette, pro se.

Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark, Brownfield, pro se.

David Ellison, Lubbock, for Appellees.

Before BARAJAS, C.J., McCLURE, and CHEW, JJ.

OPINION

DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Justice.

This is a lawsuit to collect delinquent ad valorem taxes and foreclosure of tax liens on real property in Andrews County, Texas. Appellants are Ruben White and Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark, who are appearing pro se.¹ On appeal, they attack the trial court's judgment by arguing that they were the real parties responsible for the delinquent taxes on the property, but that they refused to pay those taxes because the tax assessment was exorbitant and unconstitutional. They further contend that their constitutional rights were violated by Appellees' denial of an administrative hearing on their claims. Finally, they complain of the trial court's failure to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law in this case. We affirm.

On November 30, 1995, Andrews Independent School District filed suit against Nevada Gold & Silver, Inc. ("NGS") for the collection of delinquent ad valorem taxes on certain property in Andrews County.² Appellees attempted to serve process on NGS several times during the course of 1996.³ In a letter dated December 23 1996, Lonnie Dean Clark informed the trial court that he had received a copy of the delinquent tax suit filed against NGS by Andrews Independent School District. Mr. Lonnie Dean Clark stated that he held a first lien note on the subject property and had filed suit against NGS in cause number 14,424 on October 22, 1996 and had requested a default judgment in that case on November 14, 1996. Specifically, Mr. Lonnie Dean Clark stated:

I request the court to hear cause number 14,424 prior to hearing cause number 14,166 and grant a judgment by default in cause number 14,424 so the plaintiff in cause number 14,424 can pay the Andrews County Independent School District all the taxes due on land without adding unnecessary expense of legal fees, court costs and other penalties which the plaintiff in cause number 14,424 will inherit due to no fault of his actions. The plaintiff in cause number 14,424 has been ready to pay all taxes due on said land for over a year and has done all that is reasonably possible or that is in his power to legally get the taxes paid.

On December 9, 2002, Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark and Ruben White filed a "Notification and Request to the 109th District Court Judge, the Honorable James L. Rex Pursuant to Case No. 14,166." In the pleading, Mr. Clark and Mr. White explained that they were the defendants in cause number 14,424.⁴ In that cause, plaintiffs Lonnie Dean Clark and Tiger Tail Farms, Inc. obtained a default judgment on February 3, 1997 against Lonnie D. Clark, P.R.D.E., Inc., and NGS in the amount of $607,500 with interest in the amount of $444,746.⁵ The default judgment held each defendant jointly and severally liable until all the land listed in a warranty deed dated September 14, 1993 was "returned free and clear of any impediments including all taxes that are delinquent at the time of this order."

According to their pleading, Ruben White and Lonnie D. Clark, alleged that they repeatedly requested an administrative hearing from the Andrews County Appraisal District regarding the delinquent taxes prior to the taxes becoming delinquent. In support of their statement, Mr. White and Mr. Clark attached a copy of a letter dated March 23, 1998 to the Andrews County Appraisal District Board of Review, in which Mr. Clark requested to meet with the Board "as soon as possible pertaining to the property taxes assessed and listed under Lonnie D. Clark, Lonnie Dean Clark and Nevada Gold & Silver, Inc., for the years 1994 through 1998."⁶ Mr. White and Mr. Clark also informed the trial court that on August 19, 2002, they had filed suit in federal district court, bringing a constitutional challenge to the taxes assessed on the subject property in the instant cause. According to Mr. White and Mr. Clark, they had refused to pay the taxes set on the property because the taxes that were assessed were several times more than those set for similar adjoining properties.

Apparently, the trial court postponed the final hearing in the case pending the resolution of the federal lawsuit filed by Mr. White and Mr. Clark. In the federal lawsuit, Mr. White and Mr. Clark brought a Section 1983 civil rights claim against Andrews County Appraisal District, Andrews County, and Royce Underwood, Texas Assessor-Collector for Andrews County, alleging that the tax base on their property was set eight to ten times higher than identical properties located within the county from 1992 through 2002. They also claimed that every year they requested a hearing before the Andrews County Tax Appraisal Board, but their requests were never granted. On December 2, 2002, the federal district court dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction, finding that federal jurisdiction was precluded because the Texas Tax Code provides for state judicial review of adverse administrative actions. Notably, the federal court concluded that:

The Tax Injunction Act prevents a federal court from enjoining the assessment of a tax under state law when a "plain, speedy and efficient remedy" is available in State court. Although Plaintiffs allege that their attempts at administrative appeal were unsuccessful, they must still exhaust available options for state judicial review before filing a § 1983 claim in federal court. Accordingly, this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear Plaintiffs' claim.

On September 2, 2003, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the federal court's dismissal.

On September 29, 2003, Mr. White and Mr. Clark filed another "Notification and Request" pleading, in which they requested the trial court to hold a hearing and "order the plaintiffs in this instant case no. 14,166, to furnish or make available a state judicial review that is consistent with the conclusion and final judgment handed down by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland-Odessa Division." In response, Appellees argued that Mr. White and Mr. Clark were not defendants in the case, had no interest of record on the subject property, and thus, no standing to intervene in the lawsuit.⁷ Appellees also asserted that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to consider the tax appraisal challenge because Mr. White and Mr. Clark had failed to plead that they had availed themselves of their administrative remedies provided in Chapter 41 of the Texas Property Tax Code and had exhausted their administrative remedies before seeking judicial review under Chapter 42 of the Tax Code. Further, Appellees argued that the tax liability determination made in the default judgment in cause number 14,424 was not binding upon the taxing jurisdictions in this cause.

Appellees' filed their sixth amended petition on November 26, 2003.⁸ The following individuals and entities were listed as defendants in this case: NGS, Lonnie Dean Clark, Bankers Commercial Life Insurance Co. (in rem only), Lonnie Dwain Clark a.k.a. Chick Clark, United States Internal Revenue Service (in rem only), Tom Reese, Administrative Trustee in United States of America v. Lonnie D. Clark a.k.a. Chick Clark, no. 5:94-CR-018-C, United States District Court, Northern District, Lubbock Division (in rem only), Tiger Tail Farms, Inc., and Ruben White.⁹ The amended petition alleged delinquent ad valorem taxes for the years 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, which as of November 2003 amounted to $38,344.93.

On February 19, 2004, NGS, Karla Rolen, and Lonnie Dean Clark filed a "Motion for Court to Enforce Its Decrees Pursuant to Rule 308 of Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and for Court to Enforce Judgment Order Signed on February 3, 1997, Said Copy Attached to This Motion Marked Exhibit 1."¹⁰ According to their pleading, Ruben White had only partially complied with the February 1997 default judgment by turning over the land in Andrews County to Lonnie Dean Clark. Ruben White and Lonnie D. Clark, however, had failed to comply with the judgment's order to pay the back taxes that are due because those taxes were set eight to ten times more than adjoining property that was of equal or higher value. The movants alleged in the pleading that Ruben White and Lonnie D. Clark were responsible for the taxes due prior to November 1999, but that Appellees were entitled to only the fair and true amount of taxes that should have been assessed in the first place.

The trial court entered a final judgment on July 14, 2004. The trial court found that the taxing entities had valid claims for delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and costs in the amount of $40,083.88 and ordered foreclosure of tax liens on the subject property. The judgment recites that the following parties were the defendants in the case: NGS, Lonnie Dean Clark, Bankers Commercial Life Insurance Co. (in rem only), Lonnie Dwain Clark a/k/a Chick Clark, United States of America, Internal Revenue Service (in rem only), Tom Reese, Administrative Trustee in United States of America v. Lonnie D. Clark a.k.a. Chick Clark, no. 5:94-CR-018-C, United States District Court, Northern District, Lubbock Division (in rem only), Tiger Tail Farms, Inc., and Ruben White.

NGS, through its agent Karla Rolen Clark, Ruben White, Lonnie Dean Clark, and Lonnie D. "Chick" Clark filed a notice of appeal on July 20, 2004. On the same date, the above parties also requested findings of fact and conclusions of law from the trial court. In their motion, the parties argued that they had complied with all requirements to obtain an...