People ex rel. Kassabaum v. Hopkins

• Decision Date: 09 November 1983
• Docket Number: No. 3-83-0164,3-83-0164
• Citation: 456 N.E.2d 678,119 Ill.App.3d 475,74 Ill.Dec. 957
• Parties: , 74 Ill.Dec. 957 PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, ex rel. Charles H. KASSABAUM, County Treasurer and Ex-Officio County Collector, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Archibald W. HOPKINS, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 678

456 N.E.2d 678

119 Ill.App.3d 475, 74 Ill.Dec. 957

PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, ex rel. Charles H.

KASSABAUM, County Treasurer and Ex-Officio County Collector, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Archibald W. HOPKINS, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 3-83-0164.

Appellate Court of Illinois,

Third District.

Nov. 9, 1983.

Norman K. Raffety, State's Atty., Putnam County, Hennepin, John X. Breslin, State's Atty. Appellate Service Com'n, Ottawa, for plaintiff-appellant.

Walter Durley Boyle, Boyle & Goldsmith, Hennepin, for defendants-appellees.

HEIPLE, Justice:

In January 1980 the taxpayer-appellee constructed a hog confinement building upon real property owned by the taxpayer. Livestock waste management facilities were constructed appurtenant to the hog confinement building. On October 23, 1981, the taxpayer applied for certification as a pollution control facility for the waste management facilities by filing an application with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) under Section 21a-5 of the Revenue Code. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 120, par. 502a-5.) Certification as a pollution control facility was granted by the Illinois EPA on December 16, 1981. The Illinois Department of Revenue received the certification on December 23, 1981. On May 10, 1982, the Illinois Department of Revenue Property Tax Administration Bureau notified the Putnam County Supervisor of Assessments to remove the waste management facilities from the local tax assessment rolls as of January 1, 1982.

The taxpayer's assessment for 1981 included the value of the waste management facilities. Of the $9,005 in taxes due for 1981, $1,558 was attributable to the waste management facilities. The taxpayer paid the full amount of 1981 taxes under protest. On August 31, 1982, the taxpayer objected to the assessment for 1981 on the basis that the waste management facilities should have been removed from the tax rolls as a certified pollution control facility. An abatement of $1,558 was sought.

Following a hearing, the taxpayer's objection was allowed on February 15, 1983. The county collector appealed.

The question before us is whether the trial judge correctly determined that the taxpayer's 1981 application for certification as a pollution control facility for his waste management facilities entitled him to an abatement for the 1981 tax year. We find no error in the trial judge's determination.

The Revenue Act provides in pertinent part as follows:

"... Application for a pollution control facility certificate shall be filed with the Pollution Control Board.... The effective date of a certificate shall be the date of the making of the application for the certificate or the date of the construction of the facility, whichever is later." (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 120, par. 502a-5.)

In the case at bar, the taxpayer constructed the facility in January 1980. He applied for the certificate in October 1981. Obviously, the 1981 date takes precedence over the 1980 construction date. By ordinary rules of statutory construction, the taxpayer was entitled to an abatement for the 1981 tax year.

The State argues, however, that the legislature did not intend to create a retroactive effect to the certification process for a pollution control facility. In support of its argument the State points to the certification procedure for a low sulphur dioxide emission coal fueled device under Sections 21a-9 through 21a-13 of the Revenue Code. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981,...