Rutland Country Club, Inc. v. City of Rutland, 217-78

• Decision Date: 06 November 1979
• Docket Number: No. 217-78,217-78
• Citation: 137 Vt. 590,409 A.2d 591
• Parties: RUTLAND COUNTRY CLUB, INC. v. CITY OF RUTLAND.
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Page 591

409 A.2d 591

137 Vt. 590

RUTLAND COUNTRY CLUB, INC. v. CITY OF RUTLAND.

No. 217-78.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

Nov. 6, 1979.

Smith & Harlow, Rutland, for plaintiff.

Robert E. Broderick, City Atty., Rutland, for defendant.

Before BARNEY, C. J., and DALEY, LARROW, BILLINGS and HILL, JJ.

BARNEY, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal of a real estate tax appraisal. The plaintiff country club owns a 300 acre tract of land; 275 acres of it are within the City of Rutland, including the buildings and an eighteen hole golf course. After going through grievance procedures and appealing to the Board of Civil Authority, the taxpayer brought this de novo action in superior court under 32 V.S.A. § 4467.

The Board of Civil Authority had reduced the $264,000 valuation set at the grievance hearing to $227,000. The result of the de novo proceeding was that the appraisal value of the country club was set at $264,000. Findings and conclusions of law were filed after a full hearing. The plaintiff appealed the outcome here.

The function of the trial court in these 32 V.S.A. § 4467 proceedings is to determine whether or not the listed value of the plaintiff's property corresponded with the listed value of comparable properties. If not, it is for the trial court to determine the appropriate relief by setting the property in the list at a corresponding value. International Paper Co. v. Town of Winhall, 133 Vt. 385, 387, 340 A.2d 42, 44 (1975).

Although the evidence in this case with respect to corresponding value is not strong, it is not on that question that the outcome of this appeal turns. The trial court did find that the listed value of the plaintiff's property corresponded, in terms of the statute, with listed values of comparative properties within the City of Rutland. The evidence was controverted, but there was certain testimony supporting this finding, contrary to the position taken by the plaintiff on appeal.

The trial court also found that for the tax year involved, 1975, all of the property in the City of Rutland was appraised at two-thirds of its fair market value. This is also supported by testimony, and is apparently unchallenged.

In its findings the court took the position that both sides agreed that the fair market value of the property in question was $264,000. The court went on to say that the difficulty in the case consisted of trying to reconcile the way the parties were defining "fair market value."

That issue was never resolved by the trial court, either, and infects the final result. Aside from its finding that the parties agreed on the fair market value, the court specifically found that $264,000 represented the fair market value.

From all of this the plaintiff contends that it was error to set the...