Shevling v. Butte County Bd. of Com'rs, 20810
| Decision Date | 01 June 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 20810,20810 |
| Citation | 1999 SD 88,596 N.W.2d 728 |
| Parties | Harley SHEVLING, Kenneth Shay, John Shay, Michael Shay, and Sylvia Olinger, Appellees, v. BUTTE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, acting in its capacity as the Butte County Board Of Equalization, Appellant. . Considered on Briefs |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Dwight A. Gubbrud of Bennett, Main & Bailey, Belle Fourche, for appellees.
Terri Lee Williams, Butte County State's Attorney, Belle Fourche, for appellant.
¶1 Butte County appeals from a summary judgment entered by the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Butte County. The trial court found res judicata or collateral estoppel prevented utilization of a method of assessment that separately classified agricultural land as irrigable and non-irrigable. We reverse and remand for trial.
¶2 Henry Shevling, Kenneth Shay, John Shay, Michael Shay and Sylvia Olinger (collectively Shevling) own approximately 320 acres of agricultural land in Butte County. The Belle Fourche River unevenly dissects this land. In 1994 and 1995, Shevling's land had an assessed value of $39,561.00.
¶3 In 1996, Butte County assessed the land at $148,564.00. This increase was based upon a finding the land was irrigable. Shevling appealed to the Board of Equalization who reduced the assessment to $79,633.00. Shevling appealed the reassessment to the Office of Hearing Examiners, which reversed the County and remanded for reassessment. The reassessed value of the land was reduced to $36,291.00.
¶4 In 1997, the Director of Equalization categorized Shevling's land as irrigable and valued the property at $163,420.00. Shevling appealed to the Butte County Board of Equalization. His appeal was rejected. On August 11, 1997, Shevling appealed to the South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that Shevling had water rights to approximately 200 acres of the property, however, the water rights were junior rights. Furthermore, Shevling could not pump water from the river during the months of July, August and September and developing the land for irrigation was cost prohibitive. The ALJ concluded Butte County had erred by establishing separate classifications for determining the value of property with irrigation potential. The ALJ ordered Butte County to re-evaluate the property as dry land agricultural property and assess it accordingly.
¶5 On September 9, 1997, Butte County appealed the ALJ's order to the circuit court. The County claimed Shevling's land was properly assessed as irrigable due to its location, soil, terrain, topography and water rights.
¶6 In determining the 1997 assessment, Butte County compared the types of soil, as rated by the State according to productivity, location of the property and irrigability. Values for dry land soils and irrigable soils were determined by analyzing sales of comparable property. It was the policy of Butte County that if water rights were available, the property was irrigable if it had certain types of soil.
¶7 The circuit court concluded the Director of Equalization improperly placed great weight on the fact Shevling had a water right and irrigable soil. It specifically identified the errors committed by the Director as: (1) failure to consider the cost of land preparation for irrigation which in this case could be cost prohibitive, and (2) failure to consider the existing water right was a junior right subject to demands of senior rights and allowing no water whatsoever in the prime growing months of July, August and September. The court further concluded this method of classification resulted in two separate classes of property for agricultural land and was therefore unconstitutional. The court remanded the case for reassessment. The final 1997-assessment amount for Shevling's land is not in the record. Butte County did not appeal the 1997 judgment to this Court.
¶8 The next year this issue was raised once again. On April 13, 1998, Shevling appealed the 1998 assessment of his land to the Board of Equalization. The 1998 assessed value was once again based on a method that considered the irrigability of the land. 1 The Board refused to alter the assessment.
¶9 On May 11, 1998, Shevling once again appealed the Board's decision to the circuit court. A hearing was held on Shevling's motion for summary judgment on August 21, 1998. Judge Bastian issued a bench decision denying Shevling's motion for summary judgment. Later on August 28, 1997, the court, on its own motion, reconsidered and granted Shevling's motion for summary judgment.
¶10 The trial court could not find a genuine issue of material fact as to preclude summary judgment. In granting summary judgment, the court based its decision on the County Assessor's 1997 and 1998 testimony. The trial court determined the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel prevented relitigation of whether the County was illegally classifying agricultural land as "irrigated" and "nonirrigated" land as it was litigated in 1997. The court then held Butte County's method of separately classifying agricultural land as "irrigable" and "non-irrigable" was unconstitutional and contrary to State law. The trial court reversed and remanded the case and ordered the assessment be made in accordance with South Dakota law.
¶11 Butte County appeals raising the following issues for our consideration:
1. Whether the doctrines of collateral estoppel and res judicata govern the 1998 assessment of Shevling's agricultural property.
2. Whether the trial court erred in finding Butte County's method of separately classifying agricultural land was unconstitutional and contrary to South Dakota State law. 2
¶12 The value of land is a question of fact and the trial court will only be overturned if it is clearly erroneous. West Two Rivers Ranch v. Pennington County, 1996 SD 70, p 6, 549 N.W.2d 683, 685 (citation omitted). An assessor's valuation will be presumed correct. West Two Rivers, 1996 SD 70, p 20, 549 N.W.2d at 687. However, the construction of a statute and its application to the case at hand presents a question of law, which we review de novo. West Two Rivers, 1996 SD 70, p 6, 549 N.W.2d at 685.
¶13 As this case was dismissed in summary judgment, we apply the applicable standard of review.
Summary judgment is authorized "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." SDCL 15-6-56(c). We will affirm only when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the legal questions have been correctly decided. All reasonable inferences drawn from the facts must be viewed in favor of the non-moving party. The burden is on the moving party to clearly show an absence of any genuine issue of material fact and an entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.
Estate of Shuck v. Perkins County, 1998 SD 32, p 6, 577 N.W.2d 584, 586 (internal citations omitted).
¶14 Whether the doctrines of collateral estoppel and res judicata govern the 1998 assessment of Shevling's agricultural property.
¶15 Butte County appeals claiming res judicata and collateral estoppel should not be applied in this case as the assessment methods applied in 1997 and 1998 were substantially different. Thus, it reasons the trial court erred in granting Shevling's motion for summary judgment based on these doctrines. We find there is a genuine issue of material fact as to the similarities of these two assessments.
¶16 a. Requirements for assessment
¶17 SDCL 10-6-33 provides that "[a]ll property shall be assessed at its true and full value in money." Agricultural land is assessed pursuant to SDCL 10-6-33.1, which provides the assessment, shall be based on the following factors:
(1) The capacity of the land to produce agricultural products... and
(2) The soil, terrain and topographical condition of the property including but not limited to capability, the land's use, climate, accessibility and surface obstructions which can be documented through an analysis of land selling prices[.] 3
¶18 Aside from compliance with South Dakota statutory requirements, an assessment must also comply with the following four constitutional provisions. First, South Dakota Constitution Article XI, section 2, requires that the burden of taxation of all property be equitable. Second, agricultural and nonagricultural property may be separated into distinct classes for the purpose of taxation. S.D. Const. art. VIII, § 15. Third, valuation of the property may not exceed its actual value. S.D. Const. art. XI, § 2. Fourth, taxation must be uniform on all property within the same class. S.D. Const. art. XI, § 2; S.D. Const. art. VIII, § 15. West Two Rivers, 1996 SD 70, p 7, 549 N.W.2d at 686.
¶19 b. Assessment of agricultural land
¶20 It is well settled in South Dakota constitutional law that irrigated farmland cannot be designated a separate class of agricultural property by the taxing authority. Gould v. Pennington County Board of Equalization, 1997 SD 129, 570 N.W.2d 846. 4 However, irrigability can be considered a factor in assessing land value. Id.
¶21 c. Res judicata and collateral estoppel
¶22 Res judicata and collateral estoppel, though often used interchangeably, are distinguishable. Nelson v. Hawkeye Sec. Ins. Co., 369 N.W.2d 379, 380 (S.D.1985); See Schell v. Walker, 305 N.W.2d 920, 922 (S.D.1981); See also, Melbourn v. Benham, 292 N.W.2d 335, 337 (S.D.1980); Gottschalk v. South Dakota Real Estate Commission, 264 N.W.2d 905 (S.D.1978). "Res judicata precludes relitigation of a claim or issue actually litigated or which could have been properly raised." Nelson, 369 N.W.2d at 381 (citation omitted). On the other hand, collateral estoppel prevents relitigation of issues...
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