Stewart v. Board of County Com'rs of Big Horn County

• Decision Date: 30 December 1977
• Docket Number: No. 13766,13766
• Citation: 175 Mont. 197,573 P.2d 184,34 St.Rep. 1594
• Parties: Benito STEWART and Angela Stewart, husband and wife, Respondents and Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana, Appellant and Defendant. Mary Broken ROPE, Appellant and Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana, Respondent and Plaintiff, v. Mary Elizabeth TOBACCO, Appellant and Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana, Respondent and Defendant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 184

573 P.2d 184

175 Mont. 197

Benito STEWART and Angela Stewart, husband and wife, Respondents and Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana,

Appellant and Defendant.

Mary Broken ROPE, Appellant and Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana, Respondent and Plaintiff, v. Mary Elizabeth TOBACCO, Appellant and Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BIG HORN COUNTY, Montana,

Respondent and Defendant.

No. 13766.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted Dec. 5, 1977.

Decided Dec. 30, 1977.

Michael T. Greely, Atty. Gen., Helena, Mike McCarter, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued, Helena, James E. Seykora, County Atty., argued, Hardin, for appellants.

Edwin W. F. Dyer, III, argued, Hardin, William D. Hutchison, argued, Helena, for respondents.

HASWELL, Justice.

These three cases were consolidated on appeal because they involve the same issues. The plaintiffs brought suit to have certain tax deed sales declared null and void and to exercise their alleged statutory preferential right of repurchase. The defendant Board of County Commissioners appeal from the District Court's decision in Stewart, and the plaintiffs in Broken Rope and Tobacco appeal from the decisions for the defendant Board in those cases.

Benito and Angela Stewart, husband and wife, owned certain real property in Wyola, Montana. The Stewarts fell delinquent in their real property taxes, and on March 3, 1975, Big Horn County acquired the property by tax deed. On April 9, 1975, this property was sold at public auction to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Harris.

Mary Broken Rope owned certain real property located in Crow Agency, Montana, and Mary Elizabeth Tobacco owned certain real property located in Wyola, Montana. They also fell delinquent in their real property taxes. On June 30, 1975, Big Horn County acquired these properties by tax deed and on November 17, 1975, it offered them for sale at public auction. Daniel and Carlene Old Elk purchased the Broken Rope property under a contract of sale dated November 18, 1975, and Clarence and Violet Englert purchased the Tobacco property at the November 17, 1975 public sale.

The plaintiffs in all these cases filed similar complaints against the Board of County Commissioners alleging that the Board did not comply with section 84-4190, R.C.M.1947, the statute governing the procedure for sale of county tax deed lands, and that therefore the sales of these particular properties were null and void. Section 84-4190 requires the Board to determine the fair market value of the property for sale, to state that value in the Notice of Sale, and to make no sale of the property for less than that value. The plaintiffs allege that this statute requires the Board to make an objective determination of the fair market value of the properties according to certain accepted methods of determining fair market value but that the Board failed in this respect because the Notices of Sale placed an "unreasonably low value" upon their properties. They further allege that once the sales are set aside, they should be allowed to exercise their statutory right of repurchase under section 84-4190 and that they stand "ready, willing and able" to exercise this right.

In all three cases, the defendant Board filed motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim for relief. These motions were subsequently denied. The Board then answered the complaints and alleged the following affirmative defenses: (1) Section 84-4190 states that the Board of County Commissioners shall determine and fix the fair market value of the properties to be sold, thus leaving the entire appraisal value in the discretion of the Board; (2) the complaints failed to state a claim for relief; and (3) the applicable statute of limitations barred the action. In the Stewart and Broken Rope cases, interrogatories and answers were filed indicating the procedure the Board followed in establishing the fair market value of the properties. In all three cases, the parties stipulated as to the appraised values contained in the Notices for Sale and the amount of the taxes, penalties and interest due at the time of the taking of the tax deed by Big Horn County on all properties offered for sale at the April 9, 1975 and November 17, 1975 public sales. The plaintiffs contend that the answers to interrogatories and the stipulations demonstrate that the Board established the fair market value of these properties merely by rounding off to the nearest whole number the amounts owed on the properties for taxes, penalties and interest and that such method of establishing the fair market value was arbitrary.

Both parties in the three cases moved for summary judgment. After briefs were submitted and oral argument heard, the District Court entered judgment in favor of the Stewarts in Stewart, and in favor of the Board in Broken Rope and in Tobacco. The losing parties appealed.

Both sides have raised numerous issues on appeal regarding the action taken in the District Court. In addition the Board asserts for the first time on appeal several procedural issues including whether the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the method by which the Board determined the fair market value of the properties in question. Because we feel the standing issue must be decided adversely to the plaintiffs, we will not discuss the other issues which the parties have raised.

The concept of standing arises from two different doctrines: (1) Discretionary doctrines aimed at prudently managing judicial review of the legality of public acts, 13 Wright, Miller & Cooper, Federal Practice & Procedure: Jurisdiction § 3531 at 176; and (2) doctrines of constitutional limitation in the federal courts drawn from the "cases and controversies" definition of federal judicial power in Article III, United States Constitution and in the Montana courts drawn from the "cases at law and in equity" definition of state judicial power in Article VII, 1972 Montana Constitution.

Prior Montana cases which have dealt with the issue of standing have considered it in the context of challenges to the constitutionality of legislative enactments, Chovanak v. Matthews (1948), 120 Mont. 520, 188 P.2d 582, and in the context of taxpayer and elector suits, State ex rel. Mitchell v. District Court (1954), 128 Mont. 325, 275 P.2d 642; Holtz v. Babcock (1963), 143 Mont. 341, 389 P.2d 869, reh. den. (1964), 143 Mont. 371, 390 P.2d 801, and State ex rel. Conrad v. Managhan (1971), 157 Mont. 335, 485 P.2d 948.

From these cases we synthesize that the issue presented for review must represent a "case" or "controversy" within the judicial cognizance of the state sovereignty. Additionally, the following minimum criteria are necessary to establish standing to sue a governmental entity: (1) The complaining party must clearly allege past, present or threatened injury to a property or civil right; and (2) the alleged injury must be distinguishable from the injury to the public generally, but the injury need not be exclusive to the complaining party.

What injury to a property or civil right have the plaintiffs alleged? In their brief, the plaintiffs argue that section 84-4190 requires the Board to appraise and sell tax deed properties at their fair market value, not an arbitrarily selected lower value, "in order to protect the interest of the taxpayers of the County as a whole." Apparently, their theory is that...