Moore v. Dunsworth
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Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 446
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION III
No. CA09-1090
CAL MOORE, RAYBURN MOORE,
AND ESTATE OF FEDDIE MOORE
APPELLANTS
V.
KAREN DUNSWORTH AND KERRY
MCCLENDON
APPELLEES
Opinion Delivered
May 26, 2010
APPEAL FROM THE UNION
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
[NO. CV-2006-434-6]
HONORABLE DAVID F. GUTHRIE,
JUDGE
REVERSED AND REMANDED
JOHN MAUZY PITTMAN, Judge
Jim Moore was the last record owner of a five-acre tract of land. He died with many
heirs, and there was no administration of his estate. Appellants, three heirs of Jim Moore,
redeemed the five acres by paying taxes for the years 1994–2000 and have paid all property
taxes thereon since 2001. Appellants were granted a decree quieting title in them against all
other heirs of Jim Moore in 2006. In October 2006, appellants filed a complaint for
ejectment against appellees, who ostensibly purchased the property in 1999 from Jose
Fremonde, another heir of Jim Moore. Appellees counterclaimed, seeking to quiet title in
themselves on the grounds of adverse possession. The trial judge found that appellees
established their claim to title by adverse possession, quieted title in them, and dismissed
appellants’ complaint. On appeal, appellants assert that the trial court erred in finding that
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 446
appellees established adverse possession without ever paying property taxes on the land in
question. We agree, and we reverse.
The facts are undisputed. The question is purely one of law, and our review is thus
de novo. Pulaski County v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc., 371 Ark. 217, 220, 264 S.W.3d
465, 467 (2007). The statute governing establishment of title by adverse possession was
amended in 1995 to include, as pertinent here, the requirement that the person claiming by
adverse possession must have paid ad valorem taxes on the property for the seven-year
statutory period. Ark. Code Ann. § 18-11-106(a)(1) (Supp. 2009). The requirement of
paying ad valorem taxes for the statutory period does not apply to persons or entities exempt
from the payment of ad valorem taxes by law. Ark. Code Ann. § 18-11-106(b)(1) (Supp.
2009). Exemptions to the payment of ad valorem taxes are found in Article 16, section 9 of
the Arkansas Constitution. These exemptions are limited to lands actually employed for
public, charitable, or religious purposes, such as public buildings, schools, libraries, churches,
and cemeteries. Amendment 22 to the Arkansas Constitution exempts homesteads from
Article 16 taxes to a certain extent and under certain circumstances, depending upon the
assessed valuation of the homestead. Section 2 of Amendment 22 authorizes the legislature
to modify the amount of the tax exemption within certain limits.
Here, the trial court found that appellees met the statutory requirement of paying the
ad valorem tax by attempting, without success, to list the tax assessment in their names, and
by qualifying for a $350 homestead tax credit. This was error. Tax exemptions are acts of
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CA09-1090
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 446
grace and must be strictly construed. Hilger v. Harding College, 231 Ark. 686, 331 S.W.2d 851
(1960). Here, it is undisputed that appellees neither paid nor tendered ad valorem taxes on
the property. Furthermore, although appellees may at some time have qualified for a $350
tax credit on the property, a credit does not equate to payment of taxes—particularly here,
where it is undisputed that taxes were in fact owing and were paid by appellants. We reverse
and remand for further consistent proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
HART and BAKER, JJ., agree.
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CA09-1090
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