LARENCE R KOZMA V TOWNSHIP OF INDEPENDENCE
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
LARENCE R. KOZMA and BETTY J.
KOZMA,
UNPUBLISHED
November 8, 1996
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v
No. 183405
LC No. 00209254
TOWNSHIP OF INDEPENDENCE,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: Cavanagh, P.J., and Murphy and C.W. Simon, Jr.,* JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right from a judgment of the Michigan Tax Tribunal revising the 1994
assessment of their residential property. We affirm.
Appellate review of Tax Tribunal decisions is limited to deciding if the tribunal’s factual findings
are supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence. In the absence of fraud, this Court
reviews whether the Tax Tribunal made an error of law or adopted an incorrect legal principle. Golf
Concepts v Rochester Hills, 217 Mich App 21, 24-25; 550 NW2d 803 (1996).
A taxpayer may challenge his property tax assessment in two situations: (1) when his property
is assessed at more than fifty percent of its true cash value, and (2) when the property is not assessed in
uniformity with other properties in the taxing district. Brittany Park Apartments v Harrison Twp, 104
Mich App 81, 88; 304 NW2d 488 (1981). In the present case, plaintiffs complain both that their
property is assessed at more than fifty percent of its true cash value and that the ratio of their assessment
to their property’s true cash value is higher than that of other properties in the area.
We conclude that the tribunal’s findings are supported by competent, material, and substantial
evidence. Contrary to plaintiffs’ argument, the burden of proof with regard to a property’s true cash
value is on the taxpayer. MCL 205.737(3); MSA 7.650(37)(3); Oldenburg v Dryden Twp, 198
Mich App 696, 698-699; 499 NW2d 416 (1993). Plaintiffs have not convinced us of the existence of
any error requiring reversal.
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Plaintiffs argue that defendant committed fraud by submitting a market appraisal that was so
faulty as to be fraudulent. We find this claim to be without merit. First, although plaintiffs and the Tax
Tribunal found the market analysis to be flawed, there is no evidence that defendant intended to pervert
or conceal the truth. In addition, a claim of fraud cannot be sustained because neither plaintiffs nor the
tribunal relied on the market analysis. See Baker v Arbor Drugs, Inc, 215 Mich App 198, 208; 544
NW2d 727 (1996).
Plaintiffs further assert that the tribunal erred in relying on the refinancing appraisals submitted by
defendant. However, in a hearing in the small claims division of the Tax Tribunal, the hearing officer
“may admit and give probative effect to evidence of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably
prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs.” 1981 AACS, R 205.1642(1). The refinancing
appraisals fall under this definition. The cost-less-depreciation approach to valuation used by the
hearing officer is one of the three methods of valuation approved by the Supreme Court. Antisdale v
City of Galesburg, 420 Mich 265, 276 & n 1; 362 NW2d 632 (1984). The fact that the Tax Tribunal
chose the cost approach over the market approach does not support plaintiffs’ contention that the true
cash value was ignored. See id.
Plaintiffs contend that their rights were violated because the tribunal used a different method of
assessing the value of plaintiffs’ property than the one applied to the rest of the district. We find no
error. If a claim is based on lack of uniformity, the taxpayer must show that the ratio of assessed value
to fair market value of his property is greater than the ratio of assessed value to the average fair market
value in the taxing district. Brittany Park Apartments, supra. The tribunal found that while other
properties in the area are underassessed, plaintiffs’ property also is underassessed. This finding is
supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence.
Plaintiffs also argue that defendant did not timely serve them with documents, and therefore the
tribunal erred in relying on those documents. We find no error. Defendant’s proof of service shows
that the appraisal was hand-delivered to plaintiffs’ home ten days prior to the hearing. Plaintiffs admit
finding the appraisal in their home eight days before the hearing. Thus, there is no evidence that
defendant failed to properly serve plaintiff with the appraisals. Moreover, plaintiffs have not indicated
how they were prejudiced by defendant’s action.
Affirmed.
/s/ Mark J. Cavanagh
/s/ William B. Murphy
/s/ Charles W. Simon, Jr.
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