Appeal of Coos County Commissioners
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Petitioner, the Coos County Commissioners (collectively CCC), on behalf of the unincorporated places of Dixville and Millsfield, appealed a New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) decision which denied the CCC's motion to reconsider and revise downward respondent's, the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (DRA), 2012 equalized valuations of Dixville and Millsfield because the CCC did not show that the valuations were unreasonable and disproportionate. The Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for a rehearing. The CCC argued that: (1) the DRA's assessed value of the property, Windpark, was greater than its fair market value and, therefore, the DRA's equalized valuations for Millsfield and Dixville were disproportionate and unreasonable; (2) the BTLA erred by denying its motions to compel production of the Windpark appraisal and to continue the hearing, and by not allowing the CCC's expert witness to testify during the hearing; and (3) the DRA should have been estopped from denying the accuracy of the $113 million PILOT valuation. The Supreme Court concluded after review that the BTLA's determination that it was proper for the DRA to use the utility tax appraisal in performing its statutory duties under RSA 21-J:3, XIII was reasonable, particularly given that neither unincorporated place had fulfilled its own statutory duty to appraise the Windpark for property tax purposes, and that the DRA was statutorily obligated to conduct a utility tax appraisal. The Court agreed with the CCC that the BTLA erred in denying their motion to compel production of the DRA's utility tax appraisal of the Windpark. For those reasons, the BTLA erred in denying the CCC's motion to compel disclosure of the Windpark's utility tax appraisal: "While we agree that the CCC had the burden to prove at the hearing that the equalized valuations were disproportionate and unjust, we find that the BTLA's refusal to compel disclosure of the Windpark appraisal prevented the CCC from having a fair opportunity to meet this burden. Accordingly, we conclude that the CCC did not receive a fair hearing before the BTLA, as it did not have an opportunity to present evidence to challenge or otherwise discredit the valuation arrived at on the utility tax appraisal." The BTLA found that "[n]othing in the minutes of the December, 2007 meeting or anything that occurred thereafter indicates an express or implied promise by the DRA that the Windpark would be valued at any fixed and unchanging amount (such as $113 million) for any purpose or length of time." The BTLA's decision was supported by the evidence, and accordingly the BTLA did not err in finding that this statement could not reasonably have been relied upon by the CCC as a commitment by the DRA that $113 million would be the true market value of the Windpark. Accordingly, the BTLA did not err in rejecting this argument.
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