Source: https://cbaclelegalconnection.com/tag/board-of-assessment-appeals/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 22:47:55+00:00

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The Colorado Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Rust v. Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, May 17, 2018.
Vacant Land Tax Assessment—C.R.S. § 39-1-102(14.4)(a)—Residential Property—“Used as a Unit” Element—Assessor’s Reference Library.
Rust bought residential property in Summit County and a year later bought the adjacent undeveloped parcel (the subject property). He and his family have used the two parcels for decades. The county assessor classified the subject property as vacant land for the years 2013 through 2015, subjecting it to a tax rate almost triple the rate for residential property. Rust sought reclassification, asserting that both properties should be classified as residential under C.R.S. § 39-1-102(14.4)(a). The Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) affirmed the decision of the Board of County Commissioners of Summit County denying reclassification.
On appeal, Rust contended that the BAA misconstrued the “used as a unit” element in C.R.S. § 39-1-102(14.4)(a), which defines residential land. County assessors use the Assessor’s Reference Library (ARL) for guidance in classifying land under this statute. The ARL further defines “used as a unit” as contiguous parcels of land that are under common ownership and are “used as an integral part of a residence.” Assessors use four guidelines when applying this definition. Here, the parties stipulated that the parcels are commonly owned and contiguous; the only issue was whether the subject property was “used as a unit” with the residential parcel. The assessor found no evidence that the subject property was an integral part of the residence, and the use of the subject property failed to support its reclassification as residential property. There was no error in the BAA’s decision.
The BAA’s order was affirmed.
The Colorado Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Bringle Family Trust v. Board of Assessment Appeals on Thursday, May 3, 2018.
The Bringle Family Trust (Trust) owns two parcels of land in Summit County that are platted lots in the Bills Ranch Subdivision. The “residential parcel” is separated from the “subject parcel” by a road. This road is a public right-of-way maintained by the Bills Ranch Subdivision Association. In early 2016, the Trust petitioned the Board of County Commissioners of Summit County (the County) for an abatement or refund of taxes, arguing that the subject parcel’s property tax assessment classification should be changed from vacant to residential for tax years 2013 to 2015. The County denied the Trust’s petitions. The Board of County Commissioners (Board) upheld this decision.
On appeal, the Trust contended that the Board erroneously denied its petition by misconstruing C.R.S. § 39-1-102(14.4)(a) to conclude that the subject parcel was not contiguous to the residential parcel or “used as a unit in conjunction with the residential improvements located thereon.” The subject parcel must be contiguous to the residential parcel to be classified as residential property for tax purpose. Parcels are contiguous only if they touch. The Trust’s subject and residential parcels are distinct parcels separated by a public road that the Trust does not own. The Trust failed to show that the subject parcel meets the C.R.S. § 39-1-102(14.4)(a) contiguity requirement, and thus the Board correctly declined to reclassify the subject parcel as residential property. Given this determination, the court of appeals did not address the Trust’s contention that the subject parcel meets the “used as a unit” requirement.
On Tuesday, January 29, 2013, Sen. Lois Tochtrop introduced SB 13-146 – Concerning Procedures Governing the Board of Assessment Appeals in the Department of Local Affairs. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.
Specifies that appointments to the board shall be as follows: one member shall be appointed for a term of two years, and two members shall be appointed for terms of four years. Thereafter, appointments to the board shall be for terms of four years each. In order to allow for appeals to be heard timely, up to six additional members may be appointed to the board by the governor with the consent of the senate. Such additional members shall be appointed for terms of one state fiscal year each.
Eliminates existing statutory provisions requiring decisions on appeals from decisions of county boards of equalization to be rendered within 30 days after the earlier of the date of hearing on the appeal or by the last day of the same calendar year. This section of the bill also eliminates existing statutory provisions requiring the general assembly to provide by appropriation for the appointment of additional board members and the hiring of additional personnel to assist the board in meeting its caseload, as well as authorization for the board to schedule hearings for an extended period in the event that, as the result of an extraordinary work load, the board is unable to complete all its hearings before the last day of the same calendar year. Under current law, all fees collected by the board, after being transmitted to the state treasurer, are credited to the general fund. Under this section of the bill, such moneys collected in the future will be transmitted to the board of assessment appeals cash fund (cash fund), which the bill creates in the state treasury. In making the annual appropriation to the board under the annual general appropriation act, the bill requires the general assembly to consider available revenues and reserve balances in the cash fund.
Requires the board to issue a written decision for each appeal it hears. Each such written decision must either be a summary decision or a full decision. A full decision must contain specific findings of fact and conclusions of law. A summary decision need not contain specific findings of fact and conclusions of law. If the board has issued a summary decision, the bill authorizes a party dissatisfied with the summary decision to file a written request with the board for a full decision. The bill specifies requirements applicable to the submission of the request. Timely filing of the written request with the board is a prerequisite to review of the board’s decision by the court of appeals. Upon timely request for a full decision, the board is required to issue a full decision and enter it as the final decision in the appeal subject to judicial review by the court of appeals.
The board currently possesses the authority to issue such orders as it deems necessary to ascertain facts and to carry out its decisions. The bill eliminates the existing statutory requirement that any such order directed to a county assessor or a county board of equalization is enforceable upon application of the property tax administrator.
On February 22, the Appropriations Committee amended the bill and sent it to the full Senate for consideration on the 2nd Reading Consent Calendar.
Since this summary, the bill passed 2nd Reading in the Senate with amendments, and passed 3rd Reading unamended. It was introduced in the House and assigned to the Local Government Committee.

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