Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/daw-v-hancock-county-748376793
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 18:48:23+00:00

Document:
Party Name: NANCY A. DAW, STEPHEN L. HOBACK, Co-Trustees of Sagacious Sentinel Sycamore Revocable Trust, Petitioners, v. HANCOCK COUNTY ASSESSOR, Respondent.
II. Whether the Indiana Board erred in upholding the assessment of the Co-Trustees' farmland. Upon review, the Court finds in favor of the Co-Trustees with respect to Issue I and in favor of the Assessor with respect to Issue II.
For the 2016 tax year, the Hancock County Assessor assigned the property an assessed value of $88, 400. The Co-Trustees appealed the assessment, first to the Hancock County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals and then to the Indiana Board.
On March 2, 2018, the Co-Trustees filed a petition for review with the Tax Court. The Tax Court heard oral argument on September 14, 2018. Additional facts will be supplied when necessary.
The party seeking to overturn a final determination of the Indiana Board bears the burden of demonstrating its invalidity. Osolo Twp. Assessor v. Elkhart Maple Lane Assocs., 789 N.E.2d 109, 111 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2003). Thus, the Co-Trustees must demonstrate to the Court that the Indiana Board's final determination is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; in excess or short of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations; without observance of the procedure required by law; or unsupported by substantial or reliable evidence. See IND. CODE § 33-26-6-6(e)(1)- (5) (2018).
Subject matter jurisdiction, the power of a court to hear and determine a particular class of cases, is conferred upon a court by either the Indiana Constitution or statute. Grandville Co-op.. Inc. v. O'Connor, 25 N.E.3d 833, 836 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2015). Consequently, "'[t]he only relevant inquiry in determining whether any court has  subject matter jurisdiction is to ask whether the kind of claim which the plaintiff advances falls within the general scope of the authority conferred upon [the] court by the constitution or by statute.'" Marion Cty. Auditor v. State, 33 N.E.3d 398, 400-01 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2015) (citation omitted). The Tax Court, pursuant to its enabling legislation, has subject matter jurisdiction over all "original tax appeals." Ind. Code §§ 33-26-3-1, -3 (2018).
A case is an original tax appeal if it arises under Indiana's tax laws and is an initial appeal of a final determination made by the Indiana Board. I.C. § 33-26-3-1. With respect to the first requirement, a case arises under Indiana's tax laws "if (1) 'an Indiana tax statute creates the right of action,' or (2) 'the case principally involves the collection of a tax or defenses to that collection.'" Grandville Co-op, 25 N.E.3d at 836 (citation omitted). The second requirement, that a case appeal the Indiana Board's final determination, includes the exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement, Id.

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