Opinion ID: 4653908
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Inconsistent judgments

Text: Taxpayer’s final contention is that appellate review in the School District’s case was properly foreclosed because any ruling by the Commonwealth Court other than an affirmance of the county court’s order would lead to an untenable result. Taxpayer’s theory is that such a ruling would conflict with the final order in the City’s case, which affirmed the Board’s assessment of the Property’s at $267,250. Taxpayer maintains that such a conflict would be “irreconcilable.” Brief for Appellee (Taxpayer) at 8, 13, 18. In this respect, Taxpayer quotes the Commonwealth Court’s decision, in which the court stated that if two taxing districts were to use differing assessed values for the same property, an “absurd result” would arise which would be contrary to Section 1922(1) of the Statutory Construction Act, as a property can only have a single assessment. See Coatesville, 216 A.3d at 544 (citing 1 Pa.C.S. §1922(1) (reflecting a presumption that the General Assembly “does not intend a result that is absurd, impossible of execution or unreasonable”)), quoted in Brief for Appellee (Taxpayer) at 13. The Assessment Law contemplates that the assessed value of a property exists as a single figure appearing on the county assessment rolls, which is maintained by the county assessment office. See 53 Pa.C.S. §§8802, 8831(c)(4), 8841, 8846, 8847(a). Assessment appeals are designed to give interested parties, such as the property owner and any affected taxing districts, an opportunity to challenge the property’s assessment if they believe it to be in error, see 53 Pa.C.S. §§8844(b), 8855, or nonuniform, see id. §8854(a)(9)(ii); PA. CONST. art. VIII, §1, or if they believe the [J-72-2020] - 11 assessment was reached improperly such as via spot reassessment. See 53 Pa.C.S. §8843. While each taxing district may utilize a different millage rate to compute tax liability for the property, see generally Chester-Upland Sch. Dist., ___ Pa. at ___ n.5, 238 A.3d at 1218 n.5 (discussing the computation of tax liability), the assessed value does not exist independently for each such district; again, it subsists as a single figure at the county level. Thus, Taxpayer is correct to the extent it argues that inconsistent and irreconcilable assessments stemming from multiple court orders would represent an obstacle to the orderly functioning of the tax assessment scheme as designed by the Legislature. We find, however, that this type of result would not arise from an appellate court order in the School District’s case which conflicts with the common pleas court’s ruling in the City’s case. First, Taxpayer’s irreconcilable-conflict theory does not depend on the School District having intervened, or otherwise entered its appearance, in the City’s case. Therefore, accepting Taxpayer’s argument would mean that, so long as one taxing district elects not to appeal a ruling issued by the common pleas court, no other taxing district may appeal from a common pleas court order in its own, independent litigation regarding the same property. A result along those lines, however, would be contrary to the express terms of the Assessment Law. See 53 Pa.C.S. §8854(b) (“The board, or any party to the appeal to the court of common pleas, may appeal from the judgment, order or decree of the court of common pleas.”). Additionally, when a board of assessment appeals, a county court, or an appellate court reaches a final determination as to the assessment of a property, such a ruling is mandatory with regard to the county assessment office’s administration of the assessment rolls. And as noted, it is the figure contained in the assessment rolls that is [J-72-2020] - 12 used by each taxing district as the basis for computing the tax due and owing to that district for the subject property in a given tax year. With the above in mind, we note further that Pennsylvania’s appellate courts have authority to modify, vacate, or reverse any order brought before them for review, and to remand with instructions to the trial court. See 42 Pa.C.S. §706. Implicit in that authority – at least within the property-tax assessment arena where a single assessment figure is maintained on a countywide basis – is the ability to override any prior, inconsistent order in relation to the subject property’s assessment issued in a different case, so long as the prior order was not issued by a court in a higher tier of Pennsylvania’s unified judicial system. That being the case, if the Commonwealth Court eventually sets the Property’s assessment at a figure other than $267,250, or if it again remands to the county court with instructions and that court sets the Property’s assessed value at an amount other than $267,250 – or if this Court grants further review and does so – the latter ruling will supersede the earlier one filed by the common pleas court in the City’s case. Cf. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF JUDGMENTS §15 (“When in two actions inconsistent final judgments are rendered, it is the later, not the earlier, judgment that is accorded conclusive effect in a third action under the rules of res judicata.”). Put differently, whether or not a final order in the School District’s case expressly so states, the assessment figure ultimately reached in the School District’s appeal will be mandatory in relation to the county assessment office, and this will be true notwithstanding any difference between that amount and the common pleas court’s earlier (and now final) ruling in the City’s case. Accordingly, we disagree with Taxpayer’s contention that an irreconcilable conflict would follow from any ruling by the Commonwealth Court in the School District’s case other than affirmance. [J-72-2020] - 13