Opinion ID: 2356557
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Reinstatement of 1975 applications

Text: The town of Cornish argues that the board lacked authority to reinstate the taxpayer's 1975 application to that town, since the reinstatement took place after the statutory time allotted for taking an appeal from the original order of dismissal. The town argues that once this period has elapsed, the board's decision is final. [5] We note that there is no real problem with respect to the 1974 application to Croydon and the 1975 applications to Plainfield and Croydon, all of which were also reinstated, since the taxpayer appealed to this court from the original board decision dismissing these applications. As to these applications, the taxpayer has clearly preserved all its appellate rights. The board has now heard these applications on their merits, and the interests of judicial economy require that we review the merits at this juncture. See Hanover v. City of Lebanon, 116 N.H. 264, 357 A.2d 115 (1976). With respect to the 1975 application to Cornish, no appeal was taken from the original board decision dismissing the matter. Thus, our only means of review in connection with this application is the appeal from the board's denial of current use assessment following its reinstatement of the action. The board's order dismissing taxpayer's 1975 Cornish application reads as follows: The appeal is dismissed. Now pending in Superior Court is Taxpayer's appeal from the denial of current use assessment for the tax year beginning April 1, 1974. Taxpayer can amend the petition to include the denial of current use assessment for the year beginning April 1, 1975. The two appeals involve the same property in the same town and appear to have common questions of law and fact. Also, consolidation in Superior Court precludes a situation of contrary rulings on apparently the same issue. [6] The board did not purport to decide the matter before it, but rather chose to transfer the case to the superior court. The taxpayer was entitled to have the matter heard by the board, RSA 79-A:9 (Supp. 1975), and thus the board's dismissal was not supported in law. In these circumstances, we view the improvident dismissal as an interim procedural order which did not serve to adjudicate the merits of the taxpayer's petition. The taxpayer will not be prejudiced by his failure to appeal this interim order. RSA 79-A:9 (VI) (Supp. 1975). Accordingly, we will consider the merits of the petition on this post-reinstatement appeal.