Opinion ID: 2093795
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: standing of county assessor

Text: Mercy claims the assessor lacks standing to appeal the county board's granting of Mercy's tax exemption based on Bemis v. Board of Equalization of Douglas County, 197 Neb. 175, 247 N.W.2d 447 (1976), in which we held that a county assessor had no standing to bring an appeal of a tax exemption determination. At the time Bemis was decided, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 77-202.04 (Reissue 1976) provided: Persons, corporations, or organizations denied exemption from taxation for real or tangible personal property ... by a county board of equalization may appeal de novo to the district court ... in the same manner and under the same procedure as provided by sections 77-1510 and 77-1511, in the case of appeals from other actions of a county board of equalization.... Also at the time of the Bemis decision, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 77-202.06 (Reissue 1976) provided: The Tax Commissioner may review and reverse any decision of the county board of equalization granting tax exempt status for real or tangible personal property, including motor vehicles, but only after a hearing has been held by the Tax Commissioner in the county where the property exempted is situated, upon ten days' written notice to the applicant and to the county board of equalization. The Tax Commissioner shall within thirty days of the hearing certify his order to the applicant, the county assessor, and the county board of equalization. In Bemis, we concluded that the county assessor's responsibility is limited to an advisory rather than an adversary capacity and that the assessor did not have standing to appeal a tax exemption determination. 197 Neb. at 177, 247 N.W.2d at 448. We stated that the assessor's remedy was not to prosecute an appeal but to bring the decision to the attention of the Tax Commissioner who could then review the decision as provided in § 77-202.06. Bemis, supra . The statutory scheme regarding tax exemptions has changed since the Bemis decision. The Legislature adopted TERCA in 1995, which created TERC. See § 77-5003. Under TERCA, TERC was granted the power to hear appeals involving certain property tax matters, including decisions of a county board of equalization granting or denying tax-exempt status for real or personal property. § 77-5007(2). After the adoption of TERCA, § 77-202.04(Cum.Supp.1998) was amended to provide: Persons, corporations, or organizations denied exemption from taxation for real or tangible personal property by a county board of equalization may appeal to the Tax Equalization and Review Commission. The Property Tax Administrator may in his or her discretion intervene in any such appeal. Section 77-202.06 (Cum.Supp.1998) now provides: The Property Tax Administrator shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing tax-exempt status for real or tangible personal property. The Tax Equalization and Review Commission may review and reverse any decision of the county board of equalization granting tax-exempt status for real or tangible personal property but only after a hearing has been held by the commission, upon ten days' written notice to the applicant and to the county board of equalization. The commission shall within thirty days after the hearing mail an order to the applicant, the county assessor, and the county board of equalization. Furthermore, § 77-5007.01 provides: In appeals by a county assessor in his or her official capacity pursuant to section 77-5007, the county assessor may request that the district court appoint an attorney to represent the county assessor before the commission. Mercy claims that § 77-202.04 limits the parties who may appeal a tax exemption determination to persons, corporations, or organizations denied exemption from taxation. Mercy interprets this section to mean that only parties denied a tax exemption may appeal a tax exemption determination. Mercy claims that because § 77-202.04 was not repealed when TERCA was enacted, Bemis v. Board of Equalization of Douglas County, 197 Neb. 175, 247 N.W.2d 447 (1976), is still controlling, and the assessor does not have standing to appeal to TERC. Statutes relating to the same subject matter are to be construed together so as to maintain a consistent and sensible scheme. Central States Found. v. Balka, 256 Neb. 369, 590 N.W.2d 832 (1999); FirsTier Bank v. Department of Revenue, 254 Neb. 918, 580 N.W.2d 537 (1998). Construction of a statute will not be adopted which has the effect of nullifying or repealing another statute. In re Invol. Dissolution of Battle Creek State Bank, 254 Neb. 120, 575 N.W.2d 356 (1998). In the present case, § 77-5007(2) gives TERC the power to hear appeals of decisions granting or denying property tax exemptions. Under Mercy's interpretation that only parties enumerated in § 77-202.04 may appeal a tax exemption determination, a grant of a property tax exemption could never be appealed to TERC because § 77-202.04 includes only parties who have been denied a tax exemption. This interpretation would nullify § 77-5007(2), which provides that TERC has the power to hear appeals of both denials and grants of exemptions. Section 77-5007.01 provides that an assessor may request appointment of counsel to represent the assessor in an appeal under the situations listed in § 77-5007, which includes appeals of decisions granting tax exemptions. The fact that § 77-202.04 limits the parties who may appeal the denial of a tax exemption does not limit an assessor's power to bring an appeal of a decision granting an exemption. Contrary to Mercy's assertions, these provisions can be read together to maintain a sensible scheme in which appeals of decisions denying tax-exempt status can be brought only by certain parties, but appeals of decisions granting tax exempt status are not so limited. In Bemis, we stated that if the assessor feels aggrieved by a tax exemption determination, the assessor's remedy was to bring the decision to the attention of the Tax Commissioner, who may then review the decision as provided in § 77-202.06 (Reissue 1976). After enactment of TERCA, TERC replaced the Tax Commissioner in § 77-202.06. Thus, under the new statutory scheme, when the assessor is aggrieved by an exemption determination, the assessor's remedy is to bring the matter to TERC's attention. The method by which the assessor brings the matter to TERC's attention is by filing an appeal with TERC. Section 77-5007(2) gives TERC jurisdiction to hear such an appeal. Under the current statutory scheme, the assessor has standing to appeal the granting of Mercy's property tax exemption.