Opinion ID: 874066
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The district court erred by converting Appellants' complaint to a petition for judicial review.

Text: Chavez argues that when the district court converted his complaint into a petition for judicial review, it failed to address his allegation that the County had acted in ultra vires and should pay damages or other declaratory relief for its unauthorized actions. We deal first with the issue of whether the district court had the authority to convert the declaratory action into a petition for judicial review and whether it had jurisdiction in the petition for judicial review. This Court finds that it had neither. Title 63, Chapter 10, of the Idaho Code states the provisions for the collection of delinquencies for county property taxes. Section 63-1005 entitles a county to a tax deed when the delinquency has not been redeemed within three years. I.C. § 63-1005(1). The entitlement to a tax deed is conditioned on two requirements being met by the county: (a) A notice of pending issue of tax deed has been given; and (b) An affidavit of compliance has been recorded. I.C. § 63-1005(1)(a)-(b). The purpose of the statutory requirements is that a record is made to prove the county has given notice to the property owner. See Kivett v. Owyhee Cnty., 58 Idaho 372, 377, 74 P.2d 87, 88 (1937) (commenting on earlier, yet similar statutory requirements). The required notice must contain [a]n itemized statement detailing the delinquency and all costs and fees incident to the delinquency and notice up to and including the date of the making of such notice. I.C. § 63-1005(4)(d). [3] Before the tax deed may be recorded, a county must comply with these applicable statutes. See Cluff v. Bonner Cnty., 126 Idaho 950, 953, 895 P.2d 551, 554 (1995). Finally, Idaho Code section 63-1006(4) provides for review by the district court for any person aggrieved by a final decision of the county commissioners concerning the issuance of a tax deed. In the present case, Chavez filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment and asserting that the County was acting ultra vires for failure to provide an itemized statement of all costs and fees in the notice of pending issue tax deed. Upon Chavez's motion for summary judgment, the district court issued an order recognizing that Chavez was alleging grievances related to the County's decision to issue a tax deed and denied the summary judgment. The district court also ordered that Chavez must follow the procedures listed in I.C. § 63-1006(4) and I.R.C.P. 84, and file a petition for judicial review if he wished to pursue the action further. Chavez complied with this Order and filed a petition for judicial review ten days later. Chavez now argues that the district court erred by forcing Chavez to convert the complaint to a petition for judicial review. Pursuant to I.C. § 10-1202, a person may obtain a declaration of rights if the person's rights, status or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract or franchise. Rule 57 of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure states in part that the existence of another adequate remedy does not preclude a judgment for declaratory relief where it is appropriate. I.R.C.P. 57(a). In Winther v. Village of Weippe, we held that although the allegations of the pleadings may indicate that an alternative statutory or common law action may he, the trial court should not dismiss a declaratory judgment action on that ground alone. 91 Idaho 798, 801, 430 P.2d 689, 692 (1967). In Winther, the appellant argued that the respondent could not proceed by way of a declaratory judgment action. Id. at 800, 430 P.2d at 691. Instead, it was argued that respondent was required to pursue an action under the procedural provisions in Title 23, Chapter 10 of the Idaho Code to contest the municipal's denial of respondents' beer license application. Id. at 800-01, 430 P.2d at 691-92. We found that although the statutory provisions for review by the district court were later, more specific legislation, they did not expressly or impliedly abrogate the general remedy provided for in the older Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act. Id. at 801, 430 P.2d at 692. Therefore, we held that the appellate remedies afforded by Title 23 were not exclusive and that the respondents properly pursued the remedy provided by I.C. § 10-1202. Id. However, in Carter v. State, Department of Health & Welfare, this Court stated that this rule presupposes that the declaratory judgment action is an appropriate remedy. 103 Idaho 701, 702, 652 P.2d 649, 650 (1982). The Carter Court cited to V-1 Oil Co. v. County of Bannock, 97 Idaho 807, 808, 554 P.2d 1304, 1305 (1976), noting that it had held that the proper method of contesting an agency or judicial decision is by appeal, and that an order or judgment may not later be collaterally attacked by means of a declaratory judgment action. Id. In V-1 Oil, we found that the declaratory judgment action was inappropriate because the appellant had failed to timely appeal an act of the county commissioners and did not allow the collateral attack by way of declaratory judgment. 97 Idaho at 808, 554 P.2d at 1305. This Court held that [a]ctions for declaratory judgment are not intended as a substitute for a statutory procedure and such administrative remedies must be exhausted, and distinguished this holding from that in Security Abstract & Title Co. v. Leonardson, 74 Idaho 528, 264 P.2d 1027 (1953). V-1 Oil Co., 97 Idaho at 810, 554 P.2d at 1307. This Court explained why it had distinguished Security Abstract in Crane Creek Country Club v. Idaho State Tax Commission, 117 Idaho 585, 587, 790 P.2d 366, 368 (1990). We noted that the company seeking to enjoin the county assessor and sheriff in Security Abstract was doing so on the ground that the tax levied against the company was not applicable and the statutes under which the assessor and sheriff argued the company should have proceeded under dealt with valid taxes and exemption from taxes. Id. The declaratory judgment action was allowed because equity was an applicable manner to attack the assessment, for if it were true the assessor had no authority, the tax would have been void. Id. In the present case, Chavez was not collaterally attacking the County's final decision to issue a tax deed; [4] Chavez was proceeding in equity claiming that the County had no authority to proceed to the issuance of the tax deed because it had charged a flat fee without the itemization of the administrative fees required in the statute. The district court converted Chavez's action into a petition for judicial review without considering Chavez's claim for a declaratory judgment. The district court ruled that Chavez must follow the proper procedures as set forth in Idaho Code 63-1006(4). The statutory language of I.C. § 63-1006(4) allowing review by the district court is not mandatory, and does not expressly or impliedly abrogate the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act. The statute states that an aggrieved person is entitled to have a county commissioners' final decision concerning the issuance of a tax deed reviewed by the district court. I.C. § 63-1006(4). There is no language that directs that a person must petition for judicial review with the district court. Nor was Chavez using the declaratory judgment action as a substitute to an untimely appeal. Moreover, Chavez was not appealing the final decision to issue the tax deed; he was attacking the authority of the County to proceed beyond the notice. An action for a declaratory judgment was appropriate under these circumstances. Therefore, we find that it was inappropriate for the district court to convert Chavez's complaint to a petition for judicial review. We further find that the district court did not have jurisdiction to address the petition for judicial review. Idaho Code section 63-1006(4) requires a petition for judicial review of final decisions regarding the issuance of tax deeds to be filed within thirty days of receipt of the County's final decision. Although Chavez's complaint had been filed within that time frame, the petition for judicial review was not filed in a timely manner. Chavez received notice of the County's final decision on December 3, 2009, filed a complaint on December 4, 2009, was ordered to convert the complaint on April 9, 2010, and filed the petition on April 19, 2009. At the time of the district court's order on April 9, 2010, ordering the conversion to a petition for judicial review, the time allowed by statute for the petition had already ran out. Although the district court gave Chavez fourteen days to file the petition for judicial review, it did not have jurisdiction to do so. Filing of an appeal with the district court from a[] ... governmental ... board within the time allowed ... by statute is jurisdictional. A court has no power to avoid a jurisdictional defect caused by a failure to file an appeal by extending the time for the filing. Grand Canyon Dories, Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Comm'n, 121 Idaho 515, 516, 826 P.2d 476, 477 (1992) (citation omitted). As the district court had no authority to extend the time for an appeal pursuant to I.C. § 63-1006(4), we find that the district court was without jurisdiction to rule on the petition for judicial review.