Opinion ID: 2570383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the department's standing to seek review of payment for ad valorem taxes

Text: The right to review an administrative action is entirely statutory. Amax Coal Co., 819 P.2d at 833. Uinta County appealed the Board's decision requiring partial payments of ad valorem taxes to be applied to the principal if so designated by the taxpayer. That appeal was dismissed, however, because Uinta County is not a person under Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 39-1-306 and 39-1-101(a)(xi), and, therefore, it has no statutory right to appeal the Board's decision. The Department argues that in Uinta County's absence, it has standing to present this issue for our review. As the only taxing entity having standing to raise an error on appeal, the Department asserts it should have standing to challenge the Board's precedent regarding the application of partial payments to the gross value assessment made by the Department. In support of its position, the Department cites to Amax Coal Co., 819 P.2d at 831 ( quoting Washakie County School Dist. No. One v. Herschler, 606 P.2d 310, 317 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 824, 101 S.Ct. 86, 66 L.Ed.2d 28 (1980)), where we stated: Standing is a concept used to determine whether a party is sufficiently affected to insure that a justiciable controversy is presented to the court.    It is a necessary and useful tool to be used by courts in ferreting out those cases which ask the courts to render advisory opinions or decide an artificial or academic controversy without there being a palpable injury to be remedied. However, it is not a rigid or dogmatic rule but one that must be applied with some view to realities as well as practicalities. Standing should not be construed narrowly or restrictively. (Emphasis in original.) The Department's reliance on Amax Coal Co. is misplaced. In Amax Coal Co., the taxpayer challenged the Department's assessment as it related to both severance and ad valorem taxes. A portion of the Board's order found in favor of the taxpayer, holding that the Department erred in refusing to allow a deduction for reclamation costs. On appeal, Amax Coal Co. challenged the Department's standing to appeal the Board's decision regarding reclamation costs. Noting that standing `is a concept used to determine whether a party is sufficiently affected to insure that a justiciable controversy is presented to the court,' we found the Department's appeal appropriate because: The allocation of reclamation costs to non-mining activities and the Board's allowance of a deduction from the taxable value of the coal provide a direct and significant negative impact on the amount of ad valorem and severance taxes collected by the State. Amax Coal Co., 819 P.2d at 831-32 (emphasis added). Unlike Amax Coal Co., the dispute between Uinta County and the Board does not involve taxable value. The Board's decision relating to the payment of ad valorem taxes does not reach any duty or obligation relegated to the Department. No partial payment was made as to severance taxes. Consequently, the Department will not be affected by a decision on this issue. At best, the Department can only argue that it may be affected by the Board's ruling in the event someone designates partial payment of severance taxes in the future. Although the question as postulated in this case may be properly before us in the future, to render an opinion here would be to issue an advisory opinion. This Court has said repeatedly that it will not issue advisory opinions, and we decline to do so now. State Bd. of Equalization v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 745 P.2d 58, 59 (Wyo.1987) ( citing Graham v. Wyoming Peace Officer Standards and Training Com'n, 737 P.2d 1060 (Wyo.1987)); see also Willowbrook Ranch, Inc. v. Nugget Exploration, Inc., 896 P.2d 769, 772 (Wyo.1995).