Opinion ID: 2341531
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Points VII and VIII

Text: Green Mountain's next challenge is to Findings Nos. 22 and 23. No. 22 states that plaintiff's witness, Mr. Hyatt, used for his valuation of the company's property after the taking, an offering price for sale by the owner of $750,000. No. 23 finds that the methods Hyatt used in his evaluation would be purely speculative if used as a basis of the court's judgment. He testified the value of Green Mountain before the taking on September 2, 1966, was $1,860,000. as a going business. The claim is that there is no evidence to support No. 22. To dispose of these exceptions we need only to point to Hyatt's testimony. On being asked in cross-examination where he got the information he relied on to reach his conclusions of the before and after valuations, he answered: A No. 1, $1,860,000 was determined by common sense factor, multiplying the profits for the year 1966 by ten. It is a common and recognized practice and it is a good rule of thumb for evaluating. No. 2, my opinion of the value after the taking was based upon a proposal I understand was made to sell the property for the sum of $750,000.00 after the taking. Q. I would like to offer it is neither an attempt to reach a value. These are the two figures you rely on? A These are the exact figures. Generally, an expert's opinion is of no greater probative value than the soundness of his reasons given therefor will warrant. Allen v. Burlington Housing Authority, 129 Vt. 8, 270 A.2d 588 (1970). And opinion testimony does not establish any material fact as a matter of law and is not of controlling effect. Valente v. Commercial Ins. Co. of Newark, N. J., 126 Vt. 455, 236 A.2d 241 (1967). Value is at best a matter of opinion and is a factual issue for decision by the court. V.R.C.P. 52. Appellant seeks to use Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Coffee, 140 F.2d 409, 411 (5th Cir. 1944), for the proposition that in the absence of a market price value may be a matter of opinion. That case is not applicable here as the appraiser for the state was able to determine a market price based upon the highest and best use of the property as being for residential purposes. The appellant also seeks to analogize from Laurent v. Vaughn, 30 Vt. 90 (1858), to arrive at the conclusion that Hyatt's testimony was not speculative. In Laurent, supra, the witness, a produce dealer, gave testimony as to the market value of peas based entirely upon information received from others. Here Hyatt was engaged in the manufacture and sale of marble. The finding, No. 23, was based upon the methods of valuation of the property, an expertise quite different from the manufacture and sale of marble. For this reason Laurent, supra, is not applicable here. These exceptions are not sustained.