Opinion ID: 853967
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: on petition for review

Text: The State Board of Tax Commissioners (State Board) appeals from the Indiana Tax Court's judgment regarding the validity of the Indiana property tax assessment system. We affirm in part and reverse in part. This case initially arose in the Indiana Tax Court on individual petitions by three taxpayers from Marion County, James K. Gilday, Dimple Clarine Shelton, and William E. Wise, and a petition by the Town of St. John on behalf of a class of approximately fifty-seven of its residents. The Tax Court consolidated the petitions, conducted a bench trial in July of 1995, and found that Indiana's current statutory system of property taxation was unconstitutional. Town of St.John v. State Bd. of Tax Comm'rs, 665 N.E.2d 965 (Ind.Tax 1996) (St. John I). Upon appeal by the State Board, we affirmed the Tax Court's holding that the General Assembly must provide for a uniform and equal rate of property assessment and taxation based on property wealth, noted that legislative discretion in the selection of valuation method is subject to judicial review, reversed the Tax Court's conclusion that the Indiana Constitution exclusively requires an absolute and precise fair market value system, and returned the case to the Tax Court to resume consideration of the remaining issues. Boehm v. Town of St. John, 675 N.E.2d 318, 328 (Ind. 1996) (St. John II). On remand, the Tax Court issued a preliminary opinion finding that components of Indiana's property tax valuation system violated the constitutional requirements, and it ordered the State Board to make future real property assessments for purposes of taxation under a system that incorporates an objective reality. Town of St. John v. State Bd. of Tax Comm'rs, 690 N.E.2d 370, 398 (Ind. Tax 1997) (St. John III). Following a hearing to determine an appropriate deadline for bringing the assessment system into constitutional compliance, the Tax Court entered its final judgment which ordered the State Board to consider all competent evidence of property wealth in appeals filed with the county review boards on or after May 11, 1999, and remanded to the State Board for further consideration of the specific claims of the petitioners. Town of St. John v.State Bd. of Tax Comm'rs, 691 N.E.2d 1387, 1390 (Ind.Tax 1998) (St. John IV). The State Board has petitioned for our review of the Tax Court decision, which is reflected in St. John III and St. John IV. [1] To seek our review of a Tax Court decision, a party adversely affected must file a petition for review. Ind. Appellate Rule 18. If the petition is granted, we will ordinarily consider only the issues presented in the petition for review, and we thereafter modify the prior Tax Court decision only to the extent determined in our opinion on these issues. St. John II, 675 N.E.2d at 320. [2] The State Board's petition for review alleges that the Tax Court's decision was in error in numerous respects. We granted review and construe the State Board's petition to present the following issues: (1) whether Indiana Code section 6-1.1-31-6(c) is unconstitutional; (2) whether the cost schedules used by the State Board to determine property value are unconstitutional; (3) whether the State Board must consider all competent evidence of property wealth in appeals filed on or after May 11, 1999; and (4) whether the Town of St. John had standing. The authority and limitations regarding Indiana's system of property assessment and taxation are found in the Property Taxation Clause of the Constitution of Indiana: The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for a uniform and equal rate of property assessment and taxation and shall prescribe regulations to secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, both real and personal. IND. CONST. art. X, § 1(a). [3] To discharge this constitutional responsibility, the General Assembly created an administrative agency, the State Board, and delegated to it the responsibility for establishing rules to classify and assess tangible property according to its true tax value. IND.CODE §§ 6-1.1-30-1, 6-1.1-31-1, 6-1.1-31-5. The legislature does not explicitly define the term true tax value but delegates to the State Board the authority to define the term. IND.CODE § 6-1.1-31-6(c) (True tax value is the value determined under the rules of the state board of tax commissioners.). However, it must be based upon specified statutory factors [4] and any other factor that the board determines by rule is just and proper. IND.CODE § 6-1.1-31-6(b)(7). Thus, the assessment regulations and schedules prescribed by the State Board determine true tax value. IND. ADMIN. CODE tit. 50, art. 2.2 (Title 50).