Opinion ID: 2575803
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Improper Valuation Schedule

Text: ¶ 59 Also improper is Monorail's continued use of the twice-repealed MSRP. [9] The MSRP valuation schedule was most recently repealed by Washington State voters in November 2002. This was the same election in which Seattle voters approved Seattle Citizen Petition No. 1. The concurrent repeal of the MSRP valuation schedule should therefore have informed our reading of the meaning of the term value in Seattle Popular Monorail Authority Proposition No. 1. ¶ 60 Here, the trial court clearly was in error in concluding that the voters approving Seattle Citizen Petition No. 1 would have thought value meant the MSRP valuation schedule that was repealed in the same election. In its natural and ordinary sense, value connotes fair market value. [10] A voter or motor vehicle owner would in all likelihood consider the value of his motor vehicle to be its sale price in the marketplace. ¶ 61 Further, the Monorail's publications cited the market value of various automobiles in describing how the MVET tax would be implemented. See Clerk's Papers (CP) at 444-45. In the agreed stipulation of facts at the trial court, Monorail and the State conceded that The Elevated Transportation Company led voters to believe that SPMA [Monorail] MVET would be assessed on the market value of the taxed vehicle.  CP at 1044 (emphasis added). All of this evidence supports only the conclusion that the MVET tax was understood by voters as based upon the fair market value of motor vehicles. ¶ 62 The majority's arguments defending continued usage of the MSRP schedule are unpersuasive. It was conceded only that some mass appraisal methodology may be appropriate, rather than individual appraisals. Appellants' Replacement Br. at 54. The majority overlooks the fact that the record includes several accepted mass appraisal methodologies that more closely reflect the actual market value of motor vehicles. In the agreed stipulation of facts, Monorail and the State conceded that Several publicly accepted commercial data bases provide the market value of used cars including Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds.com, and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). CP at 1043. [11] ¶ 63 Accordingly, I disagree with the majority's upholding the use of the MSRP and would hold that Monorail must use a valuation methodology, such as those in the agreed stipulation of facts, which approximates the fair market value of motor vehicles.