Opinion ID: 2595374
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: The County again raises the jurisdictional issue, contending this court lacks jurisdiction because, pursuant to K.S.A. 74-2426(c), jurisdiction for appeal is in the district court. We note that the statute in effect at the time the original BOTA order was appealed in Kaul I did not state that the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to review exemption orders. However, a 1998 amendment to 72-2426 was in effect at the time of BOTA's order on remand. K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 74-2426(c)(3) provides: (c) Any action of the board pursuant to this section is subject to review in accordance with the act for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions, except that: .... (3) The court of appeals has jurisdiction of any action for review pertaining to property appraised and assessed by the director of property valuation, excise, income or inheritance taxes assessed by the director of taxation and the exemption of any property from property taxation. The district court of the proper county has jurisdiction in all other cases. (Emphasis added.) Kansas recognizes a distinction between procedural and substantive changes in the law. Resolution Trust Corp. v. Fleischer, 257 Kan. 360, 368, 892 P.2d 497 (1995). Procedural laws are those that concern the manner and order of conducting suits or the mode of proceeding to enforce legal rights. Substantive laws establish the rights and duties of parties. If an amendment is to a procedural statute and does not prejudicially affect the substantive rights of parties, the general rule is that all actions will be subject to the new procedure whether they accrued before or after the change in the law and whether or not a suit had been instituted. In re Tax Appeal of American Restaurant Operations, 264 Kan. 518, 540, 957 P.2d 473 (1998). K.S.A. 74-2426(c)(3) is a procedural statute describing the mechanism for carrying on the suit. Therefore, the 1998 amendment applies to the case, and the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to review this case if the case falls within the categories provided in the statute, which include applications for tax exemptions. This court favors substance over form. See Green v. City of Wichita, 26 Kan. App.2d 53, 57, 977 P.2d 283, rev. denied 267 Kan. 888 (1999). Although BOTA converted Kaul's application for tax exemption to a tax grievance, Kaul filed an application for an exemption. The fact that the exemption statutes do not contain a provision for exempting property owned by federally recognized members of Indian tribes located on federally recognized Indian reservations does not alter the substance of the application. Kaul's application was for a tax exemption, and, under K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 74-2426(c)(3), jurisdiction to review BOTA's order denying the exemption is in the appellate court. Determination of whether Kaul's land is subject to state ad valorem taxation requires (1) an analysis of our 1854 Organic Act, the Kansas Act for Admission, and Kansas statutes to determine whether there exists a state law barring the imposition of ad valorem taxes on fee patented land, (2) the application of recent United States Supreme Court decisions to the facts, and (3) an analysis of federal law and a review of Kaul's chain of title to determine whether federal restrictions on alienation and taxation of her fee patented land have been removed.