Court Opinion

ID: 9558890
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:18:32.068517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:39.346080
License: Public Domain

Schroeder, C.J.,
dissenting: My dissent is confined to the second issue determined by the court in the majority opinion.
The provisions of K.S.A. 79-2005 authorizing the payment of property taxes under protest do not authorize the payment of delinquent taxes under protest when the entire legislative taxing scheme on property is construed.
K.S.A. 79-1804 provides:
“All taxes shall be due on the first day of November of each year. A lien for all *604taxes shall attach to the real property subject to the same on the first day of November in the year in which said tax is levied, and such lien shall continue until such taxes and penalty, charges and interest which may have accrued thereon, shall be paid by the owner of the property . . .
K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 79-2004, 2004a, define the time of paying said taxes as either all on the 20th of December, or, one-half then and one-half on the following June 20th.
The relevant language in K.S.A. 79-2005 is: “Any taxpayer before protesting the payment of his or her taxes, shall be required, at the time of paying said taxes” (emphasis added) to comply with the specified procedural mandates. The statutory mandate further requires the taxpayer to proceed with dispatch in pursuing the protest to a determination.
Reference to “said taxes” in 79-2005 is to the taxes due November 1 of each year, and payable on December 20th of that year or June 20th of the following year.
Failure to make timely payment of property taxes results in those taxes becoming final and due and not subject to protest. The effect of these provisions, and the amendment of 79-2005 by the legislature in 1980 (L. 1980, ch. 315) is to provide that a legitimate tax protest must be made at the time the taxes are due and payable each year and not thereafter.
Further evidence of this legislative intent is found in the interest penalty provisions of 1979 Supp. 79-2004 and -2004a. If the taxpayer fails to pay at least the one-half of the real estate taxes by December 20th, interest is charged on that one-half; interest is charged on the entire tax due, if personal property. The imposition of the penalty is indicative of the final nature of the tax at that point. It should be noted that 79-2005(2), which provides for the refund of taxes following successful protest, does not include any interest to be refunded. Clearly, the legislature did not contemplate a tax protest on delinquent taxes.
Considerations in the ascertainment of legislative intent should also include review of the procedures for the collection of delinquent property taxes.
In Sohio Petroleum Co. v. Board of County Commissioners, 201 Kan. 315, 322, 440 P.2d 554 (1968), the court said:
“Property is valued for ad valorem tax purposes on a yearly basis, and the taxes resulting from such valuation are levied on a yearly basis. (K.S.A. 79-309.) The taxpayer’s, ‘his,’ taxes referred to in 79-2005, supra, are the taxes levied for the year.
*605“When is the taxpayer required to file his written protest statement? The section of the statute under scrutiny says, ‘at the timeoi paying said taxes’.” (Emphasis in original.)
It is respectfully submitted that the provisions of K.S.A. 79-2005 authorizing the payment of property taxes under protest do not authorize the payment of delinquent taxes under protest.