Shevtsov v. Dept. of Rev. (TC 5442)

176 October 28, 2022 No. 10

IN THE OREGON TAX COURT

REGULAR DIVISION

Aleksandr SHEVTSOV,

Plaintiff,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE,

State of Oregon,

Defendant.

and

MULTNOMAH COUNTY ASSESSOR,

Defendant-Intervenor.

(TC 5442)

The court denied the Multnomah County Assessor’s (the county’s) motion to

dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, because the county relied upon facts not in evi-

dence. The facts the county relied upon were not in the complaint and the county

did not submit any affidavits, declarations, or other evidence, relying instead

only on facts determined in the Magistrate Division proceeding from which the

appeal was taken. The Regular Division is required to apply the rules of evi-

dence in deciding the merits of each case de novo. See ORS 40.015(1) (applying

Oregon Evidence Code to “all courts in this state” without exception for Regular

Division); ORS 305.425(1) (requiring de novo review). The Regular Division can-

not import facts from the Magistrate Division because the rules of evidence do

not apply in the Magistrate Division. See ORS 305.501(4)(a).

Submitted on Defendant-Intervenor’s Motion to Dismiss.

Carlos A. Rasch, Multnomah County Counsel, Portland,

filed the motion for Defendant-Intervenor Multnomah

County Assessor (the county).

Aleksandr Shevstov, Plaintiff, filed a response pro se.

Decision rendered October 28, 2022.

ROBERT T. MANICKE, Judge.

This case is before the court on the motion of

Defendant-Intervenor Multnomah County Assessor (the

county) to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint. On a motion to dis-

miss, the court takes the well-pleaded facts alleged in the

complaint as true. See Bradbury v. Teacher Standards and

Practices Comm., 328 Or 391, 393, 977 P2d 1153 (1999). In

addition, the court may rely on “other evidence,” including

Cite as 25 OTR 176 (2022) 177

evidence presented through affidavits or declarations, so

long as all parties have a reasonable opportunity to pres-

ent such evidence. Tax Court Rule (TCR) 21 A. The court

gives the plaintiff, as the nonmoving party, the benefit of all

favorable inferences that may be drawn from the facts. See

Bradbury, 328 Or at 393.

In this case, the complaint consists of the court’s

one-page form, on which Plaintiff wrote the following:

“Plaintiff respond to [decision] of dismissal not taken to

account.” Plaintiff also wrote on the form that he requested

a judgment “declaring that property tax 2019 and 2020

for R546590 reduced RMV (300,000).” Other than those

two statements and Plaintiff’s identifying information, the

complaint contains no further facts. The county’s motion

asks the court to dismiss this case for lack of jurisdiction.

The motion represents, among other things, that Plaintiff

attempted to file a petition with the Board of Property Tax

Appeals for tax year 2020 but failed to pay a locally imposed

fee, and that the amount of value reduction Plaintiff seeks

for the property does not meet the criteria of ORS 305.288.1

The county then makes legal arguments about the court’s

lack of jurisdiction based on those factual representations.

The court must deny the county’s motion because

the facts on which it relies are not in evidence. They are

not in the complaint. The county submitted no affidavits,

declarations or other evidence. It is unclear to the court

whether the county asks the court to accept as evidence

facts stated in the magistrate’s order or decision, or in docu-

ments submitted to the magistrate. In any event, the court

cannot do that. This division of the court is required to

decide the merits of each case de novo, applying the rules

of evidence. See ORS 305.425(1) (requiring de novo review);

ORS 40.015(1) (Oregon Evidence Code applies to “all courts

in this state” without exception for Regular Division).2 In

1

Citations to the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) are to the 2021 edition.

2

The county’s motion does not raise the frequently recurring circumstance

recently presented afresh in Salisbury, in which the magistrate had dismissed

the complaint because the plaintiff had failed to comply with a court rule or

order. See Salisbury v. Dept. of Rev., 24 OTR 497 (2021). In that circumstance,

this division “must initially restrict its de novo review to the issue of dismissal

in the Magistrate Division” because failure to do so “ ‘would, in essence, render

178 Shevtsov v. Dept. of Rev. (TC 5442)

doing so, this division cannot simply import facts from the

Magistrate Division because the statutes governing the Tax

Court do not require the Magistrate Division to enforce the

rules of evidence against the parties or to apply those rules

when determining facts. See ORS 40.015(1)(a) (Oregon

Evidence Code does not apply to Magistrate Division

proceedings).

In his response to the county’s motion, Plaintiff

asks the court to set this case for trial on the value of the

property. Because the county has sought to raise legal argu-

ments that may depend on facts other than those relevant

to the value of the property, the court will deny Plaintiffs

request and instead will continue the case for 30 days to

allow any party to present legal issues by motion. If no party

does so within the 30-day continuance, the court will con-

vene a case management conference to set the case for trial.

Now, therefore,

IT IS ORDERED that Defendant-Intervenor’s

Motion to Dismiss is denied; and

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the case is con-

tinued until November 27, 2022, after which the court will

convene a case management conference if no dispositive

motion has been filed.

meaningless the requirement that * * * matters first be heard in the Magistrate

Division.’ ” Bleoaja v. Dept. of Rev., 20 OTR 102, 106 (2010) (citing Spears v. Dept.

of Rev., 20 OTR 88, 89 (2010) (Spears I) (quoting Freitag v. Dept. of Rev., 19 OTR

144, 148 (2006)); see also Wynne v. Dept. of Rev., 342 Or 515, 520, 156 P3d 64

(2007) (a plaintiff may not “bypass” the Magistrate Division). By contrast, the

facts the County recites in its motion go to the substantive issues of Plaintiff’s

case in either division of the court and appear to have nothing to do with alleged

noncompliance with a Magistrate Division rule or order.