The opinion
Beaver Wood v. Chester
STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT
PENOBSCOT,ss Docket No. AP-07-28
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BEAVER WOOD JOINT VENTURE
FILED & ENTERED
SUPERIOR COURT
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PENOBSCOT COUNTY
TOWN OF CHESTER
80B APPEAL
DECISION
Beaver Wood Joint venture (hereinafter Beaver Wood)
owned property in the Town of Chester, which was taxed by
the Town of Chester. Beaver Wood sought an abatement of
the Town of Chester's Tax assessment for 2005.
Specifically Beaver Wood sought abatement of the assessment
of $8,000,000. The Town denied Beaver Wood's abatement
request and that denial was appealed to the Penobscot
County Commissioners. The Commissioners reduced the value
from $8,000,000 to $6,500,000.
Standard for Review
There is a presumption that the assessor's valuation
is valid. Town of Southwest Harbor v. Harwood, 2000 ME
213, 763 A.2d 115, Chase v. Town of Machiasport 1998 ME
260, 721 A.2d 636, 640. To overcome the presumption the
taxpayer must present credible affirmative evidence
demonstrating that the assessor's valuation was "manifestly
wrong." Id, 763 A.2d at 117.
If, and only if, the taxpayer meets that burden, the
Commissioners must engage in "an independent determination
of fair market value... based on a consideration of all
relevant evidence of just value." Quoddy Realty Corp. v.
City of Eastport 1998 ME 14,704 A.2d 407, 408; 36 M.R.S.A.
§ 844(1); Stewart v. Town of Sedgwick 2000 ME 157.
The Superior Court is obligated to examine the entire
record to 'determine whether on the basis of all the
testimony and exhibits before the [Commissioners] they
could fairly and reasonably find the facts as [they] did.'
Ryan v. Town of Camden 582 A.2d 973, 975 (Me. 1990). The
Superior Court is not permitted to make findings
independent of those explicitly or implicitly found by the
[Commissioners] or [to] substitute its judgment for that of
the [Commissioners]." Perrin v. Town of Kittery 591 A.2d
863 (Me. 1991). Moreover, "the [Commissioner's] decision
is not wrong because the record is inconsistent or a
different conclusion could be drawn from it" Twigg v. Town
of Kennebunk, 662 A.2d 914, 916 (Me. 1995). This Court may
only reverse the County Commissioner's decision if the
record "compels a contrary conclusion to the exclusion of
all other inferences. Weekley v. Town of Scarborough 676
A.2d 932, 934 (Me. 1996); Douglas v. Board of Trustees,
669 A.2d 177, 179 (Me. 1996).
Discussion
The Town agrees that the challenged valuation was
manifestly wrong in the eyes of the County Commissioners
since they changed the assessment. Defendant notes that
the change reflected the Commissioners having evaluated the
subject property's fair market value, which implies that
the challenged valuation was manifestly wrong.
(Defendant's Brief at pg. 4)
The question that calls out is where on the record did
the Commissioners do that evaluation. It is unquestionably
true that the Commissioner's discussed the issue of value
and went to view the property in question first hand, but
there are no findings of fact anywhere on the record as far
as this Court is concerned. There is no statement by the
Commissioners of the relevant evidence of just value upon
which they relied in modifying the assessment of the Town.
By modifying the assessment the Commissioners confirm that
the assessment of Chester was manifestly wrong and that the
Plaintiff has met its burden of proof in that regard. What
the Commissioners do not do is to provide a basis for the
"just value" at which they arrived so that this Court can
make a judgment affirming their decision or concluding that
the record compels a contrary conclusion. See Weekley v.
Town of Scarborough, supra.
The Court grants this appeal and remands this matter
to the Penobscot County Commissioners for the purpose of
stating their findings leading them to their conclusions as
to just value with regard to the assessment in question.
Conclusion
The Rule 80-B Complaint is GRANTED and the matter is
remanded to the Penobscot County Commissioners to make
findings consistent with this decision.
May 8, 2008
Kevin M. Cuddy
Justice, Superior C
Date Filed 11/9/07 PENOBSCOT Docket No. AP-2007-28
County
Action _---'R"-'U"-"L=..oE"------"8:..o:0=B'---=A=.-P=-PE=A=L=-- _
ASSIGNED TO JUSTICE KEVIN M. CunDY
BEAVER WOOD JOINT VENTURE YS. TOWN OF CHESTER
Plaintiff's Attorney Defendant's Attorney
RICHARD D. VIOLETTE, ESQ RR 3, BOX 1726
POBOX 908 LINCOLN, ME 04457-9540
BREWER, ME 04412 Farrell, Rosenblatt & Russell
61 Main St Suite 1
POBox 738
Bangor ME 04402-0738
BY: Roger L. Huber, Esq.