Summary
The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the Providence tax assessor in a commercial property owner's challenge to a municipal tax assessment. The court held that the taxpayer's failure to file a signed and notarized account under R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-16 prevented it from obtaining judicial relief for alleged overassessment. The court also rejected waiver, estoppel, constitutional, and statutory-exception arguments.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a taxpayer that filed an unsigned and unsworn account could obtain judicial relief from an alleged property-tax overassessment under R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 44-5-16 and 44-5-26.
- Whether the City's acceptance of the account for filing waived or estopped the City from challenging the account's statutory sufficiency.
- Whether the taxpayer's constitutional due-process challenge was preserved for appellate review when the taxpayer did not raise it below or serve the Attorney General.
- Whether § 44-5-26(c) excused the taxpayer from filing a sworn account merely because the challenged assessment exceeded the property's value on the preceding assessment day.
- Whether summary judgment was properly granted when the taxpayer relied only on allegations and pleadings rather than evidence supporting a statutory exception.
Holdings
- A taxpayer that fails to file an account signed and sworn or notarized as required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-16 is not entitled to judicial relief from an alleged overassessment, absent an applicable statutory exception.
- The City's acceptance of an account for filing did not waive or estop it from asserting that the account was inadequate because the City timely pleaded the defense and raised it before trial by motion for summary judgment.
- The due-process challenge was not properly preserved because Granoff failed to raise it in the Superior Court and failed to serve the Attorney General as required by Rule 24(d) and R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-30-11.
- Section 44-5-26(c) does not excuse a taxpayer from filing a proper sworn account merely because the challenged assessment exceeded the value used on the preceding assessment day; the statutory requirements operate conjunctively.
Key quotations
“"nothing in that section confers authority upon the judiciary to ignore the statutory requirement that the list be accompanied by either a personal oath or a written appointment."” (358)
“"There is a critical distinction between the complete absence of jurisdiction over the subject matter and the refusal to exercise that jurisdiction because it was not properly invoked."” (360)
Factual background
Granoff owned the Turks Head Building and related real estate in Providence. The City assessed the property at $11,684,200 for the tax assessment at issue, and Granoff filed a Superior Court action challenging the alleged overassessment. Although Granoff filed an account, it was neither signed nor notarized, and Granoff offered no evidence establishing that the assessment exceeded the property's full and fair cash value, exceeded the City's uniform assessment percentage, or was illegal.
Procedural history
Granoff filed a Superior Court complaint under R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-26 challenging the City's assessment of its commercial property for the 1998 tax year. The City moved for summary judgment because Granoff's account was not signed or notarized as required by § 44-5-16. The motion justice granted summary judgment and entered judgment for the City; the Supreme Court ordered the parties to show cause why the appeal should not be summarily resolved and, receiving no sufficient cause, affirmed.