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Bender v. DeCaria3/6/2000
Appeal from the District Court of Uinta County The Honorable Nancy J. Guthrie, Judge
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Second. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before final publication in the permanent volume.
Donald E. Bender (Bender) appeals from a district court order affirming an administrative decision of the Uinta County Assessor, Peggy C. Decaria (Decaria). Bender sought to review statements of consideration filed for all residential properties in his subdivision. A statement of consideration is a document filed along with a transfer of title to real estate which shows the amount paid for the property. County assessors use the statements in determining property values for tax purposes. Pursuant to the applicable statutes, Decaria allowed Bender to review only those statements actually used in determining his property tax. We hold that Decaria correctly applied the law in restricting Bender=s access to confidential information and, therefore, affirm.
ISSUES
Bender presents this statement of the issues:
A. Did the 1996 Wyoming Legislature create a new taxpayer right by Aremoving the confidentiality of the statement of consideration for a taxpayer Awishing toAcontest his property tax assessment or valuation? And did the 1996 Wyoming Legislature create a new unrestricted right for the county board of equalization to receive information from statements of consideration? B. Did the 1997 Wyoming Legislature create a new taxpayer right for non contesting taxpayers who want to know how their assessment valuation is derived, without filing a formal protest, by Aproviding for review of statements of consideration used in determining property tax assessment or valuation? C. Did the Wyoming Legislature declare in W.S. 34-1-143 and 34-1-142(g) that the county assessor has total, and non reviewable, discretion to determine which Astatements of consideration, can be reviewed by the contesting taxpayer, and presented to the county board of equalization, especially when the statements are not proximate in time or location, and the statements are for homes located three (3) miles away from the contested assessment property? D. Did the Wyoming Legislature declare in W.S. 39-13-109( b)(i), and the related statutes, that the county assessor can deny Arelevant Asales information evidence for the neighbors of the contesting taxpayer from the county board of equalization, as the trier of fact, and in its statutory responsibility to equalize assessments?
Decaria frames the issues as:
1. Do the provisions of W.S. '34-4-142(g) define exclusively which Astatements of consideration are authorized and allowed to be disclosed by a county assessor to a taxpayer wishing to review, or contesting, his property tax assessment? 2. Do the provisions of W.S. '39-13-109(b)(i) requiring the county assessor and a taxpayer contesting his property tax assessment to Aexchange information, evidence and documents relevant to the appeal, including sales information from relevant statements of consideration override, and provide another exception to, the confidentiality provisions of '34-1-142(e)?
FACTS
Bender contested his 1998 Uinta County property tax assessment. In a series of letters to Decaria, Bender requested access to Aall statements of consideration filed for all residential properties within the subdivision in which he lived. Decaria refused those requests, maintaining that Bender was entitled to review only t
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