The Petitioner is not challenging the subject property’s
assessed value. Further, the Petitioner
did not offer any evidence or argument as to the assessed value. In fact, the current assessment for March 1,
2009, is not even part of the record. Thus, the Board has no valuation evidence
before it to address.
Instead, the Petitioner requests the Board to order a refund
on taxes paid resulting from the March 1, 2009, assessment. However, the Board is a creation of the
legislature, and it has only those powers conferred by statute. Matonovich
v. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 705 N.E.2d 1093, 1096 (Ind. Tax Ct. 1999). The
relevant statute is Ind. Code § 6-1.5-4-1, which provides as follows:
(a)
The Indiana Board shall conduct an impartial
review of all appeals concerning:
(1)
The assessed valuation of tangible property;
(2)
Property tax deductions;
(3)
Property tax exemptions; or
(4)
Property tax credits;
That are made from a determination by an assessing official
or county property tax assessment board of appeals to the Indiana board under
any law.
(2) Appeals described in this section shall be conducted
under IC 6-1.1-15.
Ind. Code § 6-1.5-4-1.
As the Respondent acknowledged, another statute does give
the Board the authority to review claims for refund in very limited
circumstances. Specifically, Ind. Code §
6-1.1-26-1 provides as follows:
A person, or his heirs, personal representative, or
successors, may file a claim for the refund of all or a portion of a tax
installment which he has paid. However,
the claim must be:
(1)
Filed with the auditor of the county in which
the taxes were originally paid;
(2)
Filed within three (3) years after the taxes
were first due;
(3)
Filed on the form prescribed by the state board
of accounts and approved by the department of local government finance; and
(4)
Based upon one (1) of the following grounds:
(A)
Taxes on the same property have been assessed
and paid more than once for the same year.
(B)
The taxes, as a matter of law, were illegal
(C)
There was a mathematical error either in the
computation of the assessment upon which the taxes were based or in the
computation of the taxes.
Ind. Code § 6-1.1-26-1.
If the taxpayer has complied with the provisions of Ind.
Code § 6-1.1-26-1, then the Board has the authority to decide denials of claims
under Ind. Code § 6-1.1-26-3. Indiana
Code § 6-1.1-26-3(b) provides:
(b)
If the claim for refund is disapproved by either
the county auditor, the county treasurer, or the county assessor, the claimant
may appeal that decision to the Indiana board.
The claimant must initiate the appeal and the Indiana board shall hear
the appeal in the same manner that assessment appeals are heard by the Indiana
board.
Ind. Code § 6-1.1-26-3(b).
However, the appeal does not involve any of the circumstances
contemplated by Ind. Code § 6-1.1-26-1, so Ind. Code § 6-1.1-26-3 is not
triggered. Moreover, the Petitioner did
not follow the procedure required to initiate a review under either statute.
Thus, neither the Board’s enabling statute, nor any other
statute, grants any power to review refunds or order the issuance of a refund
to a taxpayer. Given the clear language
of the statutes, the Board lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to afford the
Petitioner the relief that it seeks with regard to a refund of any taxes
resulting from the March 1, 2009, assessment.
Further, even if the Board had the authority to decide this
case, the Board is unable to find any grounds for which to find for the
Petitioner. Again, there is no evidence
on the record regarding the subject property’s March 1, 2009, assessment, and
therefore no conclusive evidence that the assessment was ever actually reduced
for that year. Also, any assumption that
the March 1, 2009, assessment should have been reduced simply because the
assessment was reduced in subsequent years is misguided. Each assessment and tax year stands
alone. See Thousand Trails, Inc. v. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 747 N.E.2d
1072, 1077 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2001); Quality
Stores, Inc. v. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 740 N.E.2d 9939, 942 (Ind. Tax
Ct. 2000); Barth, Inc. v. State Bd. of
Tax Comm’rs, 699 N.E.2d 800, 805 n.14 (Ind. Tax Ct. 1998). This principle is consistent with the fact
that under Indiana’s current assessment system, the valuation date for each
assessment year is different.
