IN Tax Court dismisses appeal in Marion County, HOAs assessment dispute

IL file photo

A group of Marion County homeowners’ associations prematurely filed an appeal of their property assessment case’s dismissal at the administrative level, the Indiana Tax Court ruled in granting a motion to dismiss the appeal and remanding the case to the Indiana Board of Tax Review.

According to court records, in 2014, the HOAs filed 141 “Petition[s] for Correction of an Error” appealing the assessment of their common areas for the 2001, 2002, and 2003 assessment years.

The HOAs believed their common areas should have been assessed as having little to no value.

After the Marion County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals denied all 141 Forms 133 in a single order, the HOAs appealed to the tax review board.

In 2018, three years after appealing to the board, the Marion County Assessor moved to dismiss the appeal on the basis that the HOAs utilized the wrong form to litigate their claims.

In a final determination made on June 13, 2019, the tax review board held that the HOAs had indeed raised the type of claims that could not be corrected using a Form 133 and dismissed the appeals.

The HOAs subsequently initiated an original tax appeal, claiming that the tax review board’s final determination was erroneous for three reasons.

On Aug. 31, 2020, the Indiana Tax Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the tax review board’s final determination.

The tax court rejected two of the HOAs’ three stated claims of error – that their common areas were exempt from taxation and that the assessed values of their common areas did not include the proper discount prescribed in the applicable land order – and affirmed the tax review board’s dismissal as to those two claims.

The tax court, however, remanded the HOAs’ third claim of error – whether their common areas had been taxed more than once – for the tax review board to consider.

The court noted that because the HOAs had not had the opportunity to present evidence to the tax review board regarding that claim, they were entitled to do so on remand.

The HOAs appealed the tax court’s decision to the Indiana Supreme Court.

On Aug. 26, 2021, the high court affirmed the portion of the tax court’s decision that rejected the HOAs’ claim that their common areas were exempt from taxation and remanded to the board of tax review the issue of whether the common areas had been taxed more than once.

The high court, however, reversed the portion of the tax court’s decision with respect to the HOAs’ claim that the assessed values of their common areas did not include the proper discount prescribed in the applicable land order and remanded that issue (along with the issue the tax court previously remanded) to the board of tax review “for further proceedings.”

On Jan. 13, 2022, the tax review board issued an order that denied the HOAs’ partial motion for summary judgment on the basis that it was untimely under the board’s administrative regulations.

The HOAs sought a rehearing with the tax review board on its partial motion for summary judgment denial.

By Feb. 7, 2022, the tax review board had not yet ruled on that rehearing request, the HOAs initiated an appeal with the tax court.

The tax court has now dismissed the HOAs’ appeal, ruling that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

The court also remanded the case to the tax review board.

Senior Judge Margret Robb wrote the opinion for the tax court.

According to Robb, In their appeal to the tax court, the HOAs argue that the tax review board’s decision to dismiss their case should be reversed because it “was contrary to [the] Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure[] and in violation of most if not all of Indiana Code § 33-26-6-6(e)[.]”

The HOAs asserted that, “logically,” the tax review board should have continued the remand hearing and rescheduled it for a later date, instead of dismissing the appeal.

The HOAs also alleged that the board erred in determining that their partial motion for summary judgment was untimely.

In response, the assessor argued that the tax court must dismiss the HOAs’ appeal because the HOAs have not yet received a final determination from the tax review board.

The assessor argued that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide the HOAs’ case and should remand the matter to the tax review to complete its administrative review.

Robb agreed with the assessor, noting that language in the Indiana Code was unambiguous in indicating the Legislature’s intent that once the tax review board grants a request for rehearing, its original final determination ceases to carry any weight as the board must issue a “new” final determination in the matter that either “affirm[s] or modif[ies]” the original final determination.

“Accordingly, when the HOAs moved to vacate the Indiana Board’s December 22, 2021, dismissal and the Indiana Board took that motion under advisement and scheduled another remand hearing for February 11, 2022, the original December 22, 2021, order ceased to be an appealable final determination because the administrative review process had not yet been consummated,” Robb wrote.

The case is Muir Woods Section One Assn., INC., Muir Woods, Inc., Spruce Knoll Homeowners Assoc., Inc., and Oakmont Homeowners Assoc., Inc. v. Marion County Assessor, 22T-TA-1.