Hydromat, Inc. v. Jake Zimmerman, Assessor, St. Louis County

September 18th, 2020

STATE TAX COMMISSION OF MISSOURI

HYDROMAT, INC., )
Complainant, ) Appeal No. 19-11586
)
v. ) Parcel No. 14N211422
)
Jake Zimmerman, Assessor, )
St. Louis, County, Missouri, )
Respondent. )

DECISION AND ORDER

Hydromat, Inc., (Complainant) appeals the St. Louis County Board of Equalization’s (BOE) decision finding that the fair market value of the subject property on January 1, 2019, was $4,702,200.  Complainant claims overvaluation and asserts the true value in money (TVM) of the subject property on January 1, 2019, was $3,306,100.  The parties waived an evidentiary hearing and submitted the appeal for a decision and order based on the record with no briefing.  Complainant did not produce substantial and persuasive evidence of overvaluation.  The BOE’s decision is AFFIRMED.
Complainant is represented by attorney Apollo Carey.  Respondent is represented by attorney Steven Robson.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Authority.  The BOE issued its decision on October 4, 2019.  Complainant filed a complaint for review of assessment within 30 days of the BOE decision.
2. The Subject Property.  Complainant owns the subject property.  The subject property is real property located at 11600 Adie Road in St. Louis County, Missouri.  The subject property consists of a lot and two buildings totaling 114,905 square feet and containing office, warehouse, and manufacturing space. The buildings were built in 1977.  The buildings include manufacturing, warehouse, and office space.  Approximately 42,684 square feet are used for manufacturing.  Approximately 28,421 square feet is used as a warehouse.  The remaining 43,800 square feet is used as office space.
3. Assessment.  Respondent assessed subject property as commercial property with an appraised value of $4,702,200 as of January 1, 2019.
4. Board of Equalization.  The BOE determined the appraised value of the subject property was $4,702,200 as of January 1, 2019.
5. Complainant’s Evidence.  Complainant submitted the written direct testimony (WDT) of Christine Stefl and Exhibit A.
Ms. Stefl is Complainant’s authorized representative.  Ms. Stefl prepared Exhibit A, which includes a chart of seven comparable sales occurring between January 2016 and March 2018.  The comparable sales involved manufacturing facilities located within three miles of the subject property.  Ms. Stefl testified the comparable sales involved properties “similar to the subject property in age, land size, use, and square footage.”  (WDT at 2).  Exhibit A includes a table of the seven comparable sales supporting Complainant’s opinion of value.  The most pertinent data from the table in Exhibit A were as follows:
Use               Sale Date            Sale Price        Square Footage            Price Per Sq. Ft.

Manufacturing 3/28/18 $1,800,000 68,794 $26.17
Manufacturing 9/1/17 $2,750,900 216,047 $12.73
Manufacturing 5/16/18 $1,800,000 66,306 $27.15
Warehouse 1/15/16 $2,275,000 129,151 $17.62
Warehouse 9/30/16 $3,400,000 134,041 $25.37
Warehouse 4/3/17 $1,875,000 70,396 $26.64
Warehouse 9/28/16 $1,975,000 73,606 $26.83

Ms. Stefl testified the comparable sales indicated the market value of the subject property is $30.00 per square foot.  She concluded Respondent’s valuation equates to $40.92 per square foot and that this “appears inconsistent with the comparable sales information provided.”  (WDT  at 3).
Ms. Stefl further testified that deferred maintenance on the buildings included HVAC, flooring, and pavement repairs that “would likely be relevant to an investor or purchaser looking to purchase the building.”  (WDT at 3).  Per Exhibit A, the estimated cost for flooring repairs is $8,000, the estimated cost for pavement repairs is $25,515, and the estimated cost for HVAC repairs is $106,500.
Exhibit A includes a handwritten notation stating “Hearing officer Lee Wisnienski offered $4,300,000.”  The hearing officer sustained Respondent’s timely objection asserting this statement is inadmissible hearsay.
6. Respondent’s Evidence.  Respondent submitted Exhibit 1.  Exhibit 1 is the BOE Findings and Notice of Decision informing Complainant that the BOE determined the appraised value of the subject property was $4,702,200 as of January 1, 2019.
7. Value.  The true value in money (TVM) of the subject property on January 1, 2019, was $4,702,200.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Authority
The STC has authority to hear and decide Complainant’s appeal.   Mo. Const. art. X, sec. 14; section 138.430.1, RSMo 2000.
2.  Evidence
The hearing officer is the finder of fact and determines both the credibility and weight of the evidence.  Kelly v. Missouri Dep’t of Soc. Servs., Family Support Div., 456 S.W.3d 107, 111 (Mo. App. 2015); see also section 536.090 (requiring all decisions and orders in contested cases to include “findings of fact”).  “Although technical rules of evidence are not controlling in administrative hearings, fundamental rules of evidence are applicable.”  Mo. Church of Scientology v. State Tax Comm’n, 560 S.W.2d 837, 839 (Mo. banc 1977).
3.  Assessment and Valuation
Commercial real property is assessed at 32% of its “true value in money” as of January first of each odd-numbered year.  Sections 137.115.1, 137.115.5(1)(c).  “True value in money is the fair market value of the property on the valuation date, and is a function of its highest and best use, which is the use of the property which will produce the greatest return in the reasonably near future.”  Snider, 156 S.W.3d 341, 346 (Mo. banc 2005) (internal quotation omitted).  The fair market value is “the price which the property would bring from a willing buyer when offered for sale by a willing seller.”  Mo. Baptist Children’s Home v. State Tax Comm’n, 867 S.W.2d 510, 512 (Mo. banc 1993).
“For purposes of levying property taxes, the value of real property is typically determined using one or more of three generally accepted approaches.”  Snider, 156 S.W.3d at 346 (Mo. banc 2005).  The three generally accepted approaches are the cost approach, the income approach, and the comparable sales approach.  Id. at 346-48.
4. Complainant’s Burden of Proof
The taxpayer bears the burden of proof and must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the property was overvalued.  Westwood P’ship v. Gogarty, 103 S.W.3d 152, 161 (Mo. App. E.D. 2003).  To prove overvaluation, a taxpayer must rebut the BOE’s presumptively correct valuation and prove the “value that should have been placed on the property.”  Snider v. Casino Aztar/Aztar Missouri Gaming Corp., 156 S.W.3d 341, 346 (Mo. banc 2005).  The taxpayer’s evidence must be both “substantial and persuasive.”  Id.  “Substantial evidence is that evidence which, if true, has probative force upon the issues, and from which the trier of fact can reasonably decide the case on the fact issues.”  Savage v. State Tax Comm’n, 722 S.W.2d 72, 77 (Mo. banc 1986) (internal quotation omitted).  Evidence is persuasive when it has “sufficient weight and probative value to convince the trier of fact.”  Daly v. P.D. George Co., 77 S.W.3d 645, 651 (Mo. App. E.D. 2002); see also White v. Dir. of Revenue, 321 S.W.3d 298, 305 (Mo. banc 2010) (noting the burden of persuasion is a “party’s duty to convince the fact-finder to view the facts in a way that favors that party”).
5. Complainant Did Not Prove Overvaluation
Ms. Stefl’s testimony and Exhibit A utilize comparable sales to support Complainant’s overvaluation claim.  “The comparable sales approach uses prices paid for similar properties in arms-length transactions and adjusts those prices to account for differences between the properties.”  Snider, 156 S.W.3d at 347-48 (internal quotation omitted).   Adjustments are necessary to reconcile differences and enable a market based comparison of properties with varying characteristics.  For instance, the comparable sales approach requires a positive adjustment to the value of the comparable property to account for superior characteristics the subject property.  Conversely, the comparable sales approach requires a negative adjustment to account for inferior characteristics of the subject property.
While Complainant’s approach is based on the legally recognized, market-based comparable sales approach, neither Ms. Stefl’s testimony nor Exhibit A includes any monetary adjustments accounting for differences between the subject property and the properties included in the comparable sales analysis.  There is also no time-of-sale adjustment accounting for possible market appreciation between the dates of the comparable sales and the January 1, 2019, valuation date.  Complainant’s comparable sales analysis does not include the necessary market-based adjustments, it does not constitute substantial and persuasive evidence rebutting the BOE’s presumptively correct valuation and establishing the “value that should have been placed on the property.”  Snider, 156 S.W.3d at 346; see also In re Marriage of Patrick, 201 S.W.3d 591, 598 (Mo. App. S.D. 2006) (holding the circuit court properly disregarded a “comparative market analysis” that failed to make monetary adjustments to account for property differences because the analysis “did not meet the requirements of the comparable sale approach method for valuation of real estate”).   Complainant’s overvaluation claim is denied.

CONCLUSION AND ORDER
The BOE’s decision is affirmed.  The TVM of the subject property on January 1, 2019, was $4,702,200.

Application for Review

A party may file with the STC an application for review of this decision within 30 days of the mailing date set forth in the certificate of service for this decision.  The application “shall contain specific detailed grounds upon which it is claimed the decision is erroneous.”  Section 138.432.  The application must be in writing, and may be mailed to the State Tax Commission of Missouri, P.O. Box 146, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0146, or emailed to Legal@stc.mo.gov.  A copy of the application must be sent to each person listed below in the certificate of service.

Disputed Taxes

The Collector of St. Louis County, and the collectors of all affected political subdivisions therein, shall continue to hold the disputed taxes pending the possible filing of an application for review, unless the disputed taxes have been disbursed pursuant to a court order under the provisions of section 139.031.

SO ORDERED September 18, 2020.

Senior Hearing Officer
State Tax Commission

Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing has been electronically mailed and/or sent by U.S. Mail on September 18, 2020, to:  Complainant(s) and/or Counsel for Complainant(s), the County Assessor and/or Counsel for Respondent and County Collector.

 

Elaina McKee
Legal Coordinator

 

Contact Information for State Tax Commission:
Missouri State Tax Commission
421 East Dunklin Street
P.O. Box 146
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0146
573-751-2414
Fax 573-751-1341