Oakmont, LLC, v. Dept. of Rev.

The Department of Revenue has supervisory jurisdiction where facts indicate the taxpayer and assessor would agree that error in tax assessment occurred. OAR 150-306.115(4)(b)(A) does not require that the assessor is aware of facts which would clearly affect the market value of the property.

Oakmont appealed the assessed value of a property for the 2009-10 tax year, resulting in a reduction of the property’s assessed value. Oakmont moved for the Department to correct a “likely error” in the 2008-09 value as a result. The Department decided it had no jurisdiction to do so. The Tax Court reversed and remanded back to the Department, holding that the Department abused its supervisory discretion by refusing to exercise authority where facts indicated that Oakmont and the county necessarily agreed that error likely occurred. The county and the Department appealed, arguing that the assessor did not know of facts affecting the market value, and thus those facts were not admissible to determine whether “likely error” occurred. OAR 150-306.115(4)(b)(A).

The Oregon Court of Appeals held that the county’s and Department’s construction of OAR 150-306.115(4)(b)(A) did not comport with the court’s holding in Sabin v. Dept. of Rev., 270 Or. 422, 528 P.2d 69 (1974), in which facts unknown to the assessor at the time of valuation affected the market value of the property. The Court therefore held that the Tax Court correctly remanded to the department to exercise its supervisory discretion over the matter. Affirmed.