Kohl's Dept. Stores, Inc. v. Rocky Hill

Syllabus

The plaintiff, K Co., appealed to the Superior Court from an assessment by the Board of Assessment Appeals for the defendant town in connection with certain of K Co.'s personal property declarations. The trial court sustained K Co.'s appeal, finding that K Co. was aggrieved by the tax assessment. The court stated that pursuant to statute (§ 12-63 (b) (2)), the depreciation schedule set forth in § 12-63 (b) (6) can be used by an assessor only if the municipality has, by ordinance, adopted the provi- sions of that section, and that the defendant had not adopted any such ordinance. On appeal to this court, the defendant claimed that the court's refusal to consider its assessor's use of the statutory depreciation sched- ule in § 12-63 (b) (6) was incorrect and that this legal determination likely influenced the court's finding of aggrievement and its ultimate determination of valuation. Held: 1. The use of the statutory depreciation schedule set forth in § 12-63 (b) (6) by the defendant's assessor was legally correct; the legislature intended that the depreciation schedule set forth in § 12-63 (b) (6) was to be used by municipal assessors for purposes of standardization and uniformity, and, given the intent of the assessor in this matter to use the statutory depreciation schedule in order to achieve town wide consistency and uniformity in the valuation of business personal property, this court could not conclude that the assessor was legally barred from utilizing the statutory schedule. 2. The trial court's misinterpretation of § 12-63 (b) (2) was harmful and influenced the outcome of the case; the court's too narrow interpretation of § 12-63 (b) (2), foreclosed its consideration of the defendant's evi- dence bearing on value solely because that evidence was based on the statutory depreciation schedule set forth in § 12-63 (b) (6); moreover, the defendant was not required to offer an expert appraiser to counter K Co.'s opinion of value because § 12-63 (b) (2) permitted