Safeway Stores, Inc. v. County of Alameda

[785]Opinion

DRAPER, P. J. This appeal concerns “escaped assessments.” It turns upon the application to such assessments of the 1966 amendment to Revenue and Taxation Code section 1605, in the particular time sequence here shown.

Early in 1967, the assessor of Alameda County, acting on behalf of the county and the several defendant cities, entered escaped assessments against plaintiff upon the assessment rolls for the tax years 1964, 1965, and 1966. Such an entry was made February 28, 1967, but was superseded by entry, after March 6, 1967, of a smaller assessment for the same years. Safeway filed its application for reduction March 28, and it was heard April 20 by the board of supervisors, sitting as a board of equalization. On May 23, the board denied Safeway’s application and affirmed escaped assessments for each of the years 1964, 1965, and 1966. Taxes upon these assessments amounted to a total of $230,180.05. Safeway paid the amount under protest, and brought this action to recover the sum so paid. The case was presented to the trial court upon the stipulations contained in a joint pretrial statement, the record of proceedings before the board of equalization, and some new evidence not directly relevant to the issues here discussed. Judgment was for plaintiff Safeway, and defendant county and cities appeal.

There is no dispute as to the appraised market value of the property assessed. The issue is whether the assessed valuation of Safeway property was determined at a higher percentage of market value than the property of other taxpayers generally in Alameda County.

In 1966, the Legislature amended section 1605 of Revenue and Taxation Code (Stats. 1966, First Ex. Sess., ch. 147, § 71, p. 672) to provide that the county board of equalization “shall equalize the assessment of property.on the local roll by determining the full cash value of an individual assessment . . .. and by reducing or increasing an individual assessment as provided in this section.” It continues: “If. . . the ratio of assessed to full cash value deviates by more than 15 percent from the latest.. . ratio of assessment of all property in the county as found by the State Board of Equalization . . . this shall be prima facie evidence of an inequitable assessment and the county board shall equalize the assessment on said property to the lower of’ three criteria, one of which is the ratio found by the state board. This amendment to section 1605 first became operative “for the 1967-68 assessment year.” (Stats. 1966, First Ex.