Published: May 14, 2008 11:31 pm         

Developers want judge off Monroe tax case

A Monroe County developer wants the judge who ruled against his claim that the county assessor unfairly increased property assessments on its 1,200-acre Walnut Springs forested community to recuse himself from the appeal.

A brief and motion were filed by Mountain America LLC, its principal owner Jonathan Halperin and several landowners who own property in the development, located on Bud Ridge Road near Union, in support of appeal and motion to recuse Circuit Judge Robert Irons.

They claim assessments property on owned by Irons and others making decisions regarding the case are in a class not affected by across-the-board increases of real property assessed values in Monroe County as Assessor Donna Huffman testified to before the Board of Equalization and Review.

According to the brief filed last week, “... information is in the record in regard to properties owned by the Honorable Robert Irons and other members of the tribunal sitting as a Board of Equalization and Review which may now reflect specific evidence of the false nature, of the assessor’s testimony regarding across-the-board increases of real property assessed values in Monroe County during the past several years.”

It went on to say, “... it might be perceived as an appearance of impropriety when those same individuals acting in positions of responsibility as to taxpayers’ appeals have generally not experienced property tax assessment increases last year and are members of the broader class of benefited property owners which taxpayers assert establishes clear evidence of unequal property tax assessments in Monroe County, thereby causing a continuing violation of taxpayer’s rights.”

Mountain America, owned in part by Halperin, a Washington trial lawyer, also alleges Huffman’s numbers did not represent the “true and actual value” of the property and it amounted to a “welcome stranger tax.”

“In America, one set of laws governs all,” Halperin told The Register-Herald. “There is not one rule of law for elected officials and another rule of law for ordinary citizens. It is astounding that the Monroe County officials think it is permissible to lower their own property taxes while raising other county landowners’ taxes and taxes at Walnut Springs up to 10,000 percent. This is both illegal and un-American.”

Halperin says despite Huffman testifying she raised “all property in the entire county, residential and commercial, across-the-board 6 percent in 2006 and 15 percent in 2007,” it did not apply to Irons and some others in the county.

Halperin says Monroe County real property tax bills, found on the Web site www.monroecountywv.net, revealed some Monroe County property owners, including some making decisions in the matter, saw no increases and some others actually showed decreases in assessed value.

Irons says his initial review of his own tax record indicate real property owned by him in Monroe County increased over 10 percent per year for the past two years.

“I don’t know if the law automatically disqualifies a circuit judge because they believe I’m in a class not affected, but pursuant to the trial court rules, I will send it to the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, along with my letter of response, for his review,” Irons said.

Huffman declined to comment citing the ongoing and pending litigation.

“It would not be appropriate to make public comments at this time,” she said.

Irons’ Jan. 28 ruling against Mountain America said assessed properties in Monroe County have been historically too low and that Huffman acted properly when she created a new neighborhood for Walnut Springs.

“... the unimproved real property sold by Mountain America LLC and its entities was significantly higher than any other unimproved real property being sold elsewhere in Monroe County,” Irons wrote in the decision.

“... the court is of the opinion that the assessor acted in conformity with the statutory authority, state regulations and case law pertaining to her position as a county assessor, and in doing so, she valued the property appropriately ... in addition, this court finds that the county commission properly weighed the evidence before it and did not err in its decision to uphold the assessments made by the assessor.”

Charleston lawyer Bob Kiss, who represents Mountain America and several landowners, argued Huffman unfairly targeted Walnut Springs with higher property assessments and used different formulas, especially when compared to properties near the development.

However, Irons disagreed with Kiss’ contention of possible foul play within the assessor’s office and said improvements in infrastructure helped raise the assessments.

“Although the record is not as clear as it might be, it appears that the lots contained in Walnut Springs have been developed and contain many amenities not available on the adjoining lands and are only available in the new neighborhood,” Irons said, “thus, causing the adjoining lands to sell for much lower prices and the resulting assessments.”

Halperin says the group is prepared to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

“This is a terrible waste of the county’s money, as the U.S. Supreme Court has already decided this matter in a 9-0 decision in a case that came from West Virginia,” Halperin said. “Why on earth do they think they can do this?”

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com