Elk Hills Power v. Board of Equalization 5/10/11 CA4/1

State: California

Court: 1st District Court of Appeal 1st District Court of Appeal

Docket No: D056943

Case Date: 08/24/2011

Preview:Filed 5/10/11

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

ELK HILLS POWER, LLC, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION et al., Defendants and Respondents.

D056943

(Super. Ct. No. 37-2008-00097074CU-MC-CTL)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Ronald L. Styn, Judge. Affirmed.

Law Offices of Paul Michaels, Peter W. Michaels; Mooney, Wright & Moore and Paul J. Mooney for Plaintiff and Appellant. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and Kamala D. Harris, Attorneys General, Felix E. Leatherwood, Leslie Branman Smith and Tim Nader, Deputy Attorneys General for Defendant and Respondent California State Board of Equalization.

Theresa A. Goldner, County Counsel, and Jerri S. Bradley, Deputy County Counsel, for Defendant and Respondent County of Kern.

This action for refund of property taxes and for declaratory relief was brought by an owner-operator of an independent electric power plant, plaintiff and appellant Elk Hills Power, LLC (Elk Hills), against defendant California State Board of Equalization (the Board), and the County of Kern (the County, where the plant is located), for taxes paid from 2004 to 2008. As a state assessee, Elk Hills sued the defendants under California Revenue and Taxation Code section 5148, subdivision (a).1 Elk Hills's major claim of entitlement to refunds relates to the application of section 110, which provides definitions and guidelines for determining the "full cash value" or "fair market value" of assessed property, including, as relevant here, the treatment of intangible rights relating to "the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used," and relating to "the enforceable restrictions upon those uses and purposes." (

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