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ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER: TIMOTHY J. VRANA TIMOTHY J. VRANA LLC Columbus, IN

ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT: GREGORY F. ZOELLER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA JOHN D. SNETHEN TIMOTHY A. SCHULTZ DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL Indianapolis, IN _____________________________________________________________________

IN THE INDIANA TAX COURT
KOOSHTARD PROPERTY VIII, LLC,

FILED
Mar 19 2009, 1:44 pm
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

_____________________________________________________________________ CLERK ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Cause No. 49T10-0806-TA-40 ) SHELBY COUNTY ASSESSOR, ) ) Respondent. ) _____________________________________________________________________ ON APPEAL FROM A FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE INDIANA BOARD OF TAX REVIEW FOR PUBLICATION March 19, 2009 FISHER, J. Kooshtard Property VIII, LLC (Kooshtard) challenges the final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review (Indiana Board) affirming the 2002 assessment of its real property. Kooshtard presents one issue on appeal, which the Court restates as: whether the Indiana Board erred in affirming the application of only one negative influence factor of 50% to Kooshtard's land.

RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Kooshtard owns 8.97 acres of land along State Road 44 in Shelbyville, Indiana. 1 For the March 1, 2002 assessment, Kooshtard's land was assigned an assessed value of $1,047,000. In arriving at this value, the Addison Township Assessor (Assessor) designated one acre as "primary" with a base rate value of $250,000; the remaining 7.97 acres were designated "undeveloped usable" with a base rate of $200,000 an acre. In addition, the Assessor assigned the 7.97 acres a negative influence factor of 50%.2 At the time, Kooshtard assumed that the negative influence factor was to account for the land's size and shape.3 (See Cert. Admin. R. at 105-06 (footnote added).) Kooshtard subsequently challenged the assessment with the Shelby County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA), claiming that the land's assessed value should be reduced further to account for the fact that the land was encumbered by a power line easement. (See Cert. Admin. R. at 9-10.) The PTABOA A service station is located on the property. improvement, however, is not at issue in this case.
2 1

The assessment of this

An influence factor is a multiplier, either positive or negative, that is applied to a land assessment to reflect a condition or feature inconsistent with the norm for the neighborhood. See REAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES FOR 2002

Download Kooshtard Property VIII, LLC v. Shelby Co. Assessor.pdf

Indiana Law