Lamplight Court Apartments LLC v. DeKalb County Bd. of Tax Assessors

The county's method of assessing fair market value by combining the value of separate parcels included in an apartment complex was neither illegal nor unconstitutional.

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The DeKalb County Board of Tax Assessors “DeKalb County” assessed the apartment property of the appellant, Lamplight Court Apartments, LLC “Lamplight” for ad valorem tax purposes as of January 1, 2001, and Lamplight appealed the assessment to the Board of Equalization. After the Board of Equalization affirmed DeKalb County’s tax assessment, Lamplight filed a notice of appeal in the DeKalb County Superior Court. Following a jury trial, Lamplight appeals the jury’s determination of the fair market value of its property, arguing that the trial court erred in: 1 allowing DeKalb County to offer testimony which constituted a mass appraisal, thereby resulting in an illegal and unconstitutional appraisal of property; 2 denying its motion to strike the testimony of DeKalb County’s appraiser; and, 3 denying its motion to challenge the jury array based on the inordinate number of persons on the jury who were governmental employees paid from tax revenues. Finding no merit to these asserted errors, we affirm.

1. Lamplight’s real property at issue in this case is an apartment complex comprised of seven buildings. Lamplight argues that DeKalb County violated both the Uniform Standards of Professional Practice and the fair market value and uniformity principles of the Georgia Code because DeKalb County determined the fair market value of its property by assessing the value of each of the seven parcels of land and then adding together the individual values of the parcels. Our review of the trial transcript does not support this argument.

Lamplight Court Apartments LLC v. DeKalb County Bd. of Tax Assessors

The county's method of assessing fair market value by combining the value of separate parcels included in an apartment complex was neither illegal nor unconstitutional.

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