Given the downward pressure on commercial real estate valuations in many areas, and the increasing likelihood that owners of real property will cease paying real property taxes when there is no longer any equity, we decided to report today on a recent decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that reversed a decision of the bankruptcy court, affirmed by the district court, allocating the distribution of the proceeds of a sale of real property pro rata between the Internal Revenue Service on account of its tax lien, and the bankruptcy estate. In this era of textual jurisprudence, it comes as no surprise that the Ninth Circuit scrutinized the lower courts' reliance on the general powers of the court under Section 105(a) of the Bankruptcy Code to apply a "pro-rata method" in order to effect a distribution to the bankruptcy estate.