A-21-0253, Thomas L. Hilt, Trustee of the Thomas L. Hilt Revocable Trust (Appellant) v. Douglas County Board of Equalization
Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC)
Attorney for Appellant: Douglas William Ruge II
Attorney for Appellee: Jennifer Dawn Chrystal-Clark (Douglas County Attorney’s Office)
Civil Action: Tax equalization
Action taken by the Trial Court: The Douglas County Assessor determined the value of certain real property owned by Hilt for the tax years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Hilt protested the valuation to the Douglas County Board of Equalization, and the Board made a determination of the values for all three years (only reducing the Assessor’s valuation for 2017). Hilt appealed the Board’s decision to TERC, which affirmed the Board’s decision. Hilt then appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: Did the TERC (1) fail to consider evidence of functional obsolescence and reject evidence of other properties for functional obsolescence; (2) give no weight to certain testimony regarding the condition of the interior of the property; (3) fail to consider evidence of other larger properties showing “equalization grids” for the subject property; (4) incorrectly calculate the adjustment for the storage room under the garage; (5) utilize an erroneous quality of construction and ignore Hilt’s testimony in that regard; (6) incorrectly apply depreciation; and (7) incorrectly calculate the cost of repairs and treat items of repair as maintenance?