Castello v. State Board of Tax Commissioners

In Castello v. State Board of Tax Commissioners, 638 N.E.2d 1362, 1364-65 (Ind. Tax Ct. 1994), the State Board reassessed the taxpayers' land, buildings and asphalt after inspection, and the taxpayers were never given an initial opportunity to rebut the reassessment. Therefore, the Court remanded the issue to the State Board for additional administrative review, deeming the State Board the "appropriate arena" to address the reassessment of the taxpayers' property. Id. at 1365. The Court in Castello, 638 N.E.2d at 1365, did reject the State Board's argument that the taxpayers were provided the opportunity to rebut the ex parte evidence at the subject property's inspection. "The inspection of property, while part of the State Board's review process, does not itself constitute either a hearing or the opportunity to rebut." Id. In Castello, the Court observed "In the typical case, when the State Board has given the taxpayer an opportunity to rebut, the taxpayer retains the burden in this Court to show evidence [that] the State Board's decision was unsupported by substantial evidence, constitutes an abuse of discretion, exceeds statutory authority, or is arbitrary and capricious." 638 N.E.2d at 1365 n.3.