In a case involving whether a health system corporation’s tract of land was exempt from local property taxation, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that a superior court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to consider issues pertaining to the property’s value and uniformity because the corporation failed to present the issues of value and uniformity to the county board of equalization for consideration. The only matter litigated and decided by the board was the corporation’s effort to get a tax-free status on some vacant property. The corporation appealed the decision of the board to the superior court. In its appeal, the corporation listed both value and uniformity as additional grounds for appeal.
The Georgia Supreme Court had previously held in Camp v. Boggs, 239 S.E. 2d 530 (1977), that only those decisions of the board of equalization on questions presented to it may be relitigated in the superior court. In this case, the corporation did not dispute value and uniformity before the county board or the board of equalization and it was not necessary to address these issues to resolve the question of the tract’s eligibility for a property tax exemption. The resolution of this matter turned on the construction of the applicable exemption provision. Consequently, the appeal before the superior court was limited to this issue, and the court was precluded from addressing issues pertaining to value and uniformity.
Hall County Board of Tax Assessors v. Northeast Georgia Health System, Inc., Georgia Court of Appeals, No. A12A1508, July 17, 2012 , ¶200-814
