Tax Assessors of Sebago v. Drummond
Tax Assessors of Sebago v. Drummond
Opinion of the Court
In October, 1977, defendants sought an abatement of their taxes
While the appeal was pending in the Superior Court, we rendered our decision in Assessors, Town of Bristol v. Eldridge, Me., 392 A.2d 37 (1978), holding that tax assessors were improper parties in the tax abatement proceedings before county commissioners. Relying on that decision, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ appeal. Plaintiffs responded by filing a motion to substitute the Town of Sebago as party plaintiff. Following a hearing on both motions, the presiding Justice denied the motion to substitute and granted the motion to dismiss. From the judgment entered in the Superior Court, plaintiffs now appeal.
We deny the appeal.
Although both parties limit their briefs to the issue of whether a Superior Court Justice has discretion to deny a motion to substitute the sole party plaintiff and, if so, whether it was abused in this case, we find it unnecessary to reach that question. Our decision in Tax Assessors, Town of Bristol v. Eldridge, supra, made it clear that tax assessors are improper parties in tax abatement proceedings brought pursuant to 36 M.R.S.A. § 844 (Supp. 1978), and thus have no right to appeal the county commissioners’ decision to the Superior Court. Id. at 40. Therefore, because plaintiff assessors had no right to invoke the Superior Court’s jurisdiction, they cannot now argue that an order dismissing their action was improper. Cf. Dongo v. Banks, Me., 399 A.2d 574, 575 (1979).
The entry is:
Appeal denied.
Judgment of dismissal affirmed.
. Defendants’ land was originally assessed at $16,000.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TAX ASSESSORS OF the TOWN OF SEBAGO v. Josiah H. DRUMMOND
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published