Kaiser Center, Inc. v. County of Alameda

—This case concerns a challenge to the 1977-1978 property tax assessment of the Kaiser Building and associated properties in the City of Oakland.

Procedure

Plaintiff Kaiser Center, Inc. (Kaiser) appeals from a judgment in its favor setting aside the decision of the assessment appeals board and remanding for further proceedings. Kaiser contends that the court should have found the value of the subject property to be no more than $41,450,000, as testified to by its expert witnesses, and should have entered judgment accordingly without a remand.

Plaintiff, a corporation whose stock is held by various companies formerly associated with Kaiser, owned and operated the property bounded by Webster, 20th, Harrison and 21st Streets in the City of Oakland. Improvements consisted of the multistory Kaiser Building, the 20th Street and Webster Street Malls and associated parking garage. Alameda County and the City of Oakland through the assessor’s office (hereafter collectively County) set the 1977-1978 full assessment value of the Kaiser property at $51,584,900. Kaiser paid the tax due on the assessed value and thereafter challenged this assessment by timely filing an application…