E. Gottschalk & Co. v. County of Merced

—In December of 1980 E. Gottschalk & Co., Inc., plaintiff, petitioner and respondent, entered into a shopping center lease for certain property located in Merced. The lease was for a 30-year term with 2 successive 10-year options to renew. The lessors and owners of the property were the Kolligians. A large building was constructed on the property. Gottschalk opened a department store on the premises and began doing business in 1984. In 1984 the county assessor reappraised the value of the land from $41,770 to $346,000.

Gottschalk challenged the appraisal. The appeal was denied by the assessor. Because Merced County’s Assessment Appeals Board does not hear appeals based on legal contentions only, it was stipulated that Gottschalk h< d exhausted its administrative remedies and they filed a complaint and petition for writ of mandate against the County of Merced in superior court. The court held that Revenue and Taxation Code section 61 was unconstitutional as being in conflict with the provisions of the California Constitution, article XIIIA, section 2. The county appeals.

I.

“On June 6, 1978, the voters of the State of California adopted the initiative measure, popularly…