Seibold

INTRODUCTION

In this tax refund case we consider what privately held interests affecting publicly owned property constitute taxable possessory interests under Revenue and Taxation Code section 107 and the relevant regulatory rule, property tax rule 20 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 18, § 20).

Gunter Seibold applied to the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board (Appeals Board) for a refund of property taxes paid to the County of Los Angeles (the County) relating to a ground lease and a hangar at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. The Appeals Board denied the applications, concluding the County properly assessed Seibold’s interests in the subject property as taxable possessory interests. Seibold challenged the decision by filing a tax refund action in the trial court. The court granted Seibold summary adjudication with respect to the hangar, concluding the hangar did not constitute a possessory interest because Seibold owned the hangar and the hangar would not become property of a public entity at the end of the lease term. After a subsequent bench trial, the court likewise ruled in favor of Seibold with respect to the ground lease. Citing certain use restrictions in the…