AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The case involves El Castillo Retirement Residences (the Appellant) challenging the application of a property tax exemption under NMSA 1978, Section 7-36-3(B) (2006), arguing that limiting the exemption to property a governmental entity owns pursuant to Article VIII, Section 3 of the New Mexico Constitution renders the statute's plain meaning meaningless. The Appellant owns the subject property and seeks property tax exemptions not authorized by the Constitution (paras 3, 10).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Appellant: Argued that interpreting Section 7-36-3(B) as limited by the Constitution negates the statute's plain meaning and sought to dismiss the appeal to avoid creating persuasive authority that could interpret Section 7-36-3(B) as unconstitutional (paras 3-4, 6).
• Appellees: Supported the proposed disposition of summary affirmance, asserting that the appeal should be dismissed with a memorandum opinion summarily affirming the district court's order. They did not seek a declaration on the constitutionality of Section 7-36-3(B) but requested an opinion addressing the application of Section 7-36-3(B) to the undisputed facts (paras 5, 7).

Legal Issues

• Whether the exemption for property interests provided by NMSA 1978, Section 7-36-3(B) (2006), is limited to property a governmental entity owns pursuant to Article VIII, Section 3 of the New Mexico Constitution (para 3).
• Whether the Legislature has constitutional authority to exempt real property from taxation outside those exemptions authorized by Article VIII, Section 3 (para 3).

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals denied the Appellant's motion to withdraw the appeal and the Appellees' motion to strike the Appellant's memorandum in opposition. The court proceeded with summary affirmance of the district court's order granting summary judgment and dismissal in favor of the Appellees (para 2).

Reasons

• LINDA M. VANZI, Judge (M. MONICA ZAMORA, Chief Judge, and JULIE J. VARGAS, Judge concurring): The court withdrew a previous opinion and substituted it with the current memorandum opinion, granting the motion to correct the opinion (para 1). The court held that Article VIII, Section 3 limits the Legislature's power to exempt property from taxation and found no constitutional authority for the Legislature to exempt real property by statute, such as NMSA 1978, Section 7-36-7(B)(1)(d) (2008). Therefore, Section 7-36-7(B)(1) cannot grant exemptions outside those authorized by Article VIII, Section 3, based on controlling authority from El Castillo Retirement Residences v. Martinez, 2017-NMSC-026 (paras 3-4, 7-10). The court emphasized that the summary disposition does not decide the constitutionality of Section 7-36-3(B) but addresses whether it is limited by Article VIII, Section 3. The court concluded that the Appellant is not entitled to property tax exemptions under Section 7-36-3(B) because it, and not the city, owns the subject property, affirming the district court's order (paras 7-11).