Omimex Canada, Ltd. v. State Dep’t of Revenue

For tax year 2004, the State of Montana, Department of Revenue (DOR) centrally assessed property owned by Omimex Canada Ltd. and classified it under class nine. Omimex contested the assessment, claiming that it did not operate a “single and continuous property,” and therefore, its properties should be locally assessed and subject to the lower tax rate under class eight. The district judge entered an order in 2007 finding that Omimex’s properties operated as a single and continuous property. The Supreme Court reversed, concluding that Omimex’s property was not subject to classification under class nine, regardless of whether it was centrally assessed. For the tax year 2011, DOR again centrally assessed Omimex’s property and classified it under class nine. Ommimex filed a declaratory action arguing that it did not operate a single and continuous property. The district court granted partial summary judgment for DOR, concluding that the doctrine of issue preclusion barred Omimex from relitigating the issue. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the court erred when it concluded that the district court’s 2007 finding precluded Omimex from litigating the issue of whether it operated a single and continuous property because Omimex demonstrated the existence of genuine questions of material fact regarding whether the issue in the current litigation was identical to the issue in the 2007 litigation. View "Omimex Canada, Ltd. v. State Dep’t of Revenue" on Justia Law