Gries v. Aiken County Assessor

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

Brett Gries, Appellant,

v.

Aiken County Assessor, Respondent.

Appellate Case No. 2015-002637

Appeal From The Administrative Law Court
S. Phillip Lenski, Administrative Law Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2018-UP-207
Submitted April 1, 2018 – Filed May 9, 2018

AFFIRMED

Brett Gries, of Aiken, pro se.

James M. Holly, of Aiken, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: This is an appeal of an order issued in a contested case
proceeding. Brett Gries argues the Administrative Law Court (ALC) erred in
affirming a decision of the Aiken County Board of Assessment Appeals upholding
a final fair market valuation established by the Aiken County Assessor (Assessor)
concerning residential real property in Aiken County (subject property). Gries
argues the valuation was incorrect because (1) the appraiser who assessed the
property committed perjury during the hearing before the ALC; (2) the appraiser
failed to follow uniform standard of professional appraisal practice when he valued
the subject property; and (3) the appraiser improperly included the value of
improvements to the valuation of the subject property. We affirm pursuant to Rule
220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities:

1. As to Issues 1 and 2: S.C. Code Ann. § 1-23-610(B) (Supp. 2017) (stating the
court of appeals "may not substitute its judgment for the judgment of the [ALC] as
to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact"); Trident Med. Ctr., LLC v. S.C.
Dep't of Health & Envtl. Control, 412 S.C. 341, 348, 772 S.E.2d 177, 181 (Ct.
App. 2015) ("[T]his court may not substitute its judgment for the judgment of the
ALC as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact."); S.C. Tax Comm'n v.
S.C. Tax Bd. of Review, 278 S.C. 556, 562, 299 S.E.2d 489, 492-93 (1983) (stating
that in a taxpayer's challenge to an assessor's valuation of property, the assessor's
valuation is presumed to be correct and the complaining taxpayer has the burden to
prove otherwise).

2. As to Issue 3: S.C. Code Ann. § 12-37-930 (2014) ("All property must be
valued for taxation at its true value in money which in all cases is the price which
the property would bring following reasonable exposure to the market, where both
the seller and the buyer are willing, are not acting under compulsion, and are
reasonably well informed of the uses and purposes for which it is adapted and for
which it is capable of being used.").

AFFIRMED.1

LOCKEMY, C.J., and WILLIAMS and KONDUROS, JJ., concur.

1
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.