In Re the Appeals of CIG Field Services Co.

I respectfully dissent from the majority decision and conclude that the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) had no jurisdiction to make findings of fact regarding the constitutionality of K.S.A. 79-5a01.

BOTA is a specialized agency that exists to decide taxation issues. While assessment is a question of taxation, discriminatory assessment is not a tax question but rather a constitutional question. BOTA does not have the authority to decide the constitutionality of a statute. Zarda v. State, 250 Kan. 364, Syl. ¶ 3, 826 P.2d 1365, cert. denied 504 U.S. 973 (1992).

There was no disagreement between the…