GR 37196; (December, 1932) (Digest)
March 10, 2026GR 37207; (December, 1932) (Digest)
March 10, 2026G.R. No. 41253; November 28, 1934
R. R. LANDON, plaintiff-appellant, vs. ALFREDO V. JACINTO, Provincial Treasurer and ex-officio Provincial Assessor of Cebu, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
In 1920, a general schedule of values for real property in Cebu was lawfully adopted and approved. Under this schedule, plaintiff R.R. Landon’s unimproved parcels of land were assessed at approximately P0.80 per square meter. In 1926, Landon subdivided the land into lots and sold some of them. In 1929, the defendant Provincial Assessor, on his own initiative and without authority from the provincial board, made a “special assessment” increasing the valuation of Landon’s remaining land to over P5 per square meter. Landon paid the resulting higher taxes for 1930, 1931, and 1932 under protest, totaling P4,888.16 more than what was due under the original 1920 assessment schedule. The Court of First Instance of Cebu held the special assessment was authorized but excessive, reducing the rate to P3 per square meter and ordering a refund of P1,959.60. Both parties appealed.
ISSUE
Whether the Provincial Assessor had the legal authority to unilaterally make a “special assessment” increasing the valuation of the plaintiff’s property, absent any taxable improvements on the land and without following the statutory procedures for revising the general schedule of values.
RULING
No. The Provincial Assessor acted without legal authority. Under the Administrative Code, the power to revise or amend the general schedule of values lies with the municipal council and provincial board, either through a general revision (Sections 350-351) or an amendment of the existing schedule (Section 353). The Assessor’s authority to increase an assessment is strictly limited to cases where taxable improvements have been made on the land after the last assessment. Since Landon’s land remained unimproved, no such authority existed. Furthermore, Section 355, which allows assessment independent of the general schedule, applies only to property of a kind not classified or valued in the schedule, which was not the case here. The “special assessment” was therefore null and void ab initio. The trial court’s decision was modified, and judgment was entered in favor of Landon for the full amount overpaid, P4,888.16.
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