SEARCY et al. v. PEACH COUNTY BOARD OF TAX ASSESSORS et al., 180 Ga. App. 531

Summary

The landowner filed an appeal against the board from a decision denying her application for reduction in her property tax valuation. She argued that the ad valorem taxes assessed to her erroneously included the value of property leased to a corporation as an estate for years. The corporation and its assignees, the lessees, were added as third-party defendants. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of appellees on the basis that the interest conveyed by the lease was a usufruct, taxable to the landowner. She appealed, and the court agreed with the trial court that, although there was no express language in the subject agreement, the interest conveyed was a usufruct. The court noted that the agreement completely restricted assignment of the lease without the landowner's written consent and that it specifically excluded any lessees from exercising mineral rights and other rights of every kind and nature. The court found that the parties intended to create a usufruct, and, as ...