James E. Roberts v. State Board

COOPER, Chief Justice. James E. Roberts, trustee of Roane County, filed a petition in the Chancery Court of Davidson County to have that court review
the action of the State Board of Equalization in ruling on appeals of ten Japanese utilities from (1) back-tax assessments
for the year 1974 on enriched uranium owned by the utilities and stored in that part of the Oak Ridge complex located in Roane
County, and (2) the assessment on the uranium for the then current year, 1975. On motion of the State Board of Equalization
and the Japanese utilities, the chancellor held that Roane County was an indispensable party and allowed petitioner forty
days in which to join Roane County as a party petitioner. Subsequently, when Roane County, acting through its quarterly court,
resolved not to join in the petition for review, the chancellor dismissed the trustee's petition for lack of an indispensable
party. The question then is: Is Roane County an indispensable party to a petition seeking review of the action of the State
Board of Equalization in determining ad valorem tax assessments on property located in Roane County? Or, to put it another
way: Can the county trustee, acting independently of the county court, petition for a review of the action of the State Board
of Equalization?