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Currier v. Wisconsin Dep't of Revenue12/14/2005
before midnight on July 6, the last date for filing of his petition for rehearing, and that was all WIS. STAT.§ 73.01(5) required. Currier submitted that the thirty days he had to file his petition for judicial review pursuant to WIS. STAT.§ 227.53(1)(a)2. began running after the Commission denied his petition for rehearing on July 13. His August 11 petition for judicial review was therefore timely.
Initially, the circuit court denied the DOR's motion to dismiss Currier's petition for judicial review. However, the DOR filed a motion for reconsideration and, upon reconsideration, the circuit court granted the DOR's motion to dismiss. The court rejected Currier's contention that his petition for rehearing was timely and adopted the DOR's reasoning that a tardy petition for rehearing does not extend the time for seeking judicial review of the agency's original decision on the merits.
Standard of Review
This appeal requires us to construe and apply WIS. STAT.§§ 73.01(5), 227.49(1) and 227.53(1). The interpretation of a statute and its application to undisputed facts are questions of law that we review independently. Garcia v. Mazda Motor of Am., Inc., 2004 WI 93, , 273 Wis. 2d 612, 682 N.W.2d 365. The purpose of statutory construction is to give effect to the legislature's intent. Town of Avon v. Oliver, 2002 WI App 97, , 253 Wis. 2d 647, 644 N.W.2d 260. In the absence of an applicable statutory definition, the legislature is presumed to intend the common usage of a term. Hoffman v. Rankin, 2002 WI App 189, , 256 Wis. 2d 678, 649 N.W.2d 350. The common and ordinary usage of words may be established by their definition in a recognized dictionary. Id. However, in all cases, we are obligated to construe statutes in a manner that avoids absurd and unreasonable results. Oliver, 253 Wis. 2d 647, .
Discussion
Currier argues, as he did before the circuit court, that both his petition for rehearing and his petition for judicial review were timely. We first address the timeliness of Currier's petition for rehearing.
Currier asserts that his petition for rehearing of the Commission decision was timely filed pursuant to WIS. STAT.§ 73.01(5) because it was postmarked by midnight of the last day for filing. Section 73.01(5)(a), entitled "Appeals to commission" provides:
Any person who is aggrieved by a determination of the state board of assessors under s. 70.995 (8) or who has filed a petition for redetermination with the department of revenue and who is aggrieved by the redetermination of the department of revenue may, within 60 days of the determination of the state board of assessors or of the department of revenue or, in all other cases, within 60 days after the redetermination but not thereafter, file with the clerk of the commission a petition for review of the action of the department of revenue .... For the purposes of this subsection, a petition for review is considered timely filed if mailed by certified mail in a properly addressed envelope, with postage duly prepaid, which envelope is postmarked before midnight of the last day for filing. (Emphasis added.)
However, by its plain language, § 73.01(5) governs petitions for review from determinations by either the State Board of Assessors or the DOR to the Commission. This case involves an attempt to obtain a rehearing of a Commission determination.
Petitions for review of a State Board of Assessors or a DOR decision and petitions for rehearing of a Commission decision occur at different stages of the appeal process and are covered by different statutes. A party aggrieved by a State Board of Assessors or a DOR decision files a petition for re
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