Challenging a Business Property Assessment
Strategies for Reducing Your Company's Valuation and Property Tax Bill
Recording of a 110-minute CLE webinar/teleconference with Q&A
Conducted on Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Recorded event now available
This CLE webinar will provide tax professionals and advisors with best practices for preparing a solid case to lower a proposed assessed value of land, buildings, equipment and fixtures, based on principles that will apply regardless of the jurisdiction.
Description
Property tax is a corporate expense that businesses cannot avoid. With market values of real and business personal property being squeezed by the economy, one might assume this expense would decline, but county and city governments are fighting to maintain corporate assessments.
However, a business can still influence the assessment through the knowledge, resourcefulness and aggressiveness of its tax staff making a solid case for a reduced assessment with the local office and defending that position in appeals before administrative panels and courts.
The task is not easy. How can you legitimately defend a lower assessment in the absence of hard, comparable market data? How do you quantify obsolescence factors for your plant and equipment? How adeptly do you juggle varying local depreciation formulas? Are you prepared for a tough appeal?
Listen as our panel of savvy tax advisors and corporate tax professionals shares successful approaches for asserting your own assessment proposal and attacking the local government's calculation.
Outline
- Advance research activities
- Evaluating TICM, income approach, sales comparison approach: Pros and cons
- Examining possible market, functional or physical obsolescence factors
- Researching jurisdiction’s trend in uniformity and equitable assessment
- Considering real vs. business property issues
- Taking special features of local regs into account
- Knowing how far to push your case
- Comparing how the same jurisdiction has treated different businesses
- Preparing your assessment report
- How to effectively present your data and findings
- Quoting from jurisdictions rules and requirements, assessment manual
- Knowing what you specifically hope to achieve
- Preparing for an appeal
- Payments under protest
- Dealing with appeal deadlines
- Handling the specificity of an appeal complaint
- Trying to choose a forum (administrative vs. judicial)
Benefits
The panel will prepare you to do a better job when it comes to:
- Finding hard or anecdotal data to support a decline in values.
- Working within different approaches to, and local guidelines for, real and business personal property assessments.
- Making skillful use of the three categories of obsolescence.
- Displaying your research in a well-crafted assessment report.
- Evaluating whether to appeal an unfavorable assessment, garnering top management support for your appeal, and planning a case strategy.
Upon completion of this webinar, you will have a better appreciation for a multi-jurisdictional approach to asserting or challenging property assessments, and new tactics to employ in arguing for a lower assessment before an assessor's office, appeals panel or court.
Faculty
Kieran Jennings,
Partner
Siegel Siegel Johnson & Jennings, Cleveland, Ohio
His practice focuses on real property taxation and general state and local tax litigation. He is a frequent writer and speaker for real estate professional associations, acts as vice-chairman of the American Bar Association Property Tax Committee, and serves as his firm's professional representative to the American Property Tax Counsel.
Michael Remsha,
Vice President and Managing Director
American Appraisal Associates, Milwaukee, Wis.
He has worked with the global valuation services firm since 1977. He gives direction and technical support on valuations of special purpose and personal property, specializing in energy industries.
David Hurrell,
Senior Manager, Property Tax Services Group
Ernst & Young, Cleveland, Ohio
He has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting and industry with property tax compliance, consulting and other state and local tax services. Before coming to Ernst & Young, he worked at UHY Advisors, Burr Wolff and Deloitte Tax.
Jeffrey Dexter,
President
Cost Reduction Services Group, Naugatuck, Conn.
His property tax consulting firm does business primarily in New England and New York.
Ordering
Online Webinar
Includes audio streaming of full program plus handouts (available 24 hours after live seminar).
CPE: Self-study CPE is not offered on online webinars.
Online Seminar Audio $247.00
Available 24 hours after the live event
Recorded Event
Includes full event recording plus handouts (available after live seminar).
CPE: Self-study CPE is not offered on recorded events.
CLE: Pre-approved for self-study credit in: AK, AZ, CA, CT, GA, HI, MO, MT, NY, TX, VT, WA, WV. Upon request, self-study credit is also available in: CO, FL, ID, KY, ME, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OR, UT, WI, WY. If you are applying for self-study credit in one of these states, contact Strafford CLE at 1-800-926-7926 ext. 35 or CLE@straffordpub.com.
Webinar Download (Slide Presentation with Audio) $247.00
Available three business days after the live event
DVD (Slide Presentation with Audio) $247.00
plus $9.45 S&H
Available ten business days after the live event
MP3 Download (Audio with Slide PDFs) $247.00
Available 24 hours after the live event
CD (Audio with Slide PDFs) $247.00
plus $9.45 S&H
Available ten business days after the live event
Webinar/Teleconference
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Program Materials
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Program Materials
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CPE Credit
Strafford is a NASBA CPE sponsor and our live seminars qualify for CPE credits. They offer you a high quality, cost effective, and convenient CPE option, with no lost travel time or expenses.
CLE Credit
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Customer Reviews
I found the presenters to be very experienced and the Q&A's to be particularly useful.
Mike O'Brien
American Eagle Outfitters
I liked that the program went beyond the guidance in the regs to offer a real-world perspective.
Jerry Bourlier
Yazaki Management Co.
The program had excellent presenters that were extremely knowledgeable.
Lisa R. Volland
Legacy Professionals
Coverage was practical and straightforward. Well done.
Stuart J. Frentz
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Offered different view points and real life, practical examples.
Angela Chretin
Northrop Grumman
Property Tax Advisory Board
Senior Partner
Garippa Lotz & Giannuario
VP & Management Consultant
Marvin F. Poer & Co.
Betty McIntosh
Director, Location Incentives Group
Cushman & Wakefield
Foy Mitchell
Vice President
Marvin F. Poer & Co.
Mark Semerad
Manager of Property Tax
Level 3 Communications
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