Property Type:  Convenience store, with gas station Date Issued:  June 14, 2022 Assessment Years:  2018, 2019 Synopsis:  Assessor defended the subject property’s $1.9 Million assessment with a 2014 sales disclosure form ($1.3 Million) and an appraisal as of January 1, 2018 ($2.1 Million).  The Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR) upheld the assessments.  Indiana Tax Court reversed, finding: (i) the appraisal, which relied on the sales comparison approach, valued more than real property – “contrary to Indiana’s real property assessment laws”; and (ii) no evidence sup ..read more

Late last year I began writing about 12 Days of Property Tax Protections, before taking a pause.  I am glad I did, as the Indiana General Assembly voted to strip Indiana taxpayers of several of the protections I wrote about.  Yesterday, my colleagues and I published an alert on this point, which begins: In its 2022 legislative session, the Indiana General Assembly eliminated important taxpayer protections against large property tax assessment increases by Indiana’s assessing officials. With these changes, a taxpayer is no longer entitled to have their assessment revert to the prior y ..read more

A taxpayer does not have to be a non-profit corporation for its property to qualify for Indiana’s charitable purposes exemption.  The Indiana Board of Tax Review confirmed this in a final determination issued on November 9, 2021, in Wildwood Forest, LLC v. Vigo County Assessor.  In this case, the County Board denied a property tax exemption for Camp Wildwood.  The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had previously owned the campground.  In 2017, facing financial issues, BSA sought to the sell the property.  A local former scout, concerned that loss of the campground would harm ..read more

Appraisals can be costly to prepare, in terms of dollars spent and time invested.  Taxpayers would be at a disadvantage if they were compelled in every case to pay for appraisals to support claims of excessive assessments. While appraisals are often the best evidence of value, they are not the only persuasive evidence.  The Indiana General Assembly has said appraisals may not be required to bring or prosecute taxpayers’ assessment appeals.  Two statutes clearly make this point.  Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-1.2(h) provides, “[T]he taxpayer is not required to have an appraisal of ..read more

In conducting mass valuations, Indiana assessing officials generally apply the cost approach.  The 2021 Real Property Assessment Manual states, “The Guidelines adopted by the Department of Local Government Finance provide procedures and schedules that are acceptable in determining true tax value under the cost approach.”  According to the DLGF, assessors “need to understand the following concepts” to appropriately value commercial and industrial structures under the Guidelines: measuring and calculating areas using the general commercial models using schedules understanding base rat ..read more

The Indiana General Assembly has gifted Hoosier landowners another property tax protection by assigning the burden of proof on appeal to the assessor responsible for changing a property’s land classification.  The notice of change must do two things: it must “specify” (i) the change of classification and (ii) the reasons for the change.  If the assessor cannot support the change on appeal, the land assessment must be modified to reflect a value based on the prior classification. What does it say? Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-17.1 is short and direct: In the case of a change occurring afte ..read more

As we dive into the 2021 holiday season, I wanted to reflect over the next few weeks on a dozen (or so) gifts that have been given to Hoosier taxpayers by the Indiana General Assembly to protect them from excessive, unfair and improper property tax assessments.  First up:  one of the most important taxpayer protections enacted in at least the past two decades (when I have been practicing property tax law in Indiana):  the 5%+ burden shifting (or burden altering) statute found at Ind. Code § 6-1.1-15-17.2 (Section 17.2). What is it?  Simply stated:  if an assessor incre ..read more

In Muir Woods Section One Association, Inc., et al. v. Marion County Assessor (August  26, 2021), the Indiana Supreme Court concluded that, while determining value for the base rate of land may be a subjective determination, application of a land order’s negative adjustment to the base rate, once established, was “inherently objective.”  Use of the former Form 133 Petition for Correction of an Error, which could only be used to address objective issues, was appropriate. In 2014, four Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) filed 141 Form 133 Petitions for the 2001, 2002 and 2003 real propert ..read more

On June 29th, the Indiana Tax Court affirmed the Indiana Board of Tax Review’s ruling that land encumbered by a flowage easement did not qualify for a property tax exemption.  In Hatke v. Parke County Assessor, taxpayers owned a home on .66 acres of lakefront land in Rockville, Indiana.  More than half the acreage was subject to a United States Army Corps of Engineers’ flowage easement.  When needed, the area could be flooded to help control water levels.  Taxpayers needed permission to build any structure on the area (other than wire fencing). For the January 1, 2019 asses ..read more

Despite the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic, April 2021 brings a shower of increased property tax assessments for Iowa businesses. Now is the time to analyze and consider challenging excessive values. For the full post, go here ..read more