News & Views
Presentations
Successfully Battling the Tax Assessor (PowerPoint, 2MB)
Press Releases
New Property Tax Partnership Targets Savings for Newspapers (PDF, 41KB)
Newspapers Employ Oft-Overlooked Tax Savings Initiative to Reduce Operating Costs (PDF, 37KB)
Tax Partnership Aims to Ease Compliance Headaches for C-Store Chains (PDF, 41KB)
Articles
Abnormal Obsolescence (Editor and Publisher article, PDF, 237KB)
Consolidation's Cast-Offs (Editor and Publisher article, PDF, 827KB)
Morrison & Head/Inland Retained for Tax Review (Editor and Publisher article, PDF, 41KB)
Shoptalk: Property Tax Savings for Doublewidth Presses (Editor and Publisher article, PDF, 78KB)
Stuck with Shuttered Plants, Papers Battle the Taxman (Editor and Publisher article, PDF, 111KB)
Special Information For Newspapers
Could your newspaper use significant operating cost reductions that do not require slashing budgets, retooling presses, haggling with suppliers, or staff reductions? If so, you may want to consider the benefits of a comprehensive property tax review.
Newspapers are often burdened with an excessive property tax liability as assessors have failed to adjust for the challenging economics of the newspaper industry. Coupled with dramatic improvements in newspaper equipment technology, adverse industry conditions have devastated the market for used newspaper presses and mailroom equipment. In fact, recent studies indicate the market value of older model double width presses has declined over 95% and, in some instances, are being sold for the cost of removal only!
A comprehensive assessment review addressing these issues provides the basis for substantial property tax reductions on presses and related equipment as well as the press hall structure.
For example, because most assessors’ schedules adjust for physical depreciation only, the excess operating costs of older model presses as compared to modern “state of the art” presses can be quantified as functional obsolescence. Additionally, factors such as higher newsprint cost, diminishing advertising revenue, lower page count, and declining circulation yield a basis for determining economic obsolescence. Both functional and economic obsolescence, as supported by numerous comparable press sales, are incorporated into the assessor’s standard valuation model to reflect true market conditions.
The keys to extraordinary property tax savings are a thorough knowledge of newspaper industry dynamics, a technical understanding of the assessor’s valuation process, and a comprehensive analysis quantifying the complex obsolescence issues affecting the assessed value.
