On its second and last day to meet this year, the Cole County Board of Equalization denied appeals to the assessed valuation figures for Walmart Supercenter stores on West Stadium Boulevard and Supercenter Drive in Jefferson City as well as the company's Sam's Club store on Stoneridge Parkway in Jefferson City.
Attorney Gerald Wallach, representing Walmart, asked the board Tuesday to deny the company's appeals in hopes he and the assessors could meet, as they had done in 2017, to reach an agreement before they would have to take their case to the State Tax Commission.
If dissatisfied with the board's decision, a property owner can appeal to the State Tax Commission and, thereafter, the circuit court.
Wallach noted the era of big-box stores could be coming to an end, thanks to the rise of online shopping. He said the company felt the Cole County assessor's figures on the buildings were agreeable, but they needed to talk more about the fair market value of the properties - what a buyer would be willing to pay to a seller.
The county assessor has an outside assessor evaluate commercial properties and for two of the stores had the assessed value at a higher amount than what the assessor's office had valued the properties. The Board of Equalization decided to go with the outside assessor's figures on two of the Walmart properties.
For Sam's Club at 849 Stoneridge Parkway, the Board of Equalization went with the outside assessor's value of $11,459,400, compared to the assessor's office figure of $9.5 million. For the Walmart at 401 Supercenter Drive, the board voted for the outside assessor's amount of $14.5 million compared to the assessor's office at $13.5 million.
The county assessor and the outside assessor came up with an assessment value of $13.5 million for the Supercenter at 724 West Stadium Blvd.
The assessors said the assessments were made based on the value of the land and the buildings that sit on it.
Last Friday, the Board of Equalization approved assessor figures on four other commercial properties:
- Lowe's, 3441 Missouri Blvd., $9 million.
- Hy-Vee, 3721 W. Truman Blvd., $5,599,200.
- Orscheln Farm & Home, 2304 Missouri Blvd., $5.2 million.
- Capitol Plaza Hotel, 415 W. McCarty St., $10,900,500.
The board also approved the assessor's figures after Ameren Missouri appealed the value of its natural gas property for 2019.
The company continues to appeal its assessments for 2013-18. Cole is one of 16 counties where Ameren has gas line equipment. The counties have argued over the amounts mainly due to the potential for lost tax revenue for local school districts should Ameren's numbers be upheld.
Assessor's office officials advised the board to uphold the assessment so Cole County can continue to argue to the Tax Commission that the original assessment is correct.
The Board of Equalization left Ameren's 2019 assessed value at $50,568,100.
The assessor's office recently concluded around 100 informal hearings with residential property owners regarding 2019 assessments.
Notices were sent out for 1,700 of 36,234 parcels in Cole County. While 1,350 properties saw a value decrease, the rest remained the same.
Due to the May 22 tornado that hit Jefferson City and parts of Cole County, Assessor Chris Estes said his office, using information from the State Emergency Management Agency, determined 42 residences were uninhabitable.