storyhill.net, Oct. 30, 2006

Walgreen's appealing property assessments
 in city, state

Oct. 30 -- Oct. 30 -- The Walgreen Co. is appealing the property assessments of 17 stores in the city and others throughout the state, according to City Assessment Commissioner Mary Reavey.

"They don't want to pay the taxes," she said.

Some of the appeals of city assessments pending in Circuit Court date back to 2002, Reavey said.

The company also has disputed City of Madison assessments, Reavey said. That case is in the State Court of Appeals, and the Milwaukee city attorney's office will file a friend of the court brief, Reavey said.

“We want to make sure they make a good record in Madison because it could affect our (cases),” she told the Common Council's Finance and Personnel Committee earlier this month.

Reavey said in an interview that the Madison case was being watched carefully by municipal and professional organizations.

"I understand it’s not just Madison and Milwaukee," she told the committee. "They’re appealing all over the state.”

Reavey said Walgreen's leases the stores from their owners, and the agreements call for Walgreen's to cover all the associated costs of the store, including the taxes.

The amount in dispute in Milwaukee grew substantially this year. Walgreen's objected to the assessments of 11 stores in 2005, according to information provided by Reavey's office. The city assessed those stores at $25.7 million, or $8.2 million more than the corporation said they were worth.

This year, Walgreen's is objecting to the assessments of 17 stores, contending they are worth $22.9 million less than the $52.8 million value assigned by the city.

The city's overall tax rate was $24.50 per $1,000 valuation last year. If Walgreen's wins all its appeals, its property tax liability for 2005 would be reduced by $184,657.

The tax rate for 2006 has not yet been set, but it already is clear that substantially more money is at stake. If the rate were to decrease by a dime, for example, to $24.40, Walgreen's stands to save $558,882 on its property tax bill by winning the appeals. Other taxpayers would have to pony up instead.

"Good corporate citizen, Walgreen's," Ald. Michael D'Amato said. "We should certainly go out of our way to give them whatever they need to build in the neighborhoods.”

The Madison city attorney's office did not return a phone call seeking comment. A Walgreen's representative said last week that no information would be available until this week, after officials had time to look into the matter.

Walgreen's objected to assessments at these Milwaukee stores:

  • 8484 W Brown Deer Rd.
  • 9040 W. Good Hope Rd.
  • 7171-7181 N. Teutonia Ave.
  • 6442 N. 76th St.
  • 5183 N. 91st St.
  • 6727 W. Hampton Ave.
  • 2200-2212 W. Capitol Dr.
  • 5101 W. Capitol Dr.
  • 2727 W. North Ave.
  • 3522 W. Wisconsin Ave.
  • 2424 W. Forest Home Ave.
  • 618 W. Oklahoma Ave.
  • 6000 W. Oklahoma Ave.
  • 3233 S. 27th St.
  • 107 W. Wilbur Ave.
  • 4730 S. 27th St.
  • 6292 S. 27th St.