Rolling Back Property Tax Payments

A new report from Good Jobs First exposes one of Wal-Mart’s most deceptive cost-cutting policies: consistent attempts to pay low taxes on its properties. By denying local communities their rightful dues, Wal-Mart sucks money away from public schools, local services and civic development. From GJF’s release:

The first-ever investigation of Wal-Mart’s local property tax records finds that the retail giant systematically seeks to minimize its payment of taxes that support public schools and other vital government services. That is the key finding of Rolling Back Property Tax Payments, a report released today by Good Jobs First, a non-profit, nonpartisan research center in Washington, DC. The full text is at http://www.goodjobsfirst.org.

“Wal-Mart, a company with $350 billion in annual revenues and $11 billion in profits, drains vitally needed funds from communities by regularly challenging the valuation put on its properties by public officials,” said Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First and principal author of the report. “When the company succeeds in one of these challenges, it diminishes the funds available to pay for education, police and fire protection, and other essential services provided by local governments.”

Based on a large national sample of Wal-Mart stores and a review of all of its distribution centers open as of the beginning of 2005, Good Jobs First concludes that Wal-Mart has filed assessment challenges at more than one-third of its facilities around the country. At many facilities there have been appeals in multiple years. Overall, Good Jobs First estimates that the company has filed more than 2,100 property tax challenges nationwide.

“Wal-Mart’s frequent poor-mouthing of its properties makes the company appear hypocritical,” noted Good Jobs First executive director Greg LeRoy. “When it meets opposition to a new store, the company claims it will bring economic benefits to the community, which would normally be reflected in higher property values,” LeRoy said. “Yet, in these assessment appeals the company routinely argues that the value of its properties has declined. Unwittingly, Wal-Mart appears to be confirming the argument often raised by neighborhood groups that the presence of one of its giant stores will reduce property values.”

“These systematic property tax challenges are part of a larger pattern of state and local tax avoidance by Wal-Mart,” Mattera stated. “They are consistent with the company’s reported use of a real estate investment trust gimmick to dodge income taxes in many states. And they are consistent with the widespread property tax abatements, income tax credits and sales tax diversions that make up a large part of the more than $1.2 billion in economic development subsidies that Good Jobs First has documented in previous research on Wal-Mart,” Mattera added. Good Jobs First’s findings on development subsidies can be found at http://www.walmartsubsidywatch.org.

Posted by Media Team on Wednesday, October 10, 2007

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COMMENTS

This issue with challenging the tax assessments of real estate has been done in my city some years ago.WE have a population of less than 75,000,,yet have 3 Supercenters and a Sam’s,ya think this isn’t the wierd world of Waltonia?The tax assessment for one of the supercenters was in court for years,I don’t know if any resolution was ever finalized,but Walmart ,after getting all the enterprise zone,public access roads,sewage, state and federal tax goodies,whined it was overassessed.Don’t you think that if small business owners were aforded all these corporate tax advantages,they could expand too?

ddrb in
Thursday, October 11 at 09:03 AM

I love Walmart. Walmart has done more good for our economy than bad. Walmart has been responsible for keeping inflation in check by providing products and services at very low cost. While everything else seems to be going up, i.e. the price of fuel, my state and federal taxes, my heating costs, the prices at Walmart have been going down. How can this be a bad thing? I think all of you people who are opposed to Walmart are idiots who have nothing better to do than to bitch and complain about a well run, well organized, professional company like Walmart.

bob in rochester nh
Thursday, October 11 at 03:36 PM

bob in
Thursday, October 11 at 03:37 PM

With all the various schemes that WalMart continues to pull with its U.S. labor exploitation, Global Labor Arbitrage Chinese communist 80% product import and massive corporate welfare subsidies business model, you can now show that the Bentonville ‘free market enterprise entrepreneurial capitalist’ slobs have received more than $30 billion in subsidies and tax breaks in the last 15 years or less.

“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”
Abraham Lincoln

WalMart/Waltons- The taxpayer suckers don’t mind subsidizing us because we do a great job in making sure they never find out.

SanDiegoView in
Monday, October 15 at 05:59 AM

SDV:I guess thats one of the rationales for the TRUMPED UP Global Institute Study (paid for by WalMart)alleging that W/M saves families $2500.00 a year-well how much are they allegedly saving folks who DON’T shop there???You cant turn on the T.V. this past week,even now, where your not barraged with these soulless commercials about insurance benefits and slave more ,lie better platitudes.They even hauled that old P.R. drekumentary out of mothballs :"the Age of WalMart"-it should be updated to “The Aging of WalMart”!

ddrb in
Tuesday, October 16 at 01:12 PM

I hate Walmart. Walmart has done more bad for our economy than good. Walmart has been irresponsible for impoverishing their employees to keep products and services at very low cost. While everything else seems to be going up, i.e. the price of fuel, my state and federal taxes, my heating costs, the prices at Walmart have been going up as well. How can this be a good thing? I think all of you people who are in love with Walmart are unpatriotic fools who have no ability or desire to figure out what is really going on with a taxpayer subsidies guzzling, tax evading, poverty creating, Chinese communist supporting economic whorehouse company like Walmart. Start paying attention with a little time to serious corporate malfeasance. America.

Bob in rehab
Wednesday, October 17 at 08:10 AM

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