Archive for category: General Information

By Eric Owens, Director at Swartz and Associates

What do we define as success for our company? At the end of the day our main purpose as a property tax consultant is to save our clients money through the reduction in real estate tax dollars.

While the savings are the end result as a property tax consultant, we are solely focused on the valuation put in place on a commercial property. When that property is over-valued by an assessor, then that is when our services are needed to help find a solution to the valuation problem.

Some people aren’t aware of the numbers we are talking about. So we thought it would be a good idea to share some of the successes we had in 2024, including how much we were able to save our clients.

Below are some of the reductions we achieved for our clients in 2024:

• Big Box Retail – Wisconsin – $10,100,000 Value Reduction – $135,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Industrial Warehouse – Wisconsin – $4,200,000 Value Reduction – $102,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Multi-tenant Office – Iowa – $8,000,000 Value Reduction – $350,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Single-tenant Office – Iowa – $5,300,000 Value Reduction – $143,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Multi-tenant Retail – Iowa – $15,300,000 Value Reduction – $470,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Apartments – Missouri – $7,900,000 Value Reduction – $120,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Apartments – Missouri – $5,800,000 Value Reduction – $82,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Big Box Retail – Ohio – $2,700,000 Value Reduction – $75,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Special-Use Property – Kansas – $5,200,000 Value Reduction – $130,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Big Box Retail – North Carolina – $8,800,000 Value Reduction – $98,000 Real Estate Tax Savings
• Single – tenant Office – Iowa – $5,400,000 Value Reduction – $153,000 Real Estate Tax Savings

As a company, we are looking forward to 2025 and continuing to provide successful results for our valued clients.

If you or someone you know is interested in having us review and appeal real and business personal property tax valuations, please give us a call.

By Donald Swartz, President

As the holiday season and the year comes to an end, I reviewed my blog from December of 2023 and thought I would reflect on whether we have in fact, moved forward.

On the Personal Side

From a personal standpoint, we definitely stepped outside the box, heading out of town during the Christmas week to Nashville with our children. The last time the four of us were in Nashville, Aaron was competing in the Elementary School National Chess Championships at the Gaylord Opryland Resort (over 15 years ago!!!)

We went back to visit The Gaylord and also visited many of the Nashville sites including Broadway Street, The Country Music Hall of Fame, the National Museum of African American  Music, Belmont University, Vandy, The Listening Room and several dining establishments! It was quite the week and a great city to visit. Additionally, I experienced my first NHL game as the Predators defeated the Canes (shockingly my first game was not the Vegas Knights!! – I guess I will have to compare and contrast at some point down the road😊)

On the Business Side

From a business standpoint, last year I mentioned the phrase, “if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward.” How did we do?

We added another business developer to the Swartz team, bringing Keith Sherman to the fold in early January.

Keith has provided insight to the group on marketing ideas and has helped us establish our presence in Arkansas and the Dallas Metroplex.

Last month, David Swartz and Keith attended the Marcus Evans Tax Conference where we were scheduled to meet 10+ tax directors of various companies. We have had follow up calls with half of the companies we met and our hope is to represent their property tax interests in the 2025 year.

We are currently in the process of refining and adding elements to our database, creating more efficiencies to run a variety of reports.

The improvements will assist in our targeted emails to clients and prospects regarding reassessments, county or statewide updates and appeal deadlines. It will also allow us to navigate the tremendous amount of data we have collected over the years in a more efficient manner.

The Indurante team continues to flourish as we add more companies for the 2025 year. 

In 2024, we were able to successfully transition a large client to our “we pay all” format. In this environment, we are responsible for the timely payment of all property taxes paid to the appropriate states and/or counties. This relieves the burden of the taxpayer being responsible for tracking the multitude of deadlines to make payments. (If you are an Indurante client currently not taking advantage of this service, and would be interested in learning more, please reach out as we would be pleased to let you know how this process is implemented!)

We are hiring!

We will have a new Indurante employee scheduled to start in Mid-January and I will talk more about this employee next month. Additionally, we are currently looking for an additional member for the Swartz team as we anticipate a significant increase in work with reassessment in several states and increased portfolio sizes on the horizon.

Did we move forward in 2024? I believe the answer is a resounding YES and I look forward to an exciting 2025!

Happy New Year to everyone!!! As always, I appreciate your comments and feedback and .

By Donald Swartz, President

Recently, we completed our annual fall planning meetings for both Swartz + Associates, Inc. and Indurante & Associates, Inc. I always look forward to these meetings as we look back on the successes (and challenges) over the past year and what we can do to continue to make a difference for our clients and operate as successful companies.

Resolving Appeals

2024 has been challenging in ways I have not experienced in most of my working career. While our pipeline is full and caseload is significant, the ability to resolve appeals from prior years, some dating back to 2020, remains tricky. Many of the appeals are backlogged at the respective State courts as hearing officers and judges are playing catch up from the pandemic. As the courts shut down for several months and/or years, the cases to be heard lay in waiting. It is difficult to discuss a 2023 or 2024 case when the jurisdiction is stilling trying to work through appeals in years prior.

Luckily, our clients are patient and understand the “long game” that has become necessary in an effort to achieve success.

Our employees with each company understand this and I am very appreciative of their patience as well. With this backdrop, our meetings were candid, engaging and as usual, a few excellent ideas were developed. It will be up to all of us to implement the strategies discussed and I am as excited as ever for the upcoming year.

Reimagining Existing Ideas and Plans

While we always want to grow our business, sometimes reimagining existing ideas and plans can be our most effective tool. Jason Terry, the “guru” of Blue Gurus led Swartz + Associates in a detailed two hour discussion of how to expertly manage and efficiently use data we already have in our possession; how to implement the tools we have in our possession to make us better and how to expand our reach.

In Las Vegas, the conversations were similar to what I described above and additionally, continue to find ways to efficiently handle the amount of data we collect on an annual basis from our clients.

As with most companies, change is a constant.

We will be without two employees as of year-end who have been with our respective companies for several years. They will be difficult to replace, but I am excited to present these opportunities to a new skill set with fresh ideas, fresh eyes and a fresh beginning. All of our managers and directors remain in place and are enthusiastically accepting the challenge of “what’s next?” What’s next in terms of employees, what’s next in our pursuit of clients, what’s next in succeeding for our clients and what’s next in our world of technology.

I am very excited to see what’s next for Swartz and Indurante and cannot wait to share our stories for the 2025 year.
Don

By Donald Swartz, President

According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, “the only constant in life is change”, or at least something to that effect! And so it goes…

David Sukenik

After several years with David Sukenik being a member of the Swartz & Associates team, David bids us a fond farewell to explore the next chapter in his life in a new and unrelated industry. I am fortunate to have had David as a part of SAI since his graduation from the University of Kansas, and am very aware of the fact that few college graduates stay in their first job for almost eight years. We are appreciative of his energy, work ethic, ability to work with clients as well as fellow employees and his desire to continually learn and enhance his skills. I am sure he will do quite well in his next endeavor and all of us wish him the best of luck moving forward.

DMH Advertising

Over the past several months, we have been working with DMH Advertising to give the Indurante company an updated look and feel; blending the colors and look of Swartz (also, thank you, DMH!) into Indurante. While these are two separate companies, the synergies being created over the past years are becoming noticeable, and provide us with another “change” in the constant of life. Thank you to Sean Hogan and the advertising group at DMH for all their assistance in making this happen. We will begin to roll this out in the upcoming months but here is a quick peek.

The Children’s Place

If you are a follower of my wife and kids on Facebook (as I am not particularly active, more of a peruser…) you may have seen prior posts about our family’s involvement with (and support of) the incredible work of The Children’s Place. Karen and I are thrilled to be helping further the mission of the organization as #tastemakers at this year’s #tasteattheplace. We’d be honored if you would consider making a donation to help us support the work of this incredibly important organization! Below, I have included two links: one to the event as well as our personal donation page. Your consideration is greatly appreciated!

• Taste at the Place Event
• Karen and Don’s Page

It’s Been Five Years

I would be remiss if I did not mention the 5-year anniversary of my unfortunate accident in Las Vegas, while heading to my Indurante office. In many respects, it seems like yesterday, but for the most part, the time has passed, and we continue to move forward. As part of the “celebration” (mostly coincidental and not intentional), Karen and I were back in LV this past weekend, having a great dinner with my close friend, Joel (who was with me in LV when I woke up in the hospital after the incident) and his wife Robin. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for the love and support given to me by my wife, my family, Joel and all the people who checked in during the recovery. Know that you are all appreciated, and I am lucky to have you in my life.

With that, let’s get back to the exciting world of property taxes. What do you say???

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Last month, you may recall I discussed the power of AI in the workplace and the seminars David Sukenik from our office was attending. As a result of the four courses he virtually participated in, we are now subscribers of ChatGPT4. Many thanks to Dean Bezdek and Centriq Group, LLC for setting up this course. (To learn more about Centriq Group, LLC and their offerings, please visit their website.)

Speaking of Technology…

We recently upgraded our copier and I was playing around with all the new, fancy features. While standing at the copier, I discussed ChatGPT4 with David and what my blog this month would sound like if it was created by ChatGPT – take a read 😊

CinemaCon 2024: Insights and Trends from the Heart of Las Vegas – A Property Tax Perspective

Last week, I had the privilege of attending CinemaCon 2024, held at the iconic Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This pivotal event in the cinema industry is not just a gathering for film aficionados but also a critical touchpoint for professionals like myself who specialize in property tax issues related to cinema properties. Joined by my good friend Mike Hagan, CFO of B&B Theaters, we sought to deepen our connections with cinema owners and gain insights into the future of the industry, crucial for our property tax advocacy efforts.

Leveraging Connections for Enhanced Property Tax Solutions

Our longstanding relationship with B&B Theaters, for whom we have conducted numerous property tax appeals, positioned us uniquely to engage with other industry stakeholders. CinemaCon offers an invaluable platform for sharing experiences and challenges related to property tax management within the cinema industry. The discussions we had were insightful, highlighting shared concerns and innovative solutions that can be applied across various jurisdictions.

Impact of Industry Trends on Property Valuations

Several key trends identified at CinemaCon have direct implications for property tax considerations:

1. Technological Upgrades: As cinemas invest in advanced technologies like laser projectors and state-of-the-art sound systems, the valuation of these properties becomes more complex. These enhancements can increase a property’s assessed value, necessitating astute tax strategies to manage potential increases in property tax obligations.
2. Reimagining Spaces: The shift towards providing luxurious seating and comprehensive amenities requires significant capital investment. These improvements can affect property assessments and, consequently, property taxes. Understanding these changes is essential for accurately appealing tax valuations and ensuring fairness in taxation.
3. Diversity in Content and Format: The trend towards offering a wider array of content, including live events and special screenings, can alter a theater’s revenue streams and impact its financial valuation. This diversification, while beneficial for attracting a broader audience, also adds layers of complexity to the valuation process for tax purposes.

The Future Outlook from a Tax Perspective

The optimism about the future of the movie industry, despite competition from streaming platforms, suggests a robust potential for continued investment in cinema properties. This growth outlook necessitates ongoing vigilance in property tax management to ensure that assessments are fair and reflective of true market values. It’s an exciting time for those of us in property tax services, as we align our strategies to support our clients through these evolving challenges.

Conclusion

Attending CinemaCon 2024 provided us not only with insights into the trends shaping the movie theater industry but also reinforced the importance of our work in property tax services. For clients like B&B Theaters and others in the cinema space, staying ahead of these trends means better preparing for the future financial landscapes and tax obligations. The insights garnered from this event will directly enhance our ability to advise and represent our clients effectively.

As the industry continues to evolve, so too will the strategies needed to manage property tax implications.  We look forward to using these insights to assist our clients in navigating the exciting future of the movie theater industry.

WOW, right????

While this is not necessarily the wording I would traditionally use in my blog, I thought I would provide an unedited version generated in literally, seconds.

So, how do we embrace this technology to our benefit? Stay tuned as you will have to determine if this is me OR if this is AI going forward.
HINT: Betting money says ME.

As always, I appreciate your feedback and comments.  or .