The Swartz Report: Conferences, Commercial Property Valuation Dates and More!

Railroad Equipment Finance Conference

Last year, Noelle Giacomino and I attended our first Railroad Equipment Finance conference.  As I noted last year, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of existing clients attending the conference and our chance to interact with many of them face to face. We will again be attending the conference and hopefully, we will not be making the “rookie” mistakes in our second year.

What sort of rookie mistakes could one make??? When attending a conference, I have learned it is always a good idea to review the attendee listing as far in advance as possible. This allows us to reach out to our clients or prospects; let them know we will be there and try to establish a plan to connect at the social events each evening or meet for lunch or dinner if possible.

Many we met last year had already committed to several evenings and with a little planning, we could have made better use of our evenings as well. It was still a great conference and we connected with many, but our hope this year is to make the event even better for connecting with friends, clients and prospects.

International Association of Defense Counsel Conference

This has been particularly true as I attend my wife’s Mid-Year Conference for the IADC (International Association of Defense Counsel). We have been attending this conference on and off for the past 20 years. When we review the listing of attendees and participate in the planned dinners and social networking events, it is always great to see familiar faces and catch up on life’s activities.

One can never underestimate the effect these social aspects have on your professional life. Being a spouse at these events has allowed me to meet legal counsel from all over the country; several of which I have engaged over the years to assist in significant property tax appeals. Having local legal counsel has, in most cases, defined our success with our clients.

Enough of the socializing – there is work to do!

Johnson County, KS released their 2024 valuations for commercial property with an appeal deadline of March 13th. Many values have remained flat or decreased slightly from the 2023 tax year. The question for many is whether this is accurately representing the marketplace. Many industries are still suffering from high vacancy issues and possible repurposing of the property.

How does this affect market value? It is a worthy question, but it is difficult to justify the current valuation in many cases.

We are knee deep in assisting/filing of business personal property declaration in many states, starting with MI filings due by February 20th to AR filings due at the end of May. Additionally, we are receiving our data for our annual railcar property tax filings and business will be at a peak from now until May 15th.

Let’s not forget what is truly important –

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere sympathies to the victims of the senseless violence in the midst of a wonderful Kansas City celebration for the Chiefs Super Bowl victory. If you are inclined and wish to donate, please consider the following funds to support the families by visiting the following GoFundMe link:

https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/kansas-city-parade-help

Thank you for your continued support of Swartz and Indurante – let’s help support those in need.

As always, you can reach me at or . Thank you for reading! I would love to hear from you in the comments.