The Swartz Report: Now is the time to be proactive concerning your real estate valuations.

Happy belated Valentine’s Day as well as belated Happy Mardi Gras wishes. Between the Polar Vortex and the pandemic, it is hard to figure out what month we are in and what’s coming next. One thing remains consistent – business personal property tax filings are coming due, and counties are beginning to issue 2021 valuation notices.

County Valuation Notices

We will see reassessments in Iowa, Missouri and Colorado in 2021, and Johnson County, KS has just released the 2021 commercial/industrial values. It will be interesting to see how the various counties react to the effects of Covid in the real estate arena.

Johnson County has reduced properties with 20% decreases in value for hoteliers located on the southwest side of the greater Kansas City area, but is this reflective of the market?

Polk County, IA (Des Moines area) will be issuing valuation notices at the end of March. And we are hearing there may be significant decreases for hotels and restaurants. Again, how will this compare to each individual situation?

Retail, hotels, leisure activities and indoor centers have all been severely impacted by the virus, and some economists are indicating it could be several years before these sectors get back to pre-pandemic levels of activity.

Now is the time.

Now is the time to be proactive concerning your real estate valuations. We anticipate a tremendous amount of appeal activity in jurisdictions across the country. No geographical area is immune from this downturn, and it’s extremely important taxpayers know they are only paying their fair share on the true market value of the property.

Railcar valuations.

The railcar valuation side of the business will also be active as owners of railcars faced increased idle time due to less demand in oil, natural gas, sand, coal and other goods. In several instances, railcars have been placed in storage with very little mileage after March 31, 2020.

How soon before we see a sense of pre-pandemic activity in the rail industry? Estimates range from a few months to another year. All of this must be taken into consideration when determining the current market value of specific types of rail cars.

Speaking of railcars…

Noelle Giacomino

I am so pleased to announce Noelle Giacomino, Senior Analyst in our Indurante group, has been promoted to Director at Indurante. Now in her 13^th year with the company, Noelle has created strong relationships with our clients as well as governing officials at the county and state levels.

Her knowledge of the railcar industry and particularly the intricacies involved in the annual railcar declarations makes her a valuable asset to any private railcar owner. We are fortunate to have her share her wealth of knowledge with our clients.

Congratulations Noelle – we look forward to your continued growth within the company!

Property Tax Questions?

As we ramp up for what could be our busiest season since 2009-10, please know we are available to answer any questions you may have in the property tax world. We are here to help.

As always, you may reach me at the following –  or .

Thank so much and we look forward to representing your interests.