Appealing assessments

Three Meijer and two Kohl’s stores in St. Joseph County are appealing assessments for the following multi-year periods:

• Kohl’s, 1290 E. Ireland Road, South Bend: Appeals for 2008 (requesting decrease in assessed value from $8.2 million to $4.9 million) and 2009 (requesting decrease from $8.8 million to $4.4 million)

• Kohl’s, 4410 Grape Road, Mishawaka: Appeals for 2008 (requesting decrease from $8 million to $4.2 million) and 2009 (requesting decrease from $8 million to $3.8 million)

• Meijer, 5020 Grape Road, Mishawaka: Appeals from 2006 through 2013 (requesting decrease for 2007 from $16.8 million to $12.8 million; other years not available)

• Meijer, 3610 S. Bremen Highway, Mishawaka: Appeals from 2006 through 2011 (requesting decrease for 2007 from $10.6 million to $7.8 million; other years not available)

• Meijer, 3600 Portage Road, South Bend: Appealed assessments from 2008 through 2011 (appeal requests not available)
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes are at stake in a legal brawl between big-box stores and St. Joseph County.

Three Meijer and two Kohl’s stores in the county have appealed their property assessments for multiyear periods.

The retailers, faced with challenges as more people shop online, want to slash property taxes by arguing stores should be taxed the same as vacant ones, also known as dark boxes.

If the Indiana Board of Tax Review rules in favor of the stores, there would be substantial tax losses for the county, South Bend and Mishawaka.

Local governments would need to refund taxes for past years in which store assessments were too high, and the tax burden from stores could shift to residents and other businesses.

“At stake is hundreds of thousands of dollars for each property,” said Frank Agostino, an attorney defending the county against appeals. He represents County Assessor Rosemary Mandrici.

The legal fight raises a key question: Is the value of a store limited to the structure itself, or is it linked to the sales that go on inside?
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