Stipulation of Settlement and Notice of Voluntary Settlement_Menards, Inc. Copyright 2014
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 8.
ITEM TITLE: Stipulation of Settlement and Notice of Voluntary
Settlement- Menard, Inc. Property Tax Appeal
SUMMARY: City Attorney recommending approval of the Stipulation of
Settlement and Notice of Voluntary Settlement for the
property tax appeal filed by Menards, Inc. for property
located at 5300 Dodge St.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Approve
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Stipulation of Settlement Supporting Documentation
Notice Of Voluntary Settlement Supporting Documentation
Barry A. Lindahl, Esq. Dubuque THE C
City Attorney
Suite 330, Harbor View Place DUUB
E300 Main Street All-AmericaCitY
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-6944
(563)583-4113 office Masterpiece on the Mississippi
(563)583-1040 fax
balesq@cityofdubuque.org 2007.2012•2013
June 7, 2016
Mayor and Members of the City Council President of the Board of Directors
of the City of Dubuque Northeast Iowa Community College
City Hall P.O. Box 400
13th & Central Avenue Calmar, IA 52132
Dubuque, IA 52001
Chairperson of the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Dubuque County Board of Supervisors Dubuque County Hospital
Dubuque County Courthouse Sunnycrest Manor
720 Central Avenue 2375 Roosevelt Street
Dubuque, IA 52001 Dubuque, IA 52001
Chairperson of the School Board Chairperson of the Council of the
Dubuque Community School District Dubuque County Agricultural Extension
Central Administration Offices Service
2300 Chaney Road 14742 Hwy. 20 West, Suite 2
Dubuque, IA 52001 Dubuque, IA 52003
Chairperson of the Conference Board
of the City of Dubuque
City Hall
13th & Central
Dubuque, IA 52001
RE: Menard, Inc. vs. City of Dubuque Board of Review
PAAB Docket No. 2015-104-00485C
Parcel No. 1032128015
Enclosed is a copy of the Stipulation of Settlement regarding a tax assessment appeal
filed by Menard, Inc. Iowa Code 441.44 requires that the Stipulation of Settlement be
served upon each of you.
There is one property that is the subject of the appeal.
The property is the Menard property located at 5300 Dodge Street, parcel number
1032128015. The property sits on 23.94 acres and has a one-story concrete tilt-up steel
frame building with 162,300 square feet. It also has a one-story pole lumber storage
building of 20,640 square feet and a guard shack of 1,200 square feet. The building is
used by Menard as a large big box retail building. The building has minimal finish, no
ceiling finish and a concrete floor. The building was built in 2004 and has a land to
building ratio of 6.43 to 1. The useable portion of the land is approximately 75% of the
parcel size; land on the south and west sides is unusable. The assessed value for 2015
was $10,487,770.
Menard, Inc., represented by Paradigm Tax Group (later represented by Attorney
Robert Hill from Minnesota), protested to the Dubuque City Board of Review in the
Spring of 2015. Menard, Inc. protested that the assessment was too high because the
property was not worth $10,487,770. Menard, Inc. claimed the value was $9,100,000.
Paradigm based the protest on a uniformity analysis and some properties that sold that
were judged by Paradigm to be comparable, to reach its value conclusion. The Board
of Review reduced the property value to $10,000,000 and Menard, Inc. filed an appeal
with the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB). In the Fall of 2015 a 12%
Equalization Order was placed on all commercial property in Dubuque raising the
property value to $11,200,000.
An appraisal was completed for Menard, Inc. by Michael MaRous of MaRous &
Company of Park Ridge, Illinois. He reached a value conclusion of $6,900,000 for the
January 1, 2015 assessment date. He used a set of six comparable sales properties
and made adjustments to each of them to reach his conclusion. Bob Felderman
completed an appraisal for the Board of Review and reached a conclusion of
$7,000,000.
Menard, Inc. proposed a settlement of $9,000,000 for 2015, $8,000,000 for 2016 and
$7,000,000 for 2017.
The Dubuque City Attorney and the Dubuque City Assessor decided to hire another
appraisal to be performed by Dennis Cronk of Cook Appraisal of Iowa City. Mr. Cronk
reached an appraisal value of $9,800,000 for the January 1 , 2015 assessment date.
The Board offered a settlement of $9,000,000 for 2015 and 2016 which Menard, Inc.
has accepted.
The agreed upon assessment of $9,000,000 for 2015 and 2016 is $2,000,000 more
than the initial appraisal performed for the Board of Review; more than over $600,000
higher than the average of the Board's two appraisers, and $1,100,000 higher than the
average of the three appraisals.
2
A summary of the values is as follows:
Original assessed value $10,487,770
Board reduced value after $10,000,000
protest
Board appraiser value (Cronk) $ 9,800,000
Proposed Settlement $ 9,000,000
Board appraiser value (Felderman) $ 7,000,000
Menard appraiser value $ 6,900,000
Average of the 3 appraisals $ 7,900,000
The settlement will result in a reduction in assessed value of $1,487,770 for the 2015
assessment year from the 2014 assessment. This settlement will mean a tax loss to all
taxing bodies of$44,212 for the upcoming year from the previous year.
Pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement, the appeal will be dismissed and the tax
assessment will be adjusted to $9,000,000 for parcel 1032128015 for the 2015 and
2016 assessment years. The $9,000,000 will be allocated as follows: land value of
$1,896,250 and the building value of $7,103,750.
The proposed settlement will be presented to PAAB after fourteen days from the date
indicated on the attached Notice of Voluntary Settlement. If there are any objections to
the settlement they should be made known to the PAAB prior to that time.
If you have any questions about the proposed settlement, please contact City Assessor,
Rick Engelken at (563)-589-7800.
Very cerely,
r
arry A. Lindahl, Esq.
ity Attorney
Enclosure
cc: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
Kevin Firnstahl, City Clerk
Rick Engelken, City Assessor
FAUSERS\tsteckle\Lindahl\Tax Appeals\Menard Inc.2015\Settlement Docs\ChairperMayorPres_060716.doc
3
IOWA PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEAL BOARD
PAAB Docket No. 2015-104-00485C
Parcel No. 1032128015
MENARD, INC.,
Appellant,
vs.
DUBUQUE CITY BOARD OF REVIEW,
Appellee.
STIPULATION OF SETTLEMENT
Appellant Menard, Inc., and Appellee Dubuque City Board of Review,
state to the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board that the pending litigation
with regard to the tax assessment for the following-described property as of
January 1, 2015:
Parcel No. 1032128015
has been settled and agreed upon as follows:
Valuation:
Land $1,896,250
Building $7,103,750
Total $9,000,000
It is further agreed that the Valuation of $9,000,000.00 shall be effective
for the years of 2015 and 2016.
It is further agreed that upon entry of an Iowa Property Assessment
Appeal Board Order confirming the above settlement, the above pending
litigation shall be dismissed with prejudice.
Dated this 1 day of . 1rA1 Mf- 2016.
MENARD, INC. DUBUQUE r BOARD OF REVIEW
By: By:
Robert Hill Be A. Lindahl, Esq.
ROBERT HILL LAW, LTD. Suit 330, Harbor View Place
1339 County Road D Circle East 300tin Street
Maplewood, MN 55109 Dubuque, IA 52001
IOWA PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEAL BOARD
PAAB Docket No. 2015-104-00485C
Parcel No. 1032128015
MENARD, INC.,
Appellant,
vs.
DUBUQUE CITY BOARD OF REVIEW,
Appellee.
NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY SETTLEMENT
TO: City of Dubuque, Iowa
County of Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque Community School District
Northeast Iowa Community college
Dubuque County Hospital
Dubuque County Agricultural Extension Service
Conference Board of the City of Dubuque
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Iowa Code Section 441.44,
that the above-named Appellant and the City of Dubuque Board of Review,
Appellee, have entered into a voluntary settlement of this assessment appeal.
A copy of the proposed Stipulation of Settlement is attached hereto.
This Stipulation of Settlement will be presented to the Iowa Property
Assessment Appeal Board for approval after fourteen days from the date of this
Notice.
Dated this 7th day of June, 2016.
Dubuque City Board of Review,
Appellee
By
B rry A. Lindahl, Esq., City Attorney
S ite 330, Harbor View Place
300 Main Street
Dubuque, lA 52001-6944
(563) 583-4113