Some of the most interesting and educational property tax cases often involve dealing with the complexities of special purpose properties. The recently decided case of UTGR v. Mandillo is no exception.
The owners of the former racing track turned casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island filed appeals on the grounds of overvaluation. Although UTGR argued against the assessor’s valuation of the land and improvement values, the most significant issue was the effect of functional obsolescence on the value of the improvements.
At the heart of UTGR’s functional obsolescence argument was accounting for the remnants of the former horse racing track that no longer had functional utility for the casino, including the track itself, a three story concrete grandstand and a large clubhouse designed to accommodate 30,000 patrons a day.
Do yourself a favor and give this case a read to find out how a well-executed functional obsolescence claim resulted in assessment reductions in excess of $40,000,000.
