A decision that could mean the difference in millions of dollars of tax revenue to Johnson County, its cities and school boards looms ahead as the Kansas Supreme Court prepares to hear a “dark store” case on Thursday. The Kansas Supreme Court on Wednesday hears Johnson County’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling upholding a state tax appeal board’s decision that the county owes Walmart $60 million in overpaid property taxes. Walmart successfully used the so-called “dark store theory” in arguing that the county had overvalued 11 of its properties in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. If the high court upholds the ruling, local taxing jurisdictions — including cities and school boards — could see hits to their annual tax revenues. At the center of the case is the method the county used to appraise values on big box commercial real estate — specifically, 11 properties occupied by Walmart and Sam’s Clubs in 2016 and 2017.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
