Looking at property tax - letters to the editor - Letter to the Editor

THANKS FOR YOUR RECENT FOCUS ON state taxes ("Stingers," January). One area that was missed is the increasing local property-tax burden being placed on commercial and industrial owners. In most situations, the taxable value of these assets has decreased at this point of the economic cycle. Many jurisdictions have been reluctant to grant reductions or are moving to redistribute the tax burden back over to business for the benefit of residential owners. Massachusetts and Cook County, Illinois, are two immediate examples. California has two initiatives planned for November that could increase taxes between 50 and 55 percent if passed on business property. Business-property owners may find it beneficial to look into opportunities for relief as well as other state and local actions that will impact their tax liabilities and profitability.

Norman J. Quinn III

President,

Equity Property Tax Group LLC

Vice President, Property Taxation,

Equity Office Properties

Chicago

Editor's reply: We agree. In fact, in researching the state tax story, we found that property tax was such a significant share of business taxes that we decided to devote a separate story to it. Our coverage of business-property taxes appears on page 35.

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