High Falls, NY (May 29, 2008) Nestled away in Ulster County, New York is the small hamlet (population 627), of High Falls. There you’ll find Stone Dock Golf Club, a scenic, 3,000 yard, 9 hole course, which has been paying more than it’s “fair share” of property taxes for years, much to the chagrin of owner/manager, John North.
Since 2000, John repeatedly worked to get the value Ulster County had on his course reduced. Armed with little more than his request and his financial information, his pleas fell on deaf ears over and over again. This winter, John attended the NGCOA conference and sat in on a presentation about property taxes. He decided to seek help and contacted Larry Hirsh, with Golf Property Analysts.
Hirsh then referred John to Jeff Monroe, founder of Tax Profile Services Inc. Monroe, using his unique and appeal-tested system to establish value for special use property, was able to develop a substantial and indisputable argument for reducing the real property values on Stone Dock. TPS provided John the ammunition he needed to sit down “pro-actively” with the county and have them take notice. John did just that and was successful in convincing the Auditor to reduce his real property value by over 35%.
“I have been trying to get this done for years with no success. I just didn’t know how to go about doing it. It isn’t like you can just look in the phone book and call someone about golf course taxes”. “Working with TPS, we were able to gather the information together and present it in such a way as to get the Auditor to listen. That 35% reduction will mean an extra mortgage payment this winter, or maybe a piece of used equipment to improve the course”., said John.
Golf Tax, LLC and Tax Profile Services, Inc. are providing golf courses nationwide a dynamic and affordable service designed to ensure golf course owners are paying their “fair” share of property taxes, and not a penny more.
GT and TPS accomplish this by using comprehensive, time tested, and appeal tested methodologies, resulting in a much more accurate assessment of golf course realty than has ever been possible. GT and TPS offer a “proactive” approach, providing local taxing authorities an alternative to the “replacement cost” method for valuing golf property. They introduce a valuation method that identifies and segregates all the various components that make up the realty and non-realty of a golf course. This more often than not represents a significant tax savings for the client. The average reduction GT obtains for their clients is 35-40%.
IT’S SIMPLY A FACT. OVER 90% OF ALL U.S. GOLF COURSES ARE VALUED INCORRECTLY AND THEIR OWNERS ARE PAYING TOO MUCH PROPERTY TAX….MOST OFTEN A LOT TOO MUCH!
Why? … Assessment authorities almost universally rely upon the “replacement cost approach” for valuation purposes. Within this approach little or no consideration is given to such issues as value transfer, business value, intangibles, local market conditions, or personal property contribution to overall value.
Some owners try to get relief on their own or hire unqualified “experts”. Usually, this results in a failure to gain relief, or they are granted short lived, “token” relief to get them to go away. It’s not enough to plead “not fair” in front of the board, or rely on failing opinions like “Fun Time Inc.”……… You MUST meet the burden of proof and build a prima facie case PROVING that YOUR property valuation is incorrect. (That’s the tricky part).
The bottom line is that course owners aren’t asking for a tax “break”, but they are asking that they be taxed fairly and accurately.
What sets GT apart is that they are represented by one of only a very small handful of nationally recognized experts in the field of special use property appraisal, specializing in golf course tax issues. Most attorneys, accountants, and appraisers, are very good at what they do………….. But, special use property appraisal for ad valorem property tax considerations is just NOT “what” they do on a regular basis.
Visit www.ohiogolftax.com, or www.golftax.com for more info.
Contact:
Golf Tax, LLC Main Office 937-768-4653
Tax Profile Services, Inc. Main Office 303-477-4504
info@ohiogolftax.com or monroe@golftax.com
