ROCKLAND — The nation’s largest retailer has appealed to the state in its quest for a property tax rebate of more than $105,000 from Rockland.
Wal-Mart filed an appeal Dec. 23 with State Board of Property Tax Review, claiming that Rockland’s assessment on its former store on Route 1 was excessive.
The state board has not scheduled a hearing and no timetable for the appeal to be heard has been determined.
The appeal challenges an Oct. 15 unanimous vote of the Rockland Board of Appeals to uphold the decision of the Rockland assessor that Wal-Mart had failed to provide all the documents requested and therefore its appeal period had passed.
The company first filed a request with the city assessor in February, arguing that the valuation of $8,516,400 in 2013 was far in excess of the true value of the property. Wal-Mart said the valuation should have been $3,125,000.
The company based its request on its sale of the property to Ocean State Job Lot in December 2013 for $3.1 million. Wal-Mart sold the property after it relocated in October 2013 to a larger supercenter it built about three miles south on Route 1 in neighboring Thomaston.
Ocean State occupies 40,000 square feet of the building and has been trying to lease the remaining space. The Dollar Tree store announced in November that it will open a store in 10,000-square-feet of the building this summer.
The Rockland property consists of a 94,000-square-foot building on 10.5 acres. The store was built in 1991 and underwent major renovations in 2008.
Rockland’s Assessor Dennis Reed has defended his $8.5 million assessment, saying that the sale price of the property was not reflective of what the property was worth when it was an operating Wal-Mart.
Reed pointed out that the sale to Ocean State imposed restrictions on the property for the next 25 years. Those restrictions prohibit the property from being used for a supermarket larger than 35,000 square feet, prohibits a discount store of more than 50,000 square feet, a discount pharmacy, gambling operations, adult entertainment activities including the sale of sexually explicit videos or books, massage parlors or escort services.
The assessor had asked for documents from Wal-Mart that were not provided. Wal-Mart argues in its appeal to the state that the documents were not relevant to the matter of the assessment on the property. Those documents include financial records on the operation of the store.
Last year, Wal-Mart asked for abatements at 11 locations throughout Maine and succeeded only twice, both times for far less than the amount requested. This is the first appeal to the state board by Wal-Mart.
The state board is a 15-member commission.
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