Ohio Tax Panel Rules Against Cabela’s in Assessment Fight

An Ohio Cabela’s store should be valued at $13.8 million, higher than the company’s claimed value, the Ohio Board Of Tax Appeals ruled.

The panel sided with the Lorain County Board of Revision against Cole Cab Portfolio LLC, which filed the appeal, on determining the value of property owned by the outdoor retailer.

The company had contested the value of its property, including its store, previously assessed at $12.2 million. The company initially claimed the property was worth $8 million. After Cole Cab submitted its complaint to the Board of Revision, the Avon Local School District Board of Education countered with its own complaint in support of the assessment’s findings.

During the Board of Revision’s hearing, Cole Cab revised the claimed value to $9.6 million, a number determined by appraiser Curtis Hannah. The panel ultimately sided with the county’s appraiser, Thomas Sprout, who assessed the value at $13.8 million as of the start of 2019.

“We find nothing wrong with Hannah’s report per se but find that Sprout’s report is better support and better tailored,” the board said. “The properties that Sprout chose are more comparable to the subject property than Hannah’s properties.”

Sprout chose properties that were more recently developed, according to the panel, composed of David Harbarger, Jasmine Clements, and Jeff Caswell.

Cole Cab was represented by Todd W. Sleggs of Sleggs, Danzinger & Gill, Co., who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Lorain County Board Of Revision was represented by Greg Peltz of the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Avon Local Schools Board of Education was represented by Abraham Lieberman of O’Toole, McLaughlin, Dooley & Pecora Co., which declined to comment.

The case is Cole Cab Portfolio, LLC, v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of Revision, Ohio Bd. of Tax App., No(s). 2020-901, decision 7/7/22.