Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Canary, David L

Titel

Commentary: Assessors can tee off on golf courses' worth

Ist Teil von

• Daily journal of commerce (Portland, Or. : 1987), 2007-04, p.1

Ort / Verlag

Portland, Or: BridgeTower Media Holding Company

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Quelle

Nexis Uni

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The first issue the tax court tackled in determining the real market value of the golf course and clubhouse was the highest and best use of the golf course and clubhouse as a project separate from the real estate development. The court determined that limiting membership only to owners of lots in the Broken Top subdivision was a negative influence on value. The court found that the best method for operating the golf course and clubhouse that would produce the highest return to a prospective buyer was as a high-end, open- membership course, open to anyone with sufficient money to join. The tax court next considered which of the three valuation approaches would produce the best approximation of market value. The court considered the cost to construct the course and the clubhouse. The problem with the cost approach is the difficulty in measuring economic obsolescence - external factors attributable to market dynamics, such as declining demographics that have a negative effect upon the value of property. Next the court considered the sale prices paid for golf courses of a similar quality. However, golf courses, particularly high-end ones, have their own unique characteristics. Finding a sale of a golf course and clubhouse with those same unique characteristics is difficult. David L. Canary has specialized in state and local tax litigation for the past 18 years. He has worked for the past 13 years as an owner in the Portland office of Garvey Schubert Barer and prior to that was an assistant attorney general representing the Oregon Department of Revenue. He has the distinction of trying several of the largest tax cases in Oregon's history. He is the Oregon member of American Property Tax Counsel and an active member of the Association of Oregon Industries' Fiscal Policy Council. Contact him at dcanary@gsblaw.com or 503-228-3939.