Rankin County issued the following statement.
A series of lawsuits filed by Walmart and Sam's Club against the Rankin County Tax Assessor and Board of Supervisors have been dismissed in favor of Rankin County. Wal mart and Sam's Club sought to have the assessed value of its retail stores located in Rankin County reduced by 50%, arguing that the Rankin County Tax Assessor's determination of value was excessive. If successful, these lawsuits would have cut in half the property taxes owed on the affected properties. The Rankin County Tax Assessor and the Board of Supervisors vigorously defended the County's determination of value. Had the companies' arguments been successful, the County anticipated similar arguments being raised by other big box retailers operating in Rankin County. Supervisor Daniel Cross stated, "These national and international big box retailers use their influence and their vast resources to put pressure on local governments to arbitrarily lower their taxes and treat their properties differently than other businesses. The Rankin County Board of Supervisors believes that all citizens and businesses should be treated fairly and equally under the law. It was an easy decision for our Board to fight to maintain fairness in our assessment methods. And we are excited that these lawsuits have been dismissed in favor of Rankin County." Tax Assessor, John Sullivan, said, "I am gratified that the methods we use to assess businesses in Rankin County have been upheld. My office follows the law in conducting fair and equitable value determinations no matter how big or how small a business operation may be. By resisting pressure brought by big box retailers, Rankin County citizens are protected against an unfair shifting of tax burdens onto our local businesses. Let this be a signal to any other big box retailers who want to pressure us to shift tax burdens onto local businesses that Rankin County will not fold to pressure." The Walmart and Sam's Club lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice following the decision by the companies to pay all current tax obligations owed to Rankin County without any reduction .
40 comments:
Rankin County residents will pay for this themselves in higher prices.
@9:18, how so? Be specific.
@9:18am - Only the ones that chose to continue to shop at these shitbox stores.
Walmart can't simply pass this cost on to consumers. They've got competitors -- the few they haven't managed to run out of business -- and the have to meet their competitors' prices. If they could simply pass this tax through, the wouldn't spend one cent trying to fight it in court.
Higher prices from Walmart and Sams because of this? Unlikely. But even if they did raise prices, it would help out the local businesses by making it easier to compete.
Paying tax on the value of a property is a silly way to collect taxes. They turn right around and give out abatements to their favored businesses under the banner "economic development".
Walmart/Sam's sought to have the tax reduced. Residents already pay for Walmart to attain the profit margin Walmart seeks, after taxes.
@9:18 - highly doubtful. This fight has been going on for years by the big box companies. If they score any reduction at all, it's considered a win by them. Congrats to Rankin and keep up the fight.
Higher prices because WM didn't get their way? If they shop exclusively at WalMart and if WalMart can get by with posting higher prices in that one specific store, which is doubtful. There is no reason in the world to allow big-box or big-name stores to dictate their tax rate. Do you think JoAnn's Lil Bitty Nick-Nack Store would be able to do so? And JoAnn is apt to be a Rankin Co resident who spends most of her income right there,owns a home there, and supports her local community.
Oh, bull, 9:18. WallyWorld, the world's biggest retailer, pays crap wages and we already pay for their employee's food stamps, welfare, and health care.
Lately, the Walton Family, worth 238 BILLION Dollars, like our other Richie Riches, decided that's NOT enough for their insatiable greed.
Nope, their shyster Tax Dodgers in legal and accounting, have tried to argue that their stores are actually empty buildings, which are so customized (at their behest) that they can only be sold, completely in theory, for HALF of what they are paying. Without proof. After driving out local businesses, they now want to pay even less tax, despite record profits.
Local authorities have decided the heck with you for that. Not buying that. Not GOP, not Dem, not anyone with a brain. The gall of that is what irks most small towns.
3rd Gen greed knows no bounds, nor shame for selling out and screwing the American worker, American businesses, and selling out to China.
Yet another Tax Dodge by the rich.
9:18, as is appropriate. These taxes are a cost of doing business. Things don't come free, although there are some factions in our country that have been led to believe that there is such an entitlement.
Just as the basic cost of the product is a beginning point in its final selling price, the additional costs involved in making it available for you to purchase are added to that beginning point - the building, the workers in the store (which includes those at the checkout counter), the electricity, and as you note, these taxes. As an additional cost, add the corporate taxes that are charged by governments - you know, those "make the corporations pay higher taxes, not me" concepts.
50 % ? Damn, I imagine THAT is where their complaint fell on deaf ears. Idiots. Piss on them, they were already charging 1.45 for a small snicker bar....2.25 for a soda. SAMS hasn't been fair in prices for a few years now.
I commend Rankin County authorities. I am very pro-local business & buy local every chance I have.
Wait until wallyworld pulls out of Brandon and Pearl as punishment
Rankin County resident and I haven't spent a nickel in Wal-Mart or Sam's in over 10 years. Carry on.
10:09 : Please. Walmart is like Mickie D's in Rankin County.
Walmart has been raising prices steadily since the early days of the scamdemic. Nobody is going to notice another $0.10 added to their twinkies and beer.
What are the Niknar mouthbreathers going to do, drive to Whole Foods? This is the same crowd who considers “The Krogers” to be high dollar.
Paris is known for the Eiffel Tower. Egypt is known for the pyramids. Rankin county is known for its Walmart.
Missing the point.
Walmart matches prices against all retailers except Walmart. Walmart prices their stores based on local economics at each store location. A local example would be take the Madison or Flowood store and do a walk through on Hwy 18 for example. Prices on selected items are different. This is a national pricing strategy for Wal*Mart. If they know one thing it how to squeeze a $ out of everybody, everything, landlords, developers, employees and local government
When as Merchandising Coordinator for the CL (long ago) we were pressured to charge less at some stores for Sunday papers. Now remember they wanted their full cut.
@10:41
How much of the population actually spends the time at checkout to demand individual price matches for each item they buy?
Yes, on paper walmart price matches. In reality only an extreme minority of elderly penny pinchers on fixed incomes with nothing better to do than clip coupons and price match take advantage of it. In the end, Rankin residents pay.
Truly doubt 9:18 can do the math needed to calculate this impact beyond two decimal places.
They did the same thing with a lawsuit in Hinds County years ago revolving around the inventory tax. They were basically just making up a number for what they owed, based on what they felt like paying, that was less than half of what they actually owed. They lost in court. Know what they did after that? Got the legislature to repeal the inventory tax.
They've been running this playbook for years. If you don't know about it, it's because you've been watching/listening to propaganda disguised as a news program.
Here's a good place to start, re: taxes. https://americansfortaxfairness.org/new-issues/
Always laugh at all the peeps bitching about Walmart while box after box from Amazon arrives on their doorsteps.
I'm with 9:53 on this. We need to stop all of the corporate welfare that the likes of Wal-Mart, etc. feast on. They hit us twice with the tax dollars we spend on welfare for their underpaid employees and the various tax breaks that they get. This is why I cannot stand any business not paying $14+/hr. It is damn near impossible to live on the current minimum wage. Wage slavery and thievery are the name of the game for certain sectors of corporate America and even small business owners. The scamdemic has opened some eyes, and people are realizing that they have been in the Matrix for far too long, and won't tolerate working to enrich business owners and corporations. The working person wants their slice of the pie, too. Trickle down economics is one of the biggest lies ever sold to America.
WalMart stopped matching prices years ago.
Keep up with your big boxes.
Interested in the economics cities and the taxing of box stores?
See here:
https://www.urbanthree.com/case-study/lafayette-la/
@12:05
Haven’t you heard, corporations are people too.
The bigger question is what did Rankin County find to elicit the concessions made by Walmart. See https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=silSnxlvXMg @ 0:02:40ish. That is crazy.
I'm betting 12:05 would be among the 1st people to sqwawk at price increases commensurate with a $14 minimum wage. See all the prices rising now, 12:05? The govt paid all those employees not to work, so private business was forced to raise pay rates to bring the workforce out of "retirement," and voila, HUGE price increases! Happy?
All you fuk'n economic tax experts need to run for office and show everyone how is done.........but, I figure that you're like Jackson's Chok'm up, you're all bullsh*t talk and no action.
Is the Braves stadium and Outlets of MS(that are almost defunct now) paying any tax yet? They sure were quick to waive their taxes to get them here and now they are hardly even a "thing" anymore.
10:41 (1), you twit, there are 3 WalMarts in Rankin. There are 3 WalMarts in Hinds County. There are 3 WalMarts in precious Madison County.
Folks from Scarsdale shop at upstate WalMarts when at their country homes. Parisians go to Carrefour, which is the world's 2nd largest retailer, the French WalMart. Folks with real wealth love a bargain, too.
If you somehow think Northeast Jerkson, with its convenient Dollar General nearby on the corner, near Krystal, is somehow "upscale," you don't have a clue about wealth or retail.
You must be known for your mouth breathing.
I pay $36,000/ year for my 10,000sq ft business property in Flowood. It is very expensive just to open the door for a business in Rankin County
Walmart sucks anyway! I’d rather pay more somewhere else especially if it’s a small mom and pop store.
Kingfish: Series is singular. Have is plural. Series has. Also please learn to use the paragraph-break feature or tell your ghost writers to.
Oh...but you'll quickly call me a dumbass and tell us you didn't write it. But, what decent reporter/journalist/correspondent doesn't proofread material and make corrections as appropriate?
@Jan 21. 1:24
I would have no problem with the raising of prices. But you are ok with giving welfare to corporations and small business owners and their employees?!?! Prices will not rise as much as you think. It is a fear tactic to keep the status quo. You will bring a lot of people into the workforce if you offer a living wage.
If you really think those "stimulus" payments kept people out of work, you are freaking crazy! You are out of touch with what it costs to live. Most states cut those payments off, and there are still plenty of "For Hire" signs posted on business doors. Are you crying about the PPP "loans" and other corporate welfare that was also given out? At most, those payments allowed people to be more selective about the possibilities. You do know that a lot of workers completely left the workforce due to death, disability, and retirement due to the pandemic. That allowed more jobs to open up. Because of travel restrictions, there is not as much cheap "immigrant" labor available to fill a lot of those slave wage openings.
10:53 - Please list three or four mom and pop stores where you shop instead of Wal Mart. I can only think of Ace Hardware...and they're on life support. Thanks.
I generally post press releases as they are issued. Take the mistakes up with the author.
When a big box or Mom n Pop goes out of business or moves the empty space just sits forever, seems to have no little value. It would be interesting to see the assessments.
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