Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Scheels are suing a US town after overcharging claims in a decade-long tax battle
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SEVERAL retailers are locked in a new legal battle over taxes with a city that has been hit by taxation lawsuits for over a decade.
The city of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has found itself once again at the receiving end of a number of lawsuits as retailers argue their property tax bills are astronomical.
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Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Scheels have filed new cases against the city to challenge this year’s property tax bill.
The retailers still have pending lawsuits in Eau Claire County Court over the same issue for 2021 and 2022.
Lawyers from Milwaukee firm Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown filed the civil suits on July 21 for Walmart and Sam’s Club which has their headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The suit from Walmart claims that the store at 3915 Gateway Drive is worth $5.55million, instead of the $12.4million the city has concluded it is following a tax assessment.
Meanwhile, Sam’s Club argues that its store at 4001 Gateway Drive should be worth $3.2million, not $6.85million the city assessor says it is.
Attorney Terry Booth from the law firm Rogahn Jones in Waukesha also filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of Scheels on July 21.
The suit argued that the store at 4710 Gold Road in Oakwood should be valued at $3.56million for tax purposes rather than the $6.79million stated by the assessor.
All three suits are seeking partial refunds on their current tax bills and a reduced assessment on their properties in Eau Claire.
Once the city has been served it has 20 days to give a written response.
Ahead of the city’s Board of Review in May, the retailers noted their interest in suing.
According to documents filed with the lawsuits, they sent written requests to take the battle to court rather than contesting this year’s charges with the panel.
The latest filings against the city come over a decade after Eau Claire officials were first faced with lawsuits about its taxation assessment process, including by the retailers that filed this month.
Scheels has ongoing cases dating back to 2019 that are still pending in Eau Claire County Court.
Meanwhile, Walmart and Sam’s Club previously settled with the city for excessive taxation lawsuits which saw them given discounts, though they were much smaller than they argued for in court.
In April 2020, Walmart agreed to get a four percent refund on its tax bills between 2017 and 2019 while Sam’s Club settled in 2021 for a two percent refund on its taxes in 2019.
The U.S. Sun has contacted the city of Eau Claire, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Scheels for comment.
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