Our latest news and publications.

By Todd D. Jones, MAI, CRE, FRICS, and Michael J. Mard, CPA/ABV, CPCU At the end of 2017, The Walt Disney Company filed an Agreement and Plan of Merger with the Securities and Exchange Commission to merge with Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.…

As a property owner’s biggest operating expense line item, underwriting property tax liabilities as part of pre-acquisition investment due diligence or operational budget forecasting and control is challenging, as evidenced by the magnitude of the consulting industry.Complicating matters since 2010, 69 municipalities across the US (680 since 1937) have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, and not all states permit this.1 In fact, most state and local governments are experiencing fiscal pressures attributable to:Unfunded pension and healthcare benefits promised to a rapidly retiring workforce,Unionized workforces that can’t be fired but are earning private-sector, or higher, compensation at levels that are unsustainable,2Expanded demands for services due to changing demographics, andFederal employees earn 32% more than their private sector compatriots3, and state employees earn 40% more.4Because of these pressures and the fact that property tax is the primary funding vehicle for local government, assessors are becoming increasingly aggressive.…

By Todd D. Jones, MAI, CRE, FRICS and Michael J. Mard, CPA/ABV, CPCU Note to reader: This article is third in a series of columns addressing The Role of Property Tax in American Government culminating in the generally accepted methodology of the real estate appraisal, business valuation and accounting industries reconciled and properly applied to a property tax case study.…

By Todd D. Jones, MAI, CRE, FRICS and Michael J. Mard, CPA/ABV, CPCU Note to reader: This article is second in a series of columns addressing The Role of Property Tax in American Government culminating in the generally accepted methodology of the real estate appraisal, business valuation and accounting industries reconciled and properly applied to a property tax case study.…

By Todd D. Jones, MAI, CRE, FRICS, and Michael J. Mard, CPA/ABV, CPCU Note to reader: This article starts a series of columns addressing The Role of Property Tax in American Government culminating in the generally accepted methodology of the real estate appraisal, business valuation and accounting industries reconciled and properly applied to a property tax case study.…

By Joryn Jenkins, Esq. and Michael J. Mard, CPA/ABV. In Part One of this series, we discussed how Daubert has increasingly replaced Frye as the standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in trials. As more and more states adopt Daubert, courts increasingly prohibit the admission into evidence of pure opinion testimony.…