…and on that farm he “grew” some pumpkins.
Oh, and he also exploited some tax loopholes too.
Two weeks ago, it came to light multi-millionaire real estate developer Terrence “Old Mac T.” Wall reclassified $2 million in prime Dane County commercial real estate into “agriculture” property, which allowed his real estate company to eliminate $34,000 in local property taxes in Middleton. Commenting on Terrence Wall’s use of yet another tax loophole, Middleton city assessor Paul Musser said he understands why Wall is turning valuable commercial property into temporary farm plots:
“Vacancy rates are increasing. Commercial real estate owners are getting hit by people, tenants who want rent concessions right and left. It’s highly competitive right now and they’re looking to cut their costs anyway they can to survive.”
As if Old Mac T. Wall’s $34,000 tax dodge on Greenway Boulevard in Middleton wasn’t enough, he’s moved on to bigger and better tax dodges, namely a parcel he owns on Airport Road Middleton. According to Paul Musser, that property is also qualifying for the agricultural assessment under the use value law, which means just over $77,000 in taxes are being diverted from the City of Middleton’s coffers and are instead lining the pockets of Old Mac T. Wall.
According to Old Mac T. Wall’s website, the Airport Road property is his Harvard Square project, and according to Dane County’s website, the Harvard Square project owned by Old Mac T. Wall had a 2008 assessed value of $4,496,100 with property taxes amounting to $77,256. Since Old Mac T. Wall became a farmer and had his land reclassified to agricultural, the assessed value of the property dropped to an astoundingly low $3,300, which means Old Mac T. Wall’s 2009 taxes on the property dropped to a very reasonable $56.70. So if we add Old Mac T. Wall’s pumpkin patch to his Harvard Square farm, he’s loopholing Middleton’s taxpayers out of over $111,000!
It’s common knowledge Old Mac T. Wall owns a good amount of property scattered throughout Dane County, so what I’d like to know is on how many properties is Old Mac T. Wall pulling this “I’m a farmer” scam? How many more commercial parcels has T. Wall asked Dane County’s taxpayers to subsidize through the use value law?
Here’s a breakdown of Old Mac T. Wall’s latest tax dodge:
| 2008 Land Value Classification – G4 (commercial) | 2009 Land Value Classification – G2 (agricultural) |
| 2008 Assessed Value – $4,496,100 | 2009 Assessed Value – $3,300 |
| 2008 Property Taxes – $77,256.53 | 2009 Estimated Property Taxes – $56.70 |
But but, he is supposed to unseat Feingold. He is the chosen one, he hasn’t ever done anything ethically wrong.
(Sarcasm on)
lstw, I was wondering when you’d wander over to our little slice of the intertubes.
I know it goes against the talking points, but T. Wall’s already damaged goods, and I’d actually be shocked if he were able to beat Dave Westlake in a Republican primary. Considering how weak a candidate I think Westlake is, that’s saying something.
I have been reading your little slice for a few weeks now, but just started commenting. I guess I wanted to read some of the views of the side I identify more with.
Throwing rocks at the hornets nest known as RDW doesn’t lose it’s humor though.
I can’t argue about throwing rocks at the hornets nest known as RDW; it sure is fun to get them all riled up.
Pretty standard in this state for all developers (and corporations) to use this tax law to their advantage. Epic Systems is using it to save over $200,000 in taxes. You may disagree with this law, but it is the law and I for one do not find it unethical.
As a resident of Middleton I appreciate that developers have taken, for the most part, unproductive farm land with low tax revenue and increased the tax base. In Mr. Wall’s case, the property he has developed has increased tax revenues to the city by over $250,000 while at the same time bringing in over 200 jobs to Middleton.
And while it is fun to claim this money now lines “his pockets” the truth of the matter is that that money probably stays within the company for future investment or to keep people employed. In this economy we should be finding ways to increase development and create jobs, not raising taxes to drive them away. If land being re-zoned as Ag helps, then so be it.
That being said, I am still voting for Russ Feingold. Can we please follow Russ’s lead and keep the debate on real issues, not baseless stories like Delaware and re-zoning?
Duke, if you don’t have a problem with T. Wall exploiting a tax loophole in order to avoid paying his fair share of taxes, then so be it, but I’m willing to bet the City of Middleton could have put the $111,000 T. Wall avoided paying to good use.
Zach,
It isn’t a loophole no matter how many times you repeat it. I am sure the city is very happy with the $300,000 increase in tax revenue and the 200 new jobs created by Mr. Wall’s efforts. I also assume the city is smart enough to understand that this increased revenue and the jobs could have gone elsewhere or never happened if it wasn’t for those “greedy developers” all of you are lambasting.
Every corporation and developer takes advantage of this law, if you don’t like it, write your elected official to have it repealed. But to attack a candidate for it is pretty petty. There are much larger, real issues in play that will differentiate the candidates. Try sticking with those issues so we can take this blog seriously.
Duke, “we” take this blog seriously, even if you don’t.
Given your relationship to Mr. Wall, I can understand why you’d rush to his defense, but the fact remains, he’s exploited the use value law to his benefit. The law was put in place to allow farmers to keep their land in the face of development, not to allow developers a way to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.