CANADA

Local villages see highest property assessment increases in region
pentictonherald.ca
Property owners in the Village of Slocan are seeing their house and land values rising higher than anywhere else in the Valley Voice readership area once again. BC Assessment released this year's property assessments – based on market value as at July 1, 2022 – just after New Year's. The value of the average single-family dwelling in Slocan, a town of about 270 people, rose from $295,000 in 2021 to $381,000 last year – an increase of 29%.

NATIONAL

Supreme Court Takes Widow's Case, Lost Home for Unpaid Taxes
Law and Crime
An elderly widow whose condo was seized and sold by the county government for unpaid property taxes, with the government pocketing the proceeds from the equity in her property, may finally get relief after the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear her case.

CALIFORNIA

AT&T Lists More Than 260K SF For Sublease
BisNow
AT&T has listed more than 260K SF of offices for sublease at the Bishop Ranch office park in San Ramon, California. This is the second time in two years the telecommunications company has listed space at the property for sublease, previously placing 330K SF in the property's west wing on the market in summer 2020.

San Francisco's Office Availability Tops 32% To Finish 2022
BisNow
Nearly a third of San Francisco's office space is available for lease, according to new data from Savills, highlighting the ongoing struggle for a market that three years ago was a juggernaut, commanding huge rents as companies clamored for space.

Corruption case turns chaotic after judge's change of heart
Los Angeles Times
For more than a decade, tax consultant Ramin Salari fought charges that he had bribed former Los Angeles County assessor John Noguez in a pay-for-play conspiracy. Then, last week, Salari reversed course, agreeing to a deal with prosecutors that called for him to plead guilty to a single charge and pay more than $9 million in penalties in exchange for a sentence that spared him from time in prison.

FLORIDA

Florida's JetBlue base sues Orange County, state over taxes
Orlando Business Journal
The airline has a big complex on Orlando International Airport land that accommodates employees. The combined property assessed value, based on the appraiser site, is $64 million. The lawsuit alleges the property was made exempt from its taxes in 2020 because it fell under a "governmental,...

LOUISIANA

Homeowners and businesses could face drastic costs if lawmakers exempt inventory tax
Louisiana Illuminator
A Louisiana House panel mulling proposals for sweeping changes to the state's tax structure was warned Wednesday that drastic tax hikes await homeowners and businesses if lawmakers exempt commercial inventory stockpiles from local property taxes.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston sets new tax rates as residential bills jump and commercial remains strong
Boston Herald
The good news: The city's new growth and strong local economy have it set to head into the Fiscal Year 2024 budget cycle with as large a pot of money as ever. The bad news: More of it's coming from you.

TEXAS

Tarrant Appraisal District to review conflict of interest policy after Star-Telegram report
Star Telegram
A former Tarrant Appraisal District employee resigned a week after the Star-Telegram questioned whether she was in violation of the organization's conflict of interest rules. The Tarrant Appraisal District code of conduct prohibits employees from selling real estate in Tarrant County while working at TAD.

WYOMING

Private Wind Farms Want State To Keep Assessment Authority; Wyo Counties Say That Blows
Cowboy State Daily
A bill that would keep property tax assessments with the state – instead of counties – passed unanimously out of the Wyoming Legislature's House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee on Friday. But House Bill 3 didn't move forward without debate.