The Walton Family of Arkansas has been funding a robust Massachusetts Political Team—over $3.3 million worth in 2017 and 2018, and all tax deductible! Will their Arkansas retail giant WalMart also bring its dark store tax dodge to Massachusetts soon?
WalMart and other big box corporations have been appealing local tax assessments in over twenty states across the nation and there is no reason they won’t bring their campaign to Massachusetts. According to a New York Times story, the corporations challenge property tax assessments by asserting that their big box buildings have little resale value and therefore should be evaluated based on that factor. As comparables they offer big box stores that have gone out of business. So WalMart et al. are arguing that their properties—active stores, raking in big bucks–should be assessed based on the value of stores that have gone dark.
Dark store theory has been winning in some places with vast damage to local communities. An S&P Global Ratings report cited by the Times spoke of “‘the profound effect on some governments’ ability to levy’ property taxes” and that for smaller school districts “the financial impact could be devastating.” A resident of Wauwatosa, WI recognized that “Either my property taxes are going to go up or my schools are going to suffer.” The mayor of Manawa, WI monitors his snow plowers’ overtime after losing a dark store case.
The same is happening in other small towns, places with little remaining retail infrastructure after WalMart forced local stores out of business. CityLab wrote about West Bend, WI where an effort by WalMart and other corporations
would reduce property values by millions of dollars, force the city to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and set back payments on the public infrastructure that the town built to lure these retailers in the first place. That could result in higher taxes for residents, fewer police officers, firefighters, and teachers, and potentially, a mess of public debt.
The Wauwatosa tax assessor said “They are holding the communities for ransom” and described local communities as “bleeding out.” In Texas, which could lose $2.6 billion a year if dark store theory is successful, the Republican state comptroller declared dark store theory “corporate welfare of a particularly ugly kind.” A small Michigan town had to slash municipal pensions. Another has reduced library hours. In Kansas local government officials fear “a major negative impact on the school districts” and increased taxation of residents.
The Maine Center for Economy Policy (MECEP) did a study finding that big box stores have sought at least $184 million in reduced property taxes in the past four years. Property tax abatements are fairly common requests, but dark story theory offers a new way to slash assessments and even seek rebates for past taxes paid. Another feature of dark store theory is that corporations have placed restrictive covenants on many stores, so that if they are put on the market they can’t be sold to another big box retailer. This occurred in Rockland, ME.
Some states are fighting back, with legislation being taken up to limit the use of dark store theory in challenging assessments. MECEP has urged the Maine legislature to act before dark store theory progresses. That would not have happened under right wing governor Paul LePage, but might under newly elected Governor Janet Mills. Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, successor to Scott Walker, is moving on it in Wisconsin. Elections matter.
Darks store theory checks a lot of boxes for the Waltons. They are also at the forefront of efforts to privatize public education. That’s about taxes too. The more public institutions can be starved, the lower the taxes on plutocrats like the Waltons. Just recently the Waltons manufactured a protest at an Elizabeth Warren speech, ostensibly over charter schools but probably to disrupt her campaign, which features a two percent wealth tax. The Waltons did that with a tax deductible political front much like the ones they prop up in Massachusetts, like Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts and Massachusetts Parents United. Taxes, taxes, taxes. It’s all about taxes.
If you know a tax assessor or local official in a city or town that has a WalMart, Target, Home Depot, etc., talk to them about dark store tax theory. Let your legislators know too. Dark store theory will come to Massachusetts.
Rutger Bregman: “Stop talking about philanthropy and start talking about taxes. Taxes, taxes, taxes.”
[Full disclosure: as an educator in the UMass system, I am a union member. I write about dark money, not education. And now, about other dark stuff.]
Yet another example of rapacious capitalism run amuck. Another consideration: in many (if not most) small towns where Walmart is the biggest retailer, they are also the number one source of calls for service from the local police department. Store personnel contact the police frequently to request services for preventing shoplifting, maintaining order in their huge parking lots, or traffic control on particularly busy shopping days. A double whammy when they cut the resources available to fund the local police departments.