Tennessee Court of Appeals Affirms Trial Court’s Reduced Property Tax Valuation for Taxpayer’s Sale-Leaseback Transaction

The Tennessee Court of Appeals Nov. 28 affirmed the Trial Court’s appraised property tax valuation of Taxpayer’s property. Taxpayer purchased a data center from AT&T as part of a sale-leaseback transaction, and the county assessor assessed the property based on that transaction. Taxpayer protested, arguing the sale-leaseback was a financial transaction unrelated to the property’s market value. The county sought judicial review of a state assessment appeals commission reducing the valuation, and the trial court affirmed the commission’s valuation. The county appealed on issues of classification and valuation. The appeals court held: 1) the sale-leaseback transaction shouldn’t be considered for ...