Assessment Appeals Board tables Amazon Visalia tax appeal after competing valuations

The Tulare County Assessment Appeals Board on Monday postponed a decision on Amazon Services LLC’s appeal of the assessed value for a Visalia distribution center, saying it needs more information before ruling.

Amazon’s representative, who identified themselves as Norikim, told the board the 1.1 million-square-foot facility at 8817 West Weibra Avenue should be valued at about $134,000,000. "We came up $134,000,000 is appropriate for this property," Norikim said while outlining cost, income and sales-comparison approaches to support that figure. Amazon’s appeal targets the assessor’s base-year valuation near $182,900,000 and identifies the dispute as primarily about the building value rather than the land.

The assessor’s presentation, delivered by staff including Assessment Services Director Steve Wise and appraisal staff, described multiple valuation methods that produced higher estimates. The assessor reported the applicant’s construction cost at $169,352,742, used a Marshall & Swift cost estimate and a discounted-cash-flow income analysis, and reconciled values that placed the assessor’s recommended supplemental assessment at $175,000,000. "We recommend sustaining the supplemental assessment value ... $175,000,000," the assessor’s presentation concluded.

Board members raised specific technical questions in a closed session and after reconvening sought more documentation before making a decision. The board requested comparable sales analyses, a reconciliation of first-year versus averaged 15-year income projections, a line-item confirmation of whether the applicant’s reported costs excluded developer profit, and clarification of differences between the assessor’s and the applicant’s Marshall & Swift inputs. The board also noted wide differences between assessments of a nearby, similar Amazon facility (referred to in testimony as F‑82) and the subject property and asked staff to address that discrepancy.

Following discussion, a motion to continue the matter until the board’s next meeting on Aug. 21 carried after being moved and seconded. The board directed county staff to provide the requested materials to the clerk of the board for distribution to parties before the next hearing.

The delay preserves the board’s ability to consider reconciled cost, income and sales-comparison evidence and to review detailed line-item construction costs and market comparables before issuing a determination. The item will return to the Assessment Appeals Board agenda on Aug. 21.