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Board lowers Ingleside Hotel assessment after owner income evidence
Summary
The Waukesha Board of Review reduced the Ingleside Hotel's assessed improvement value after the owner’s COO and counsel presented income and expense data showing low occupancy and high operating costs; the board found the property owner had overcome the presumption of correctness.
The Waukesha Board of Review on July 11 adjusted the assessed improvement value for the Ingleside Hotel after testimony from the property owner and the city assessor.
Steven Zenoni, chief operating officer of Waukesha Hospitality, told the board the hotel ran about 48% occupancy in 2024 and that the property’s income and expense profile does not match the assessor’s assumptions. “The hotel ran, 48% occupancy in, 2024,” Zenoni said, and reported more than $14 million in gross revenue for the year with operating expenses that pushed the property’s expense-to-income ratio far above the assessor’s typical assumptions.
Amy Embro, counsel for the owner, walked the board through an income-cap calculation using the owner’s audited operating numbers and a market-derived cap rate. She and Zenoni emphasized large utility and insurance costs tied to the hotel’s water park and convention facilities, and the lingering effects of COVID-era booking losses.
Laurie, the city assessor, presented the assessor’s analysis using comparable sales and a different mix of expense and vacancy assumptions. She said sales-based comparisons and a standard expense-rate produced a higher valuation, and she described how the assessor’s office applies adjustments across hotels of different types.
After questions from board members and closed deliberation, the board voted to lower the improvement value to reflect the owner’s income approach. The motion, carried by roll-call, found that the property owner had presented sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption of correctness afforded the assessor and directed a reduced improvement valuation.
The board provided the owner with written findings and instructions on appealing the decision to circuit court if they wished. The assessor’s office will issue the revised assessment notices.
