Adams Outdoor Advertising: Court of Appeals rules against excessive billboard tax

Contact:

Jason Saari

Real Estate Manager

Adams Outdoor Advertising

608/271-7900

MADISON, WI. – On July 8, 2010, the District IV Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Adams Outdoor Advertising (AOA) versus the City of Madison regarding the excessive taxation of AOA billboards.

This marks the fourth victory for Adams Outdoor Advertising with this specific lawsuit, which was initially brought to court in 2002. The decision affirms the verdict rendered by Circuit Court Judge C. William Foust in April of 2009.

The lawsuit challenged the City of Madison’s value assessment of AOA’s billboard sign structures. Madison was the first U.S. city to value and tax the income generated from AOA sign structures, along with permit value and other intangible items, which contradicts the nationwide standard for assessing billboards.

In July 2006, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the City of Madison’s tax assessment of AOA sign structures flawed and issued an order requiring the City assessor to reassess the structures. However, after City reassessment, the values remained virtually unchanged from the previous court-rejected amounts.

AOA challenged the newly reassessed values, and the City of Madison Board of Review ruled in AOA’s favor by rejecting the City’s excessive reassessment figures. The case was then sent to trial before Judge Foust in Dane County Circuit Court. In April 2009, Judge Foust rendered a decision in AOA’s favor, and the City of Madison appealed that decision, leading to the most recent court case.

“I am pleased to hear that the Court of Appeals has affirmed the previous decisions of the Madison Board of Review, the Circuit Court and also the Wisconsin Supreme Court”, said Ed Schulz, General Manager of AOA in Madison. “I am looking forward to resolving this matter, as it has been in the court system since 2002.”

A financial judgment will soon be entered pursuant to the Court of Appeals decision. Total estimated taxes and court costs with interest owed to AOA since 2002 falls just short of one million dollars.
Adams Outdoor Advertising, Ltd Partnership has offices in seventeen cities covering eight states including North and South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.