Case No. 20-1290

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
v.
Polk County Board of Review

Plaintiff, the owner of two office buildings in downtown Des Moines, appealed a district court order upholding a property tax assessment by defendant Board of Review. Plaintiff argued defendant failed to present competent evidence in support of its valuation pursuant to the standards set forth in Wellmark v. Bd. of Review, 875 N.W.2d 667 (Iowa 2016), and the district court erred by finding the testimony from defendant’s expert appraisers was more credible than the reports and testimony submitted by plaintiff’s experts. The court of appeals reversed. Defendant seeks further review.

Resister

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

Applicant

Polk County Board of Review

Attorney for the Resister

Sean P. Moore

Attorneys for the Applicant

Mark Taylor
Jason Wittgraf

Supreme Court

Oral Argument Schedule

15-15-5

Sep 15, 2022 1:30 PM

Briefs

Supreme Court Opinion

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  REVERSED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. (Nationwide) appeals the assessment for tax purposes of its property by the Polk County Board of Review (Board).  The district court affirmed the Board’s valuation.  OPINION HOLDS: Nationwide presented evidence from two disinterested witnesses to support its claim the actual value of the property was less than the assessed value and the burden then shifted to the Board to uphold the assessment.  The Board did not meet its burden because its experts did not rely on the sales approach to value the property.  Nationwide entered into a minimum assessment agreement that established the minimum actual value of the property and we determine this amount is the tax assessment value for the property.  We reverse the decision of the district court.

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