Walgreens tax settlement with La Crosse considered tonight

Retail giant has sued for inflated property tax assessments.

A settlement between and the city of La Crosse could be closer to approval after a city council committee meeting tonight. 

La Crosse is among the Wisconsin cities that have been sued by large retailers — primarily Walgreens — for, what are claimed to be, inflated property tax assessments.

The two sides have reached an agreement for the city to refund some of the taxes assessed for the last three years.

They’ve settled on a total refund of a little over $84,000 for Walgreens stores on Mormon Coulee Rd. and Hwy. 16.

The settlement caps assessments of the two stores at about $4.7 million for both.

While the Walgreens case may be reaching a conclusion for La Crosse, there are other large retailers to deal with.

“We still have Kmart, Sears, Macys, Herbergers, and Menards out there,” said city assessor Mark Schlafer in an email.

The settlement is occurring while state lawmakers are working to change state law to limit how big retailers can challenge their assessments, pushing legislation to make assessment loopholes smaller.  

Big retailers have been emboldened to challenge their assessments since a 2008 State Supreme Court decision.

In that decision, the court found for Walgreens and against the city of Madison in an assessment dispute.