The Wisconsin state Senate has passed a bill dealing with – but not closing – the dark store loophole. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) says the measure – making the tax assessment appeal process easier – was one of three bills to come out of a study committee.
“This is a complicated, tedious issue,” Fitzgerald said.
The loophole allows big-box retailers to have their property assessments based on those of vacant competitors. Democrats like Dave Hansen of Green Bay are impatient.
“How many sessions is it going to take to get this passed, before we start looking out for the residential taxpayers of this state?”
Senator Janis Ringhand, (D-Evansville) who served on that study committee, said none of the bills that came out of it, including the one passed on Tuesday, actually close the loophole.