There is a version of this letter that is potentially 8,000 words and takes the reader into the weeds of the relationships between Common Level Ratio Factor , Pennsylvania tax law, statement of value sheets, and the distinction between fair market value and assessed property value.
Instead, there is a simpler version: Walmart claims that their property in the General McLane School District, which until recently had an assessed value of $8,234,400, should now have an assessed value of $2,498,300.
The impact of a revised assessment of this magnitude is equivalent to what schools annually budget for the salary of a full-time teacher.
You may be asking, “Is this the same Walmart that reported $648 billion in revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, and the same Walmart that, during this most recent quarter, had revenue exceed market expectations by growing an additional 5% amid robust back-to-school sales, according to Walmart executives?”
Yes. The same Walmart.
I am speaking from the perspective of the General McLane School District, but simultaneous appeals will be affecting the Ft. LeBoeuf and Harbor Creek school districts. Despite the geographical boundaries, all three districts and their taxpayers will be unified by shouldering the burden of Walmart’s savings.