Posted: Friday, June 2, 2006 12:00 am
Lowe's contests property assessment
CHEYENNE - Lowe's Cos. is undertaking a challenge to its 2005 county property taxes even as the company still contemplates appealing its 2004 tax case to the state Supreme Court.
A hearing before the Laramie County Board of Equalization on the 2005 taxes is scheduled for June 16, deputy county attorney Mark Voss said.
For the last three years, Lowe's officials have disagreed with what the Laramie County assessor's office says the company's regional distribution center at Cheyenne is worth.
At 1.1 million square feet, the building is the largest in the state, which is part of the problem in arriving at an assessed valuation.
Laramie County Assessor Brenda Arnold determined the valuation of the building for 2004 was about $46 million. A private appraisal that Lowe's paid for puts the value at about $39.8 million. The difference between the two sides is worth about $60,000 in taxes.
The state Board of Equalization sided with the county's numbers, noting that an expert testifying for Lowe's had no experience in how properties are assessed in Wyoming.
Scott Meier, attorney for Lowe's, said his clients still have a couple of weeks to decide whether to challenge the state board's decision to the state Supreme Court.
College plans building memorial
POWELL - Northwest College will use bricks from Bridger Hall, which was destroyed in a fire two years ago, to build a memorial to the building.
Mark Kitchen, NWC vice president of college relations, said the memorial would consist of a bronze plaque memorializing the residence hall, a bench and a planter for flowers or other decorative plants.
"The alumni association board thought it important to have a permanent marker that would memorialize a building that has housed thousands and thousands of students, now alumni, over the decades," Kitchen said. "We thought this type of memorial would not only be fitting as such, but functional."
Built in 1966, Bridger Hall was severely damaged by an electrical fire in March 2004. Only a few students received minor injuries, but the building was left uninhabitable and was torn down last October.
Court suspends Pinedale attorney
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Supreme Court suspended the license of a Pinedale attorney who failed to communicate with his clients and failed to provide legal services in a timely manner.
Wednesday's order from the court extends Ken McLaughlin's interim suspension until Sept. 21, one year from the date he was first given an interim suspension.
According to the court's order, two clients filed complaints saying McLaughlin had failed to deal with their cases. McLaughlin was presented with those complaints last June, but repeatedly failed to respond to the Wyoming State Bar.
McLaughlin has no previous disciplinary record; he did not contest the facts in the complaint, nor did he contest the court's disciplinary action.