Big Mansion, Big Tax Dodge

The Montana Tax Appeal Board has rejected a Flathead Lake mansion owner’s claim that the house he’s trying to sell for almost $45 million is only worth $9.8 million.

Don Abbey of La Mirada, Calif., wanted his 2014 property tax bill of $367,696 reduced by two-thirds or more. The tax appeal board hearing in Helena last November involved at least a dozen attorneys and expert witnesses, and took three days.

“Ultimately, we find the (Department of Revenue’s) assessment of Abbey’s improvements is based on accepted valuation methodologies, and reflects fair market value as of the lien date,” the two-member board wrote in its decision Friday.

Lake County officials based their property taxes on an assessed value of $41.8 million.

Abbey built the 24,000-square-foot house and 5,000-square-foot boathouse in 2011. He once listed it for sale for $78 million. The price included most of Shelter Island, which sits along the western shore of Flathead Lake near Rollins.

A luxury real estate website now lists the home as “currently the largest private home in Montana,” and posted a price of $44.8 million. But a Missoula appraiser hired by Abbey put the value at $9.8 million.

Abbey’s attorneys argued the home was “functionally obsolete” because it was overbuilt with features such as 2-foot-thick walls. Such amenities didn’t add value to the house and should be discounted, they claimed.

State revenue officials responded that the quality of the construction was part of the house’s value and no reduction in assessment was justified.

Abbey has been paying the property taxes under protest since 2012.

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