ROCKLAND, Maine — Ocean State Job Lot has filed for a property tax abatement that, if granted, would slash its annual bill by more than $55,000.
The abatement request was filed Jan. 14 with the Rockland assessor by attorney Timothy Woodcock on behalf of Ocean State Job Lot of Rockland.
The company states in its request that the assessment on the property should match the price paid for the property in December 2013. Ocean State Job Lot paid Wal-Mart $3,125,000 for the 94,000-square-foot commercial building located on 10.5 acres along Route 1 in Rockland at the Rockport town line.
Ocean State Job Lot opened its Rockland store in March 2014.
The retail store occupies 40,000 square feet of the building and has been trying to lease the remaining space. The Dollar Tree store announced in November it will open a store in 10,000-square-feet of the building this summer. The code office reported this week that plans continue for that store to move into the building.
Rockland Assessor Dennis Reed said he has asked Ocean State for more information before he makes a decision on its request. He has 60 days to make a decision, but that deadline could be extended upon agreement of both parties.
Wal-Mart also is seeking a property tax abatement for the final year it owned the property. The city assessor rejected Wal-Mart’s request and the Assessment Board of Review upheld that decision, arguing Wal-Mart had failed to provide information by the statutory deadline as requested by the assessor.
Wal-Mart has appealed that decision to the Maine Board of Property Tax Review. Wal-Mart’s abatement would return more than $105,000 to the international retailer.
No hearing date has been scheduled for the Wal-Mart appeal, Reed said Thursday.
Reed assessed the property owned by Ocean State at $5,885,200. That is $2,760,200 more than the purchase price.
Wal-Mart sold the property after it relocated in October 2013 to a larger supercenter it built about 3 miles south on Route 1 in neighboring Thomaston. Wal-Mart placed a series of conditions on that sale, restricting what can be located in the building.
Those restrictions — which run for 25 years from the sale — prohibit the property from being used for a supermarket larger than 35,000 square feet, a discount store of more than 50,000 square feet, a discount pharmacy, gambling operations, adult entertainment activities including the sale of sexually explicit videos or books, massage parlors or escort services.
Wal-Mart asked for abatements at 11 of its stores in 2014 and succeeded twice, both times for far less than the amount requested.