Shields v. Department of Revenue

This appeal by the defendant, Department of Revenue, is from an adverse decision of the Tax Court in which the method of valuation of improvements and their assessability to the plaintiffs were in issue. The land itself is not involved in this appeal as the parties have agreed upon its value.

Plaintiffs are copartners and owners of a large regional shopping center in the city of Eugene. As of the assessment date, January 1, 1970, the plaintiffs had entered into approximately 50 leases with various tenants for business space in the shopping center. Most of the leases were “shell and allowance”…