Municipality of Anchorage v. Alaska Distributors Co.

RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice.

The parties dispute whether a municipality may retroactively tax a warehouse addition as “escaped property” when it timely assessed and taxed other improvements on the real property. We hold that the municipality may so tax the warehouse under the particular circumstances of this case.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellee Alaska Distributors Co. (ADCO) owns improved property in Anchorage. In 1979, ADCO built an addition worth just over $1 million to an existing warehouse located on the property. This addition doubled the warehouse floor space. Through an…