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Ducati Milwaukee

Fighting for fair market value — and winning

%
annual tax savings

Ducati Milwaukee suspected its assessed property value exceeded fair market value — but it didn’t have the time, resources or expertise to successfully win an appeal. Wipfli did.

The Challenge

Ducati Milwaukee believed it was overpaying taxes due to an inflated property value assessment. It sought a property tax reduction but lost the appeal. The dealership staff didn’t have the time, resources or expertise to win the case. Ducati Milwaukee didn’t give up. It enlisted Wipfli — a firm with deep experience in commercial real estate, appraisals and valuation — to review its case and pursue an appeal.

The Solution

In Wipfli, Sebastian Ernst found a partner who could manage it all. Wipfli’s HR professionals interviewed and hired manufacturing staff for the new plant, and an accounting and finance team from Wipfli established a U.S. back office. Sebastian Ernst outsourced all its non-revenue-generating functions to Wipfli, including payroll, bookkeeping, tax services and financial reporting. Wipfli also set up an online portal so Sebastian Ernst’s management team could access the plant’s financial and administrative information from anywhere, at any time.

With Wipfli, we were able to get our U.S. operations up and running quickly and cost-effectively.
Alfred Dittrich, General Manager at Sebastian Ernst Company

The Solution

During the engagement, Wipfli:

  • Conducted onsite fieldwork and reviewed comparable properties to assess the property value.
  • Performed an appraisal-level analysis of the property and verified details and numbers so they would stand up to an assessment challenge.
  • Strategized how to present the evidence and argument on behalf of Ducati Milwaukee.
  • Disputed inaccuracies and provided data to clarify misconceptions.
  • Leveraged negotiating skills to gain consensus on the appraised value.

The results