Property Taxes in Practice: Frameworks, Risks, and Industry Applications for Cooperatives

CPE 1.0 Credit Hours

Property taxes can represent a significant and often overlooked cost for cooperatives across a wide range of industries. This session provides a practical overview of how property taxes are assessed, calculated, managed, and appealed, while highlighting common areas of risk that can affect cooperative operations and financial performance. Participants will gain insight into the impact of property taxes on capital investments, land use, infrastructure, and long-term planning, and will learn strategies for proactively managing assessments, exemptions, compliance obligations, and valuation disputes.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how property taxes actually work—from assessment to payment to appeal
  o Gain a practical understanding of how taxable value is determined, how tax bills are calculated, and what is consistent across jurisdictions versus what varies by state and locality.
•  Identify where cooperatives are exposed to property tax risk—and why it often goes unnoticed
  o Recognize common risk areas, including classification issues, changing land use, valuation assumptions, and inconsistent treatment across jurisdictions that can drive unexpected tax increases.
• Evaluate how property taxes impact key business decisions and long-term financial planning
  o Understand how property tax considerations influence capital investments, land use decisions, development projects, and transaction structuring across cooperative industries.
• Apply property tax concepts to real-world cooperative models, including energy, agricultural, and service-based operations
  o Explore how property tax rules apply differently across asset types—from production land and retail facilities to infrastructure projects—using practical, industry-relevant examples.
• Develop strategies to proactively manage assessments, exemptions, and disputes
  o Learn leading practices for monitoring assessments, preserving exemptions, managing compliance across multiple jurisdictions, and effectively navigating appeals when valuations are overstated.
  
  

Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Tess Onderick, Managing Director, Tax, KPMG US

Tess Onderick is a Managing Director at KPMG LLP’s Atlanta office, leading the Complex Property Tax Consulting practice’s Power & Utilities Team. With over 15 years of expertise in property tax, Tess specializes in the Power, Utilities, Renewable Energy, and Telecommunication industries. Her role involves compliance, valuation, negotiation, and settlement of property disputes, which ensures that clients receive strategic and optimized tax solutions.

Tess is a regular speaker at industry seminars and workshops, sharing insights on property tax trends and valuation best practices, enhancing the knowledge base within the field.

Tess holds a BBA and a Masters of Accountancy from Texas State University and is a Certified Member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation (CMI).

Moderator: Wayne Sine, CPA, MBA, Education Director, National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives

After retiring as Tax Director of a regional supply cooperative on the East Coast, Wayne Sine was asked to serve as Education Director for NSAC. As an active and long-term member of NSAC, Wayne previously served as Chair of NSAC’s Tax Committee, President of the Atlantic Chapter, and was a recipient of NSAC’s Silver Bowl Award. In addition to his work with NSAC, Wayne has also served on the Legal, Tax, and Accounting (LTA) Committee of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Chaired the Tax Committees for both the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Manufacturers Association, served on the Tax Policy Committee of the Virginia Society of CPAs, and served as Region Vice President for Tax Executives Institute.