ALAMOSA — Alamosa County is among 32 Colorado counties being sued by Walmart in an attempt to shrink tax bills, Gigi Dennis, county administrator, confirmed on Thursday.

According to the Durango Herald in a Wednesday article, “Walmart has sued just about every county in Colorado where the corporate giant has a store location, an aggressive legal tactic many big-box retailers are taking in an attempt to shrink their property tax bills.” The nation’s largest retailer claims their stores’ equipment is being overvalued.

In an email response about Walmart’s suit, Dennis confirmed that the company is disputing the amount they were assessed in the latest property tax evaluation from Alamosa County and one-half of the 64 counties in the state.

“Because it is on-going litigation, Alamosa County will comply with the lawsuit and dispute the claim but has no comment,” Dennis said.

Colorado county assessors annually take inventory of business’ personal property including furniture, appliances and equipment used in daily operations. They determine a value of those items which are then taxed at a rate that differs from county to county.

According to the Herald, Walmart’s petition concerning equipment values was denied in July by the Colorado Board of Equalization, the committee tasked with reviewing assessor protests. The company then reportedly “slapped a lawsuit on 32 counties to reduce the value of its personal property at 95 of its stores, as well as to recoup attorney fees.”

Dennis wouldn’t comment further on the suit, nor would Walmart’s Littleton-based attorney Brian Huebsch, according to the Herald report.

The Herald said sources with assessor’s offices in their region believe that county attorneys in the affected counties will probably coordinate in defending the suit.

More from the Herald article, “A report from S&P Global Ratings tracked how big-box retailers and corporate giants are increasingly using aggressive legal tactics to cut tax bills, at the cost of local governments.

Among researchers, the practice has been called the “dark-store theory”— when a retailer intentionally undervalues its own properties so it can pay less in taxes.

The S&P Global Ratings report focused mainly on how the corporations are fighting their property tax values.“But it does fit the pattern,” Scott Nees, co-author of the report, said of Walmart’s protest of its personal property. “Big boxes are looking at their property values and how they are assessed, and looking for ways to save a little bit of money on their tax bills.”

It’s hard to quantify just how much Walmart thinks it’s overpaying and how much communities stand to lose if the lawsuits don’t go their way.”