Ruling Reversed On Tax Value Of Blandin Forest Land

The Minnesota Supreme Court has reversed a lower-court decision that had favored Blandin Paper Company.

The Blandin Paper Company has had an ongoing legal dispute with several counties over the value of more than 187,000 acres of land.

In a ruling Wednesday from the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed a June 2015 Minnesota Tax Court ruling and sending the case back involving property taxes on more than 4,600 individual land parcels in St. Louis, Itasca, Aitkin and Koochiching counties for a new trial.

Justice Christopher Dietzen, of the Minnesota Supreme Court wrote the opinion finding that the method Blandin is seeking to use to determine the fair market value of the property is admissible in a property tax proceeding — if it’s backed by evidence with “foundational reliability” and results in the determination of a value for each parcel.