Why Today's Property Tax Environment Needs A Consultant With 'Deeper Bench Strength'

The property tax services sector has long been fragmented and dominated by local and regional service providers, even as commercial real estate clients’ tax needs have become more complex, demanding a holistic approach to compliance.

This fragmentation can result in inconsistent service quality and pricing, a recent white paper warns.

Smaller firms with fewer resources might struggle to keep up with important developments, such as the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to usher in a new tax era for CRE.  

Even before the OBBBA, the property tax landscape included increasingly complex laws that crossed local, state and national jurisdictions. This requires property tax consultants to offer specialized tax expertise in areas like assessments and appeals and be fluent in technology advances that impact analytical capabilities and service efficiencies, according to the white paper.

Ryan, a global tax services and software firm providing an integrated suite of federal, state, local and international tax services, is well suited to be an essential partner to CRE clients in this fast-changing environment, said Shane Moncrief, Ryan principal and property tax consulting practice leader. 

“Commercial real estate owners and users need the advice of tax firms that can integrate knowledge of both federal and local property tax requirements, scale to manage portfolios across state lines, and anticipate risks and opportunities,” he said.

Moncrief said Ryan is uniquely capable of helping CRE owners and users, thanks to its deep experience and large geographic footprint. Its acquisition earlier this year of the Altus Group's property tax services business consolidated Ryan as the largest property tax services business in North America and the UK.

Serving Clients With Diverse Tax Needs

Ryan’s extensive reach and expertise enable it to provide local, hands-on service and full end-to-end solutions to both enterprise and small and midsized clients, which smaller, regional tax firms can't match, Moncrief said. 

“We serve a range of business types, each with diverse tax needs, including the fast-growing data center and healthcare sectors,” he said. 

Data center investment in particular is expected to accelerate, thanks to the passage of the OBBBA, said Brad Wallace, Ryan principal and regional leader. 

“Since property tax is often one of the largest expense lines on a business’s profit and loss statement, our combined compliance and consulting expertise delivers meaningful, measurable impact,” Wallace said. 

'Strategic, Holistic Approach'

The Altus acquisition grew Ryan’s workforce by approximately 1,000 employees. Moncrief said this bolstered the firm’s ability to provide a full spectrum of tax-related services to business owners and occupiers of all CRE asset classes as it works to lower their property and other business tax burdens.

“Many clients have portfolios that require more than just property tax assistance,” said Moncrief, explaining that Ryan is “better positioned to offer a strategic, holistic approach to our clients, delivering solutions that address a broader range of needs.”

In addition to property tax consulting, Ryan’s expertise spans credits and incentives, including historic tax credits and site location strategies; income tax, including green energy credits and cost segregation; sales and use tax; employment tax; tax technology; and legal services.

The acquisition gave Ryan ownership of Itamlink property tax management software, strengthening its own tax.com software offerings. Moncrief said the Itamlink platform complements the firm’s client capabilities by completely linking services, software and jurisdictional property tax data to seamlessly provide tax consulting, compliance and appeals. 

Optimal Outcomes For Clients

While much of the tax consultancy sector is fragmented across regions and among areas of specialization, Wallace said Ryan’s “deeper bench strength” allows it to provide localized solutions domestically, as well as in Canada and the UK. 

“Globally, Ryan is recognized for our deep jurisdictional knowledge, strong relationships with taxing authorities and expertise in local assessment rules — key strengths that consistently drive optimal outcomes for our clients,” Wallace said. “With the recent acquisition, our clients gain access to expanded industry-specific expertise and powerful data-driven insights.”

In the longer term, Moncrief said Ryan intends to continue to grow in all of its geographic markets by combining its valuation expertise with its relationships with taxing authorities. 

“In a highly fragmented industry, the Altus acquisition has created a tremendous opportunity to seamlessly integrate our services, software and data to address a broad spectrum of client needs,” Moncrief said. “This represents a major win not only for Ryan but for our clients as well.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Ryan and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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