Douglas S. John

Attorney at Law
Phone - 602.200.7353
Email - djohn@frgalaw.com
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Douglas S. John's law practice focuses on representing clients in property tax counseling and litigation in Arizona and Nevada. He works with individuals and companies to navigate Arizona's and Nevada's complex property tax systems in order to minimize their property tax liability. Over the past three years he has reduced his clients' property tax values by over $2 billion through a sound knowledge of Arizona and Nevada property tax law, valuation theory, and tax assessment practices.

Doug represents clients in all phases of property tax litigation, from administrative appeals to court litigation, as well as with appellate matters. His clients represent nearly every segment of the real estate market, including apartments, casinos, department stores, golf courses, hotels, industrial warehouses, LIHTC housing, malls, master-planned residential communities, mining operations, office buildings, pipelines, possessory interests, residential developments, senior care/assisted living, and shopping centers.

• Obtained the largest single non-casino property tax reductions for tax years 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 in Clark County, Nevada.
• Represented owner of the largest master-planned development in Nevada and reduced tax assessments by $950 million.
• Represented non-profit corporation in litigation and obtained exemption that resulted in a refund of $700,000.
• Represented consortium of power companies in litigation that resulted in a $90 million reduction in value of a power plant.
• Represented national discount department store in tax court litigation that reduced assessment of its properties by over $35 million.
• Obtained exemption for a church in the early phase of development by successfully arguing that church was statutorily exempt as being "actually occupied" even though no buildings had been constructed on the site.
• Represented national industrial warehouse property owner and saved client over $1,000,000 in property taxes.
• Represented consortium of national homebuilders in litigation of the Park Highlands development in North Las Vegas that resulted in a $95 million reduction in value.
• Represented car rental companies at the McCarran Consolidated Car Rental Center in Las Vegas in litigation concerning the taxation of client's leasehold interest. Clients received over $1.5 million in tax refunds and a permanent elimination of the possessory interest tax.

Doug also advises clients on a wide range of property tax matters, including exemptions, abatements, real property transfer tax, and the property tax implications of the sale or purchase of a property.

Doug has served as a member of the Arizona State Board of Equalization as an administrative judge since 2007.

Between 2002 and 2007, Doug taught as an adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at the James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona.

• James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona - J.D. 2001
• University of Arizona - M.A. Economics 1998
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - B.A. History 1986

• Arizona, 2001
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, 2001
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2003
• Nevada, 2003
• Minnesota, 2003

• State Bar of Arizona
• State Bar of Minnesota
• State Bar of Nevada
• American Bar Association
• Appraisal Institute, affiliate member
• International Association of Assessing Officers

• Arizona Legal Forms: Commercial Transactions, Vols. 5, 6, & 6A (Annual Supplement) (Thomson West 2004).
• "Nevada Sales and Use Tax" in ABA Sales & Use Tax Deskbook (2005-06 to present)
  (American Bar Association) Co-authored with Paul D. Bancroft.

• "Taxes Target Green Pastures," National Real Estate Investor (April 2011).
• "Is a Consensus Emerging on LIHTC Property Valuations?" Affordable Housing Finance (September 2011).
• "Why Las Vegas Property Owners Should Challenge Their Tax Assessments," National Real Estate Investor (November 2011).
• "Inflated Taxes Threaten Phoenix Property Owners," National Real Estate Investor (January 2012).
• "Value Erosion: Lease Terms Can Impact Property Valuation - But Tax Assessors May Not Realize It," Commercial Property Executive (April 2012).
• "Lower Property Tax Assessments: A Silver Lining for Big Box Stores," RE Business Online (May 2012).

• How Low Will It Go? Strategies for Reducing Property Tax Liability in Distressed Commercial Real Estate Markets, American Property Tax Counsel 17th Annual Seminar, Half Moon Bay, CA (October 2011).