Yes, he is fully up-to-date on his tax bill. Icahn made his most recent payment on August 16, for the the sum of $385,183.69. Fontainebleau carries an assessed value of $1,747,786,58 but a "cap reduction" brings Icahn’s net liability down to $1,536,651.39. "It is a specialty and unique property," says Briana Johnson of the Clark County Assessor’s office, "so it is assessed based on the obsolescence [of the structure], among other issues."
We turned to the Assessor’s Web site, where we found the following: "Generally speaking, taxable value of real property is the appraised value of the land and the current replacement cost of improvements, less statutory depreciation … Land values are derived from market sales or other recognized appraisal methods and are added to improvement values."
When it comes to land value, Icahn got the Fontainebleau acreage for cheap, paying $150,020,623 for 19.7 acres – or $7.6 million an acre, back on Feb. 18, 2010. When it comes to determining taxable value, however, "the Assessor must calculate the amount and cost of materials and labor it would take to replace the subject property. A depreciation factor of 1½ % per year is applied to the effective age of the property, up to a maximum of 50 years … Nevada Administrative Code requires the Nevada Assessors to use Marshall & Swift Building Cost Service to determine improvement replacement costs, minus depreciation," reads the Assessor’s website. "The land is then appraised at market value." With Strip land costs currently hovering in the $8 million/acre range, Mr. Icahn’s tax bill is unlikely to change anytime soon, we think.
