John La Tour, Esq, CPA

John La Tour holds credentials on both sides of the ledger: he's a licensed attorney and a CPA, which means he can read a tax return and draft a legal argument without needing to hand off between professionals. Based in Springdale, he works with individuals, businesses, and property owners across Northwest Arkansas on matters that sit at the intersection of accounting and law. His dual background makes him particularly effective for property tax matters where the financial analysis and legal strategy have to move together. He's not guessing at the numbers and then asking a lawyer to clean it up, he's doing both in-house. That integration tends to save time and reduce the back-and-forth that slows down a lot of property appeals.

John handles property tax assessment appeals, valuation disputes, and tax reduction planning for residential, commercial, and investment properties in Arkansas. On the legal side, he prepares and files formal protests with county equalization boards, represents clients at hearings, and takes appeals further up the chain when needed. On the accounting side, he reviews income statements and expense records for commercial properties to test whether the assessor's income-approach valuation holds up. He also handles payroll tax matters and general tax law issues, which sometimes intersect with property-related businesses, particularly for clients running rental portfolios or real estate operations where payroll and property taxes both need attention at the same time. For small business owners with commercial real estate, John can look at the full tax picture: how the property is assessed, how it's depreciated, how it affects the business's overall tax position. That kind of integrated review often surfaces savings opportunities that a property-only consultant would miss entirely.

John starts with the assessor's records and the client's own financial data for the property. For commercial or income-producing properties, that means reviewing rent rolls, vacancy rates, operating expenses, and cap rates to build an independent income-approach analysis. For residential properties, it's typically a comparable sales review against recent transactions in the neighborhood. From there, he determines whether the gap between the assessor's value and the defensible market value is large enough to justify an appeal, and he's direct about that calculation upfront. If an appeal makes sense, he files the formal protest, prepares the evidentiary package, and handles the hearing. He communicates clearly throughout the process and doesn't leave clients guessing about where things stand. If the county board doesn't move the needle, he advises on whether escalation is worth the additional investment.

John serves clients across Northwest Arkansas with a home base in Springdale. He works regularly in Washington and Benton counties and takes matters in other Arkansas counties when the legal and accounting issues fit his practice. His client base includes Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, Siloam Springs, and surrounding communities throughout the region.