Ameristar Sues County For Unfair Tax Assessments
Ameristar Casinos (ASCA: 15.09 0.00%) is the second casino operator in Warren County to take county officials and the Tax Assessor’s Office to court to appeal the calculations of their property taxes.
In a court action filed on Monday, Ameristar is attempting to appeal values on improvements at the area’s largest gaming venue placed by the board and the assessor for 2009.
The company is alleging discriminatory treatment for the $90,3787,370 true value set by county officials for the connecting structure between the casino and parking garage and the formerly floating unused, cemented cofferdam.
Taxes on the structures were charged at $1,662,359 which the casino argues is $437,842 too high, compared to its own calculations presented to supervisors during an administrative appeal earlier this year.
In September the supervisors approved Assessor Richard Holland’s recommended $92.4 million true value on the improvements, a total which was higher than that mentioned in the casinos formal appeal and 24% less than the value placed by the county before the formal objection period ended in July.
County officials argue that Ameirstar provided the information after the deadline and called a special county board meeting in September, where the casino made arguments that the properties value was between $66.5 million and $82.7 million.
Appeal documents say the casino improvements true value was closer to the low end of that estimate.
The tax value was calculated when Holland prompted a 5.9% increase in land values in the county, despite plummeting property values nationwide. One fourth of all parcels are revalued in Warren County annually often resulting in higher assessments and taxes even if the tax rates remain unchanged and market prices fall.
Property taxes, due by the casino are the largest source of funds for the county and the second largest for city operations.
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