From Valuation News
Luminant Corp. is claiming in a lawsuit against the Titus County Appraisal District in Texas that Luminant’s coal-fired power plant is worth one-seventh of its $341 million appraised value, approximately $50 million. Luminant claims the plant has lost value over the years.
It was appraised at $1.05 billion in 2008, and Luminant has filed a lawsuit disputing the county’s valuation.
Texas County Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Geraldine Hull told the Southeast Texas Record. In 2014, Luminant agreed the value was $350,787,230, which did not include pollution control equipment value.
“It is unknown at this time how Luminant has decided the plant has lost value,” Hull said. “Taxes are a function of two components – property values and tax rates – and if the court makes a determination to reduce Luminant’s value, its tax liability will be reduced as will the revenues available to the area taxing units that provide various public services.”
From Daily Tribune Feb 2016
It’s been five months since Luminant filed its latest lawsuit against the Titus County Appraisal District over the appraised value of the Monticello Power Plant for 2015, and the suit is still stuck in the discovery phase.
TCAD attorneys are waiting on Luminant’s legal team to provide requested information.
“We are having some resistance in getting our questions answered, so certainly, the next step in that round would be to get a court order to compel them to comply with our disclosure requests,” TCAD Chief Appraiser Geraldine Hull said.
The lawsuit, one of four the company has filed against TCAD since 2011, began in September 2015 when Luminant disputed the appraised $431 million valuation on the Monticello plant. The company claims the plant is only worth $50 million, a difference of $381 million.
ON Sep 3, 2016, Mt Pleasant ISD approved a new tax rate (as an example of how various local govt entities are affected)
Trustees for Mount Pleasant I.S.D. approved a deficit budget for the 2016-17 year and announced the proposed tax increase would remain the same for both the maintenance and operations fund, and interest and sinking.
That decision leaves the total rate for MPISD property owners at $1.212 per $100 in valuation. Of that total, $1.04 funds maintenance and operations; 17.2 cents is used to retire the district’s bonded indebtedness.
The district will dip into its fund balance to offset $1.2 million that is the subject of a tax case with Luminant as well as fund a practice gym at the junior high campus that has a budget of $2 million, according to Superintendent Judd Marshall.
