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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Ind. Courts - "Spencer County, AK Steel approach trial on tax deal: A jury may soon decide whether AK Steel will pay Spencer County more than $20 million in back taxes"l
This story today in the Evansville Courier & Press, reported by Mark Wilson. Also posted by the C&P, the May 21, 2009 Complaint filed by the Spencer Co. Redevelopment Comm. against AK Steel in Spencer Circuit Court, and the March 16, 2011 Trial Brief filed by the Redev. Comm. in the SD Indiana. Some quotes from the long story:
The Spencer County Redevelopment Commission filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the company in May 2009 in Spencer Circuit Court, alleging that AK Steel violated its tax incentive agreement by appealing its property tax bill. The case was soon moved to the U.S. District Court at Evansville, where it is now set for a jury trial April 11.According to a trial brief summarizing Spencer County's arguments, the dispute began in 2004 when AK Steel filed a return for personal property tax that included depreciation that ultimately was denied by the county assessor.
According to the court record, the company allegedly was trying to take advantage of an optional personal property tax depreciation schedule created by the Indiana Legislature in 2003 for steel mills with blast furnaces that was intended to help the antiquated steel mills of northern Indiana.
AK Steel's Rockport Works, by comparison, was a state-of-the-art steel finishing facility built in 1997.
Indianapolis-based attorneys representing AK Steel in the suit did not return repeated telephone calls from the Courier & Press seeking comment. An attorney representing the county declined to comment because the case is pending.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 31, 2011 03:55 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts