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Kansas Star Casino has protested its tax valuation every year of its existence. Sumner County isn’t budging.
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by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — There are a lot of lights, bells and whistles that make up the Kansas Star Casino. But how much the whole shindig is actually worth has become an annual source of contention between the facility’s owners and the Sumner County government.
Sumner County vs. The Kansas Star Casino is an ongoing legal fight with no end in sight.Each year Sumner County appraises the property significantly more usually over double the rate — than what its owner Boyd Gaming thinks the property is worth.
For example in 2013, the Sumner County Appraiser’s Office valued the casino at $154 million. Boyd Gaming thought it was more like $62.1 million. So off to court they went. Fast forward to 2018 (or maybe slow-forward would be a more appropriate term) and things are still not settled.
A panel of Kansas appeals judges heard the case in Wichita on Feb. 13 for both 2013 and 2014 valuations. The judge panel will probably not render its decision until sometime in April. And that probably won’t be the end of it. Boyd Gaming and/or Sumner County will likely appeal whatever the judge appellant court decides thus sending the case to the Kansas State Supreme Court which will either hear the case and rule accordingly, dismiss it, or ignore it all together.
Don’t hold your breath on the Supreme Court acting quickly. In the 2012 case, it took the judges nearly two years to announce they had no interest hearing the case.
It’s a convoluted process that many would argue is government at its most inefficient. Nevertheless, the stakes are high for both sides. For Sumner County, a lower tax valuation could cost the county millions in tax refunds. For Boyd Gaming, of course, the less taxes paid the better.
The process
The casino has been open for more than six years and Sumner County has issued seven tax valuations starting in 2012. Boyd Gaming has protested every single one with the exception of the newly released 2018 – and they will protest that one too.
Each year, the county determines what it thinks the facility is worth and submits it for certification at the Sumner County Clerk’s office. In turn, Boyd Gaming does its internal valuations and submits a counter valuation.
Like clockwork, the two valuations are never close and that starts the annual court process. The county will first conduct a discovery process in which it gathers new information on the Kansas Star building, the site, etc. and readjusts its figures accordingly. Sometimes the adjusted rate is higher. Sometimes it is not.
Then the two sides take their case to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals.
BOTA, with evidence in hand, will render a figure that it thinks is appropriate — which usually is halfway between the Kansas Star and Sumner County figures.
Below are figures of the past seven years with Sumner County’s initial tax valuation, it’s adjusted tax valuation after the discovery process, the Star’s valuation request and the valuation figure determined by BOTA:
Valuations of Kansas Star Casino | ||||
Sumner County | Sumner (after discovery) | Kansas Star | Board of tax appeals | |
2012 | $91,000,000 | $64,300,000 | $80,510,000 | |
2013 | $226,000,000 | $154,000,000 | $62,100,000 | $105,600,000 |
2014 | $151,600,000 | $153,500,000 | $75,000,000 | $97,600,000 |
2015 | $176,600,000 | $167,000,000 | $76,119,970 | $101,500,000 |
2016 | $168,300,000 | $170,000,000 | $77,650,000 | $102,659,000 |
2017 | $172,000,000 | $171,000,000 | $76,000,000 | $102,609,000 |
2018 | $176,797,500 | coming soon | coming soon | coming soon |
As one can see by the figures, the numbers between Sumner County figures are significantly higher — always more than two times the Star’s rate.
Cindy Magill, Sumner County appraiser, said the county hired a professional appraiser in 2013 from Colorado, Rich Jortberg of Boulder, Colo. who does the appraisal work nearly every year.
Amazingly, only 2012’s dispute has been settled in court. That was the only year the casino was open and had yet to be expanded. During that year, Sumner County determined that Kansas Star was worth $91,000,000, but Boyd thought it was more like $64,300,000. BOTA decided it was $80,510,000. The Court of Appeals upheld BOTA’s ruling.
It was appealed to the state supreme court which, as stated before, refused to hear the matter.
The ramifications
Although Boyd Gaming protests the tax appraisal, it will pay its taxes annually based on the initial Sumner County figures. So if the court accepts a figure lower than the initial valuation, Sumner County will have to pay a refund. Thus in 2012, Sumner will now need to make up the difference between the initial 2012 $91 million valuation and the BOTA’s $80.51 million ruling – which is $11.5 million. The exact tax dollar figure is based on combination of a 25 percent rate with the mill levy of that year. The Sumner County Treasure’s office must then divide the refund up by the three tax entities that received property tax revenue from Kansas Star which is the Sumner County government, the city of Mulvane and the Mulvane school district.
Sumner Newscow asked Sumner County Treasurer Dannetta Cook this month if she has written any refund checks to Kansas Star. She said she has not because the treasure’s office has yet to receive any form of notification from BOTA or the Kansas court, instructing her to issue refund checks for 2012.
While it is not unusual for businesses to protest their taxes, taking it to court on an annual basis is. But no client in Sumner County is even close to being the Kansas Star — a property that encompasses more than 195 acres that includes 165,000 square foot casino and a 6,200 seat arena used for concerts and horse events.
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Combine that with the fact that Boyd Gaming can afford to take these tax cases to court. It’s a big-time organization with dozens of casinos in Las Vegas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois. Magill said that she has heard that Boyd Gaming has protested tax valuations in other states, but can’t confirm it.
Meanwhile, the three affected local governments are left with uncertainty. Just how much tax the entity will refund annually and when they need to do so, makes for budgetary uncertainty. Every year is a new case. And with five cases currently in the court system and one sure to be added every year, there is no telling what will happen next. On Thursday, Sumner County announced Kansas Star is worth $176,797,500 in its 2018 valuation. Whether that number will stand may not be ultimately decided for many, many years.
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The affected taxing industries plan their annual budget based on the appraisal Sumner County first submits (first column above). So let’s say the ultimate court decision, for example, in 2013 is $105.6 million when the original figure is $226 million then there will be a profound amount of money refunded back to Kansas Star.