The Hillsborough County property appraiser has won a six-year legal tussle with a Tampa shipyard after a circuit court judge ruled it must pay taxes on land leased from Port Tampa Bay.
The July 22 ruling affirms the position the property appraiser’s office has argued in court for more than two decades: Businesses that operate on public land generally are not tax-exempt.
“Just as the judge did back in the 1990s, the court again ruled in the property appraiser’s favor,” said Will Shepherd, legal counsel for the Hillsborough County property appraiser’s office. “The law’s pretty clear on this issue.”
Gulf Marine Repair Corp. had argued since 2014 that its shipyard should be exempt from paying property taxes, in part because some U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels are serviced there. That year, the company was granted an exemption by the county’s Value Adjustment Board; it has since argued it should be extended.
The court said the property appraiser’s office was within its rights to deny the exemption. Charles Klug, Port Tampa Bay’s principal legal counsel, said it should be up to the board and Gulf Marine Repair.
“Gulf Marine has not changed its use of the leaseholds during that time; thus, the property appraiser should have continued the exemption,” he said in a statement.
There are some businesses that can claim such exemptions, Shepherd said, but Gulf Marine Repair isn’t one of them.
Hillsborough Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez and his predecessor Rob Turner have argued since 1996 that tenants on properties run by the Port Authority, Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (like Tampa International Airport) and Tampa Sports Authority (like Raymond James Stadium and Amalie Arena) should not be tax-exempt.
“Repairing ships ... is simply a for-profit nature, no different from you or I going to Firestone to get our car repaired,” he said. “That’s just not a government purpose.”
Since 2015, the properties at the center of the suit have accrued more than $1.23 million in property taxes. It was not immediately clear how much of that balance has since been paid, and how much remained outstanding, said a property appraiser’s office spokesman. A voicemail and email to Gulf Marine were not returned Monday.
In the course of the Gulf Marine lawsuit, the property appraiser’s office discovered about about 10 tenants at a half-dozen properties at airports around Tampa Bay that they believe should be on the county’s tax roll. That’s led to a lawsuit from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority that Shepherd said is still in its infancy. He believes this latest ruling will bolster that suit.
“We think we’re on solid footing,” he said, “but it’s always gratifying to get a decision from the court that you can use that (says) you’re doing what’s correct.”
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August 03, 2020 at 08:30AM
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Property appraiser wins tax lawsuit against Port Tampa Bay shipyard - Tampa Bay Times
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