Ameristar challenging property assessments again

Published 11:28 am Thursday, January 12, 2012

Ameristar Casino and Warren County are back in court over the company’s property taxes, this time with the newly elected assessor named.

In legal briefs filed last week, the casino argues its tax liability for 2011 for its main gaming venue, parking areas and hotel is more than $1 million too high, based on assessed values that are higher per gaming position compared to three of Vicksburg’s four other casinos.

A $3,110,952 property tax bill is in store for the company in 2011, a figure that would be $1,740,755 if assessments per gaming position were equalized across Vicksburg’s five casinos. Ameristar has 21 parcels of land in Vicksburg, the most of the area’s five gaming venues.

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In 2010, the two sides settled a lawsuit over the Washington Street casino’s tax bill that split the difference in how the company’s Vicksburg properties were valued before its multimillion-dollar expansions in 2008 and values calculated afterward.

A second property tax-related lawsuit, involving Riverwalk Casino, also was settled in 2010 after the privately held firm argued the county was using improper indexes to appraise the value.

Both yearlong suits involved the Board of Supervisors and former assessor Richard Holland, while the current action names supervisors and Tax Assessor Angela Brown, who took office Dec. 29.

Ameristar says the casino-hotel is assessed at about $89,000 per gaming position, while Rainbow, DiamondJacks and Riverwalk casinos were assessed at $60,000, $57,000 and $52,000, respectively. The city’s fifth casino, Grand Station, was not mentioned in the suit.

The case filed Thursday has not been assigned to a circuit judge.