Alon sues appraisal district again

August 26, 2011

Attorneys for Alon USA — owner of the Big Spring Refinery — have filed a lawsuit in 118th District Court against the Howard County Appraisal District contesting the most recent valuation of the facility, which was placed at approximately $215 million.

Chief Appraiser for the district Brett McKibben confirmed Thursday he has been told the suit has been filed, but said neither he nor the appraisal district have been served with legal papers concerning the matter.

“I set the valuation at $215 million, at which time Alon took the matter to the district's Appraisal Review Board (ARB),” McKibben said. “There were a lot of different numbers flying around during that meeting, so it's unclear to me what amount they felt was fair. However, the ARB did not reduce the valuation, leaving it at $215 million.)

Alon USA and the local appraisal district are anything but strangers when it comes litigation revolving around property valuations. The oil refiner filed similar petitions in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

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