For years, Sumner County and Boyd Gaming-owned The Kansas Star Casino have been engaged in what appeared to be an endless legal battle regarding how much the property is worth, and, automatically, how much the casino should be taxed.
The repetitive yearly procedure has seen Sumner County appraising the casino at a certain amount, followed by Boyd Gaming’s significantly different appraisal and a fight in court over who is right.
Now, the courts have decided that the operator of the casino located south of Wichita is owed over $19 million in payments over these ongoing tax disputes.
Who Is Going to Pay the Money Back?
According to the courts, the money will be paid back by Sumner County, the school district, and the City of Mulvane where the venue with over 1,300 slot machines and 40+ table games is located.
Commenting on the decision, Mulvane’s city manager, Austin St. John, called it a “positive” thing, explaining that they can now put an end to the waiting as they now “know what we’re paying.”
St. John further added that, for the upcoming five years, the authorities will have the conviction that their valuation “is going to be correct”.
At the end of the last tax assessment performed by Sumner County, it was ruled that the casino property should be subject to tax at a value of around $190 million. Boyd Gaming filed an appeal, and the courts decided that the value was at roughly $85.5 million.
In 2022, the city of Mulvane decided to raise its mill levy by another eight mills, anticipating the settlement it would have to pay back to the operator.
Boyd Gaming Sued Kansas State in 2022
In May 2022, Boyd Gaming announced it had sued the state of Kansas on claims that, in the context of the newly introduced sports betting laws, the contract signed by the two parties had been violated.
The contract’s terms read that provided the Sunflower State introduced slot games that resemble the ones featured by Boyd Gaming at Kansas Star Casino, it would have to pay a $25 million fee to the operator.
Besides the state, other defendants in the case included the Kansas Lottery and the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.
At the end of October, Boyd Gaming announced a 3% increase in total revenue for the third quarter of 2023, in the context of a slight drop in the year-over-year gaming revenue.