High court rules in favor of Graham in Eurofresh case

By Diane Saunders
Staff Writer
Published on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:16 AM MST

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in favor of Graham County in a property tax appeal filed by Eurofresh — a Bonita-based tomato grower.

The Supreme Court made its ruling on June 11.

“It was a very important case for Graham County because Eurofresh is our largest taxpayer,” said Jacque Attaway, Graham County assessor.

Eurofresh sought to have its 2005 property values reduced from $51.9 million to about $33 million because of “external obsolescence” of its 168 acres of greenhouses. This means negative influences outside the property, such as economic factors or location, have reduced the property’s value.

“Eurofresh was unable to prove that any external obsolescence affected this company,” Attaway said. She added that Eurofresh was required to explain in detail why it sought tax relief based on obsolescence.

Graham County filed a complaint in Arizona Tax Court, which found that Eurofresh owed the county taxes based on the assessment.

Eurofresh appealed the Tax Court’s findings to the Arizona Appellate Court, which reversed the lower court’s decision by deciding in favor of Eurofresh.

Graham County then appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, which reversed the Appellate Court’s decision. This action upheld the county’s original tax assessment.

Attaway said property owners must be current on their property tax payments before they can take the county to court on a tax issue. If the county had lost, it would have been required to reimburse tax dollars to entities that have the authority to tax Eurofresh. The three largest entities that receive tax money from Eurofresh are Bonita School District, the Eastern Arizona College and Graham County.

A Eurofresh secretary said the company’s Chief Financial Officer Brian McLaughlin was out of town and unavailable for comment.

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Comments

8 comment(s)

Karma wrote on Jul 1, 2008 8:22 PM:

" Eurofresh can afford it and they should pay the taxes due. They want to have the privileges of operating in the US but not the responsibility of them. "

What the wrote on Jul 1, 2008 7:16 AM:

" I think Graham county should quit complaining about it. Cochise county and more specifically Willcox bears the brunt of the load when it comes to Eurofresh. That's where the "workers" live. That's where they send their kids to school. Where they seek free medical care. That's where the sheriff is called to fights and shootings and stabbings weekly and no one sees anything. At least Graham County is able to collect taxes from the employer. Try collecting taxes from the employees sometime. "

What a farce wrote on Jul 1, 2008 6:21 AM:

" It's crazy for them to appeal the very conditions that drew them here and that they perpetuate. I think all the surrounding land owners need to sue Eurofresh for the loss of property value they have incurred because of the disgraceful hiring practices of Eurofresh. "

Pleased with Results wrote on Jun 26, 2008 4:32 PM:

" EuroFresh has political connections in Arizona and everyone knows it. They are here for three reasons: cheap labor, both prison and undocumented; access to Interstate 10 transportation; and water. They are sitting on some pretty dandy water supplies over there.

Looks like our County official in the tax office earned her pay this day - "

Business wrote on Jun 25, 2008 1:02 PM:

" As a business owner, I'm glad to see that all business's are being held accountable to the law and no no one's being given a free ride. "

Good Job wrote on Jun 25, 2008 12:20 PM:

" I don't believe there is anything in the tax code that you can give away. I think the tax code applies to the entire State. Looks like the Supreme Court thought so. I would think big companies would want to pay their fair share. I'm glad to see that our Officials aren't just bending to big companies - the law should apply to everyone. Good Job!!! "

wondering wrote on Jun 25, 2008 11:34 AM:

" Sounds as though Graham County may be cutting off its nose to spite its face. One would think that they would be willing to make concessions to Eurofresh to keep them happy as Graham County's largest taxpayer rather than have them look for greener pastures. I'm sure that there are Counties that would be happy to give them a tax break to have them call their county "home". "

Non Sequitur wrote on Jun 25, 2008 9:55 AM:

" If I were Eurofresh I would be looking to relocate to a county that is more reasonable in their taxing authority. But then again maybe that's why Chief Financial Officer Brian McLaughlin was out of town and unavailable for comment.
The sad part is even when you own your property and have no mortgage holder you still don't own the property, you rent it from the county. "

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