Columbus Council approves over $900,000 tax refund to Medical Center

The Columbus Consolidated Government and the Muscogee County School District will refund nearly a million dollars to the Medical Center Hospital Authority for ad valorem property taxes paid on five parcels of land.

The 10-member Columbus Council approved the $977,277 refund Tuesday after going into executive session on a litigation matter. Councilor Mike Baker was absent.

City Attorney Clifton Fay said the case involved properties related to Doctors Hospital and Columbus Clinic.

“The Court of Appeals ruled that those properties were tax exempt because they were used for public hospital purposes,” he said in a brief interview with the Ledger-Enquirer.

The Hospital Authority had initially sought exemption from ad valorem property taxes amounting to $2.4 million for eight parcels, submitting individual requests for “non-taxability” to the Board of Tax Assessors, according to the resolution passed Tuesday.

BOTA denied each request, and the Hospital Authority appealed to the Muscogee County Board of Equalization. Upon hearing seven of the cases, the board of equalization upheld BOTA’s decisions on six of the properties, ruling that one of the properties should be exempt.

The parties approached the Superior Court concerning the remaining parcel, according to the resolution. Upon hearing the case, the Superior Court ruled that each of the eight parcels should be exempt from the taxes.

BOTA appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Superior Court ruling.

The Hospital Authority then submitted a refund claim for $2.4 million. BOTA petitioned the Supreme Court of Georgia, requesting that the court review the taxable status of five parcels. At that time, BOTA also conceded that two and a portion of one of the parcels should be exempt. It was determined that the Hospital Authority was entitled to a partial refund of $1.38 million, which the Columbus Council authorized.

But the Supreme Court denied BOTA’s petition for Writ of Certiorari for the five parcels, which in effect exempted the five parcels from ad valorem property taxation, according to the resolution.

Based on the allocation of taxes paid, $576,019 will be reimbursed by the Muscogee County School District and $401,258 by the city.

The resolution authorizes the Muscogee County Tax Commissioner to refund the $977,227 “as soon as reasonably practical and, in no event, on or before May 1, 2017.”

The city is also authorized to pay $30,000 in interest.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Columbus Council approves over $900,000 tax refund to Medical Center."