14 Jun Ten year dispute ended: Alcoa, Inc. to pay estimated $4 million to county, Alcoa city
By Lance Coleman
Posted June 9, 2011 at 7:49 p.m.
Alcoa, Inc., will pay the city of Alcoa and Blount County $4.1 million to cover the cost of back taxes, ending a decade-long dispute relating to how raw materials at the company are assessed.
Blount County Property Assessor Mike Morton made the announcement at a press conference Thursday, saying that an estimated $2.1 million would go to Blount County and $2 million would go the City of Alcoa.
Morton said the 10-year legal process was over personal property assessments related to the Aluminum Company of America facilities in Blount County.
Morton said that after taking office in 2000, he discovered that the State of Tennessee Division of Property Assessments had notified his office that the county was in non-compliance regarding a personal property audit program for commercial properties. In January of 2001, the Property Assessor’s office contracted with a consultant, Tax Management Associates, to audit companies in Blount County regarding the non-compliance.