Heartland Park owner says NHRA event to leave Topeka after Kansas court rules in tax case
The Kansas Court of Appeals sided Friday with Shawnee County in a long-running tax dispute over the Heartland Motorsports Park, a move that the facility's operator said would end an annual National Hot Rod Association competition, among other events.
Heartland Park's owner, Chris Payne, has said he would shut the track down if his appeal failed. His company, Shelby Development, owes over $2.6 million in back taxes on the property, the subject of the long running dispute.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, the facility said the NHRA National Events Aug. 11-13 would be the final time the circuit races at Heartland Park, something it said "is a direct result of Shawnee County's continued efforts to tax Heartland out of business" and diminished the property's commercial value.
"Heartland and Shelby has always agreed taxes should be paid, but not at 400% of market value," the facility said in a statement posted on Facebook. "Shawnee County is well aware Heartland has never been self sustainable, even without any tax liability, so to tax the property almost $500,000 annually is seen by Shelby as blatant action to close Heartland."
But a three-judge Court of Appeals panel in a unanimous ruling found that Payne and his company could not challenge the 2016 valuation of Heartland Park by the Shawnee County Appraiser's Office as it had previously stipulated to that valuation in a settlement agreement.
The county has maintained that it entered into an agreement with Shelby Development on jointly agreed values for the Heartland Park property for the tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018 when the firm challenged the 2016 and 2017 valuations.
But Payne and Shelby Development filed an 11-count lawsuit against the county, the county appraiser and his assistant in 2019. They have historically argued that the property's true value is in the neighborhood of the $2.4 million paid to purchase the track in 2016.
Last year, the Shawnee County District Court ruled in favor of the county, dismissing the case and prompting the appeal.
Appeals Court says Heartland Park owner failed to show damages
In their ruling, the appeals court judges found that Shelby Development "simply failed" to show damages from how the county handled its case and that any fighting over the 2017 appraisal of the property should be handled by the Board of Tax Appeals, not the court.
"Realistically, Shelby is asking us and the district court to assess its property by overturning the stipulated value set by the Board of Tax Appeals," the judges wrote. "This request is out of order. Values of real estate for tax purposes are to be set by the Board and then reviewed by the court. Property tax values are not set in tort actions filed in district court."
Shelby Development and Payne argued that Shawnee County Appraiser Steve Baumann and his deputy had conspired with a third-party appraiser to inflate the appraised value of the facility.
But the opinion said that, ultimately, the two workers were entitled to qualified immunity, which protects public employees from being sued in their individual capacity unless it can be proven they infringed on a statutory or constitutional right.
Heartland Park owner has said failure in court would lead to sale
What the ruling means for the future of Heartland Park was not immediately clear. Payne had previously told The Capital-Journal that an unsuccessful appeal would mean "the die has been cast" for the facility and that he would need to sell.
While a deal to pay off some of the outstanding property taxes was floated, Shawnee County has maintained that its hands are tied by state law from accepting, as it cannot change past property valuations that have not been challenged by a taxpayer.
Attorneys for Shawnee County did not immediately return a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Heartland Park fate unclear as Kansas court sides with Shawnee County
