Universal gets $1.54M tax refund

Universal Orlando Resorts received a $1.54 million tax refund this week after it reached a settlement with Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh that ended litigation disputing the value of its parking garages, according to the tax collector’s office.

The tax refund was for money Universal paid on the garages for the 2015 to 2017 tax years, said a spokesman for the tax collector’s office. Universal and Singh reached settlements earlier this month over two lawsuits disputing the parking garages’ assessed values.

Singh was pleased the two sides reached an agreement so the dispute didn’t put “Universal and the taxpayers through the expense and uncertainty of going to trial,” said his attorney Keith Graham in a statement.

The assessed value of the parking garage fell from $275.2 million to $225 million for the 2017 tax year, according to the final order filed in Orange County Circuit Court.

Universal called Singh’s original assessment “excessive” for the North and South garages and had also named County Tax Collector Scott Randolph and the state’s executive director for the department of revenue as parties in the lawsuit filed in December. The second lawsuit involved disputes from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tax years.

The assessed value will stay at about $148.6 million for 2014; will drop from $301.2 million to $220 million for 2015; then decrease from $297.2 million to $225 million for 2016, according to the final order from court records.

Universal’s original tax bill for the parking garages cost about $12.8 million for the 2015 to 2017 tax years, according to the tax collector’s office.

Under the settlements, the adjusted tax bill is now about $11.3 million, according to the office.

A Universal spokesman declined to comment Friday.

The parking garages, built in 1995, hold about 18,500 striped spaces and include more than 7 million square feet, according to court records and county records. The square footage includes pedestrian walkways and two toll plazas.

It’s not unusual for Orlando’s major theme parks to sue over property taxes.

In September, Singh settled with SeaWorld Orlando to end a multiyear tax dispute. The two sides determined SeaWorld’s assessed value will remain at $182.5 million in 2014 before it decreases to about $171 million for 2015 and 2016. SeaWorld’s taxable value also was not to exceed $178 million for 2017, the agreement said.

Walt Disney Parks Resort is still fighting Singh in court over the value of several of its hotels and theme park properties, including the Magic Kingdom, according to several lawsuits last year.