Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of November 28, 2016.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Parker Cty. Appraisal Dist. v. Bosque Disposal Sys., LLC, No. 02-15-00343-CV (Dec. 1, 2016) (en banc) (Walker, J., joined by Livingston, C.J., and Dauphinot and Gabriel, JJ.; Meier, J., dissents with opinion, joined by Gardner and Sudderth, JJ.).

Held:  The Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Matagorda County Appraisal District v. Coastal Liquids Partners, L.P., 165 S.W.3d 329, 332 (Tex. 2005), and other controlling authority, compels the conclusion that Appellant Parker County Appraisal District was authorized under the Texas Tax Code to value subsurface saltwater disposal wells located on Appellees’ surface estates separately from the surface tracts themselves; therefore, the trial court erred by granting summary judgment for Appellees on the ground that Appellant’s separate assessment of the saltwater disposal wells was void as illegal double taxation.

Dissent:  Neither Gifford-Hill’s inapposite use/non-use framework nor its inverted application to the manmade salt dome storage caverns in Coastal Liquids compels the conclusion that the Appraisal District was authorized to separately tax the Owners’ naturally occurring saltwater disposal wells.