Tim Love’s Woodshed restaurant goes back to court on tax exemption

The Tarrant Appraisal District is serving up more courtroom time for restaurateur Tim Love.

TAD is appealing a lower court ruling that allows Love to avoid paying property taxes on his trendy, 5,300 square-foot Woodshed Smokehouse along the Trinity River because the land where it was built is actually owned by the Tarrant Regional Water District.

The agency’s notice of appeal, which was filed with the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth Feb. 7, didn’t come as a big surprise since TAD has steadfastly said that the land is taxable.

“I’m not at all surprised by the appeal,” said Bill Warren, Love’s attorney. “The good thing about the issues is that they are targeted and pretty pointed … there’s not a lot in there to muddle it up.”

Tarrant Chief Appraiser Jeff Law said his agency believes “that the facts and the law supports its position.”

“The higher court’s guidance on this issue has wide-ranging consequences for many other properties owned by government entities but leased to private, for-profit businesses,” Law said in a statement.

For those of you who don’t remember what the issues are, let us dish up a little background.

In 2011, Love signed a 10-year lease with the Trinity River Vision Authority, a political subdivision of the Tarrant Regional Water District. Love was lured into the project because both agencies wanted to encourage development along the Trinity River. They were so excited about the idea, they pumped $2.4 million into the project.

As part of the deal, Love agreed to finish out the restaurant and pay 4 percent to 6 percent of its revenues essentially as rent. He also agreed to allow the public access to the property, even those who aren’t patrons. Over four years, the Woodshed paid $800,000 to the district.

Since the water district’s land is usually tax-exempt, it didn’t think Love or the restaurant owed any property taxes. The district’s attorneys compared it to concessions at places like Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Love’s attorneys also argued that state statutes not allow for it to be tax-exempt and override the state tax code.

But the appraisal district disagreed, saying that since such a large part of the property was privately controlled, it should be on the tax rolls.

To fight the decision, Love hired Warren. In November, state District Judge Wade Birdwell agreed and said that the land was, indeed, tax exempt. He also said that the district/Love didn’t have to pay the $23,197 in taxes owed from 2012 to 2015.

The money will remain in a fund until the appeals process is completed, Warren said.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 11:02 AM with the headline "Tim Love’s Woodshed restaurant goes back to court on tax exemption."