RadioShack to pay nearly $1 million in Tarrant property taxes

RadioShack this week will pay Tarrant County nearly $1 million in unpaid property taxes following negotiations with attorneys as part of its bankruptcy case.

In all, the troubled Fort Worth-based electronics retailer has agreed to pay about $2.2 million, every penny owed to public entities across the state for its 2015 property taxes, according to Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, a tax collection law firm.

“We were concerned that the company might get away without paying its property taxes for 2015, which would’ve been terribly unfair to the communities anticipating that revenue,” said Beth Weller, a bankruptcy attorney with Linebarger Goggan.

Tarrant County is getting the lion’s share of what is being doled out this week, some $994,131. Earlier, the firm collected approximately $647,000 from RadioShack, according to the law firm.

“RadioShack has significant real estate holdings in Tarrant County, where it has a large distribution center,” Weller said.

Harris County will be receiving $112,609, Dallas County $108,211 and Bexar County $76,706, according to the law firm.

Public entities, based on preliminary tax estimates, originally filed claims seeking $2.9 million. But for a number of reasons those estimates proved to be high. In some cases RadioShack had sold the properties and in others the taxes were lower than estimated, Weller said. Once various exemptions were applied, the taxable values went down.

“All of these factors combined to reduce the revenue amounts, but every penny owed was paid,” she said.​

While some school districts, cities and counties saw their original request cut by small amounts, Tarrant County’s estimation of RadioShack’s tax bill was slashed from slightly above $2 million.

The firm first got involved in the bankruptcy case in March when RadioShack filed a motion to sell its assets, the law firm said. Linebarger Goggan filed objections and the company originally offered to pay only a portion of what it owed in taxes.

The iconic 94-year-old consumer electronics retailer filed for bankruptcy a year ago after nearly three years of losses and declining sales left it with dwindling cash. More than half of its 4,000-plus company-owned stores have been closed.

Standard General, a privately owned hedge fund sponsor and RadioShack’s largest prebankruptcy shareholder, acquired the remaining 1,743 stores in bankruptcy court.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:07 PM with the headline "RadioShack to pay nearly $1 million in Tarrant property taxes."