Mediaboss Marketing

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. A judge on Friday froze an attempt by the expanded Wood River Refinery to hold down an expected property tax increase while the court decides whether two state agencies helped it in violation of Illinois law.

Local governments in and around Roxana claim in a lawsuit filed in Sangamon County that refinery owners, the state Pollution Control Board and the state Environmental Protection Agency shut them out of decisions that could cost schools and other taxing bodies millions of dollars.

Circuit Judge John Schmidt ruled that there are enough questions to "put a freeze" on further action until another hearing.

"I think the pleadings in the case raise a question about whether or not the rules are being followed," Schmidt told attorneys for all the parties.

Schmidt acknowledged imposing "an extraordinary remedy" but said the only way to be sure the tax adjustments were properly approved was to "put a freeze on them, to stop them from moving forward."

The judge ruled that "there are to be no more meetings" on the issue until after an April 25 hearing.

At issue is last year's completion of a $3.8 billion expansion at the oil refinery, owned by WRB Refining LP, in Roxana and Hartford. It is a joint venture of ConocoPhilips and Cenovus Energy Inc.

The business sought to blunt an expected increase in its assessed valuation on which property taxes are based by claiming that the vast majority of its operation is dedicated to pollution control.

A pollution control facility designation means significantly smaller assessment increases, which mean that school districts and other taxing bodies get smaller increases in revenue.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the village of Roxana and the school districts in Roxana, Wood River and East Alton. They say they were not initially aware of the move because the Pollution Control Board and Illinois EPA did not provide proper information and public access to meetings, in violation of the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act.

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Tax break frozen as judge hears dispute on assessment of Wood River Refinery