Western Refining sues Central Appraisal District

Western Refining is suing over a dramatic run-up in the appraised value of its El Paso refinery.

A news release from the company states the appraisal jumped from $280 million to $1.8 billion – that’s a 386 percent hike.

The company said the Central Appraisal District hired an outside firm – Capitol Appraisal of Austin – for its appraisal. Western Refining pointed out that when Capitol proposed large bumps for several Houston-based refineries, Houston got a second opinion and reduced the numbers.

In a statement, Western Refining’s CEO, Jeff Stevens, said “we firmly believe the el paso central appraisal district process is out of control… all property owners, including Western Refining, deserve to be treated fairly and should be concerned about arbitrary, nonsensical appraisals such as this one.”

Central Appraisal District’s director is out of town and not able to provide ABC-7 a statement.