City of Liberal v. Seward County

The opinion of the court was delivered by

ALLEGRUCCI, J.:

This is an appeal by the City of Liberal (City) from a judgment of the Shawnee County District Court affirming an order of the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA), which denied exemption of royalty interest owned by the City from ad valorem taxation. We granted the appellant’s petition for review.

The facts are undisputed. After World War II, the United States conveyed a large tract of land to the City, which is now used as the municipal airport for the City. The enabling deed to the City required all income from the land be used for airport…