HOOKS, Texas–The Hooks Independent School District has accused officials with TexAmericas Center of operating in a “deceitful and dishonest manner” by failing to keep up its end of the bargain in what was supposed to be a mutually beneficial partnership but instead has left local schools with less money, in a lawsuit filed in Bowie County district court.
The district agreed in 2019 to support legislation that would exempt TexAmericas Center (TAC) from paying annual taxes on property it leased to tenants at the center with the understanding that TAC would make the school district whole for the lost revenue through a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) program. The legislation was signed into law in May 2019.
Hooks ISD said Monday in a statement that it agreed in 2019 to support the legislation “in the interests of supporting economic development in our area.”
“We expect more from a business that has benefited financially from this partnership with Hooks ISD and we are disappointed that TexAmericas Center has operated in a deceitful and dishonest manner” the district’s statement said. “We didn’t take this step lightly, but we owe it to our students, staff, families, and taxpayers to ensure Hooks ISD students are not short-changed through TexAmericas Center’s scheme to divert revenue intended for schools for their corporate benefit.”
The district alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in Bowie County that TAC is guilty of fraud and that the district was duped into backing the legislation through a false promise. The district is seeking an award of damages for the full amount – plus interest at the highest rate allowed – of the tax revenue it has lost since the legislation was passed.
“Despite TAC’s promises, TAC has not implemented the PILOT Program as represented to the district,” the school district said in the lawsuit. “TAC has not made the district whole from revenue lost as a result of the special legislation. Instead, TAC has created an additional revenue stream for itself, rather than making the taxing entities whole, resulting in loss of revenue for the district.”
Hooks ISD also wants the court to issue a permanent injunction that would force TAC to keep its promise and pay the district going forward the amount it would have owed in property taxes on real estate leased to tenants without the special legislation.
“Without a permanent injunction, the district will continue to suffer serious and irreparable injury, loss, and damage for which there is no adequate remedy at law in that TAC will continue to benefit from the material representations made to the district as alleged in this petition, and the district will continue to lose revenue as a result,” the district said in the lawsuit.
At the time that Hooks ISD agreed to support the legislation, its board vice president was TAC Chief Operations Officer Jeff Whitten. According to the district’s lawsuit, Whitten told his fellow board members at a February 2019 meeting that TAC would “cut a check” to the district for the amount of tax revenue lost. Whitten no longer serves on the Hooks ISD board.
The district further alleges that TAC’s executive director and CEO, Scott Norton, confirmed in a July 2023 email to Hooks ISD Superintendent Keith Minter that TAC had promised in 2019 to give the entire amount of what it would have received in tax revenue to the district.
Counsel information for TAC was not available Monday.
The case has been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
Hooks ISD is represented by Kyle Davis of Langdon Davis in New Boston, Texas, and by Rick Lambert of the Powell Law Group in Austin, Texas.
