Delta’s Fleet Properly Valued at $14 Billion, Utah Justices Rule

Salt Lake County failed to convince the Utah Supreme Court that the value of Delta Air Lines Inc.'s airplanes should be increased to $37.3 billion from the state tax commission’s assessment of $14.6 billion.

A 2017 state law provides a preferred method for deciding the fair market value of aircraft. The county failed to meet the requirements for the statute’s safety valve that allows the commission to use an alternative valuation method if the preferred valuation method doesn’t reasonably reflect the fair market value, the high court ruled Nov. 9 in a unanimous opinion by Justice Diana Hagen.

The statute’s ...