Kinder Morgan Wins ‘Tax Ferret’ Argument at Texas High Court

A school district in Texas improperly hired a private attorney to seek more than $200 million in taxes from Kinder Morgan Inc., the state high court ruled Friday.

Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District retained attorney D. Brent Lemon to sue the energy pipeline and terminal company for additional taxes in exchange for a 20% cut of any taxes recovered. Lemon filed suit on the school district’s behalf, arguing Pecos County improperly omitted Kinder Morgan’s mineral interest real property from appraisal from 2013 to 2019.

Kinder Morgan and the county appraisal district convinced the trial court to dismiss the suit because ...