9/16/2006

State sues Killeen firm offering protection from eminent domain: Austin TX News-8, 9/14/06

Associated Press

The Texas Attorney General's Office is suing to stop a Killeen-based firm that claims to protect property owners from land seizures for the Trans-Texas Corridor.

The firm is called You Can't Take It. A company attorney said it planned to charge customers to develop commercial projects on their land that would increase property values.

The property owner could then fight eminent domain by claiming that the commercial use of the land would create more tax revenue than if the land was seized for public use.

The attorney, Hale Stewart of Houston, said a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made tax revenue from a new project a factor in whether a condemnation under eminent domain is viable.

Attorney general's spokesman Tom Kelley said the state contends that “nothing the group is doing is legal.'' He said the state seeks both temporary and permanent injunctions against the business.

Company owner Lou Ann Fuller said the business and its Web site have been shut down.


Austin TX News-8: http://www.news8austin.com

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