Commercial Business at Florida Port Stuck With Property Taxes

A for-profit ship repair business can’t avoid property taxes even though it operates at a government-owned deepwater port, a Florida appeals court ruled Friday.

Gulf Marine Repair Corp.'s use of property owned by Tampa Port Authority as a commercial shipyard doesn’t meet statutory requirements that exempt government property used by a nongovernmental tenant “only when the lessee serves or performs a governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function,” the Florida Second District Court of Appeal held.

In 2014, Gulf Marine sought exemptions for the parcels it rents from the port authority under a lease that requires it to cover the ...