The Unit 5 school board has scheduled a special meeting Sept. 8 to hire a tax attorney to represent the district against an appeal from electric automaker Rivian.
The school district plans to hire James Chipman and Donald Rubin from the Chicago law firm of Rieff Schramm Kanter & Guttman. The cost of the contract was not made available by the time of publication.
Unit 5 is seeking outside legal help because the firm specializes in tax appeals, according to a district spokesperson who added the district has worked with them previously.
Rivian and Unit 5 are locked in a dispute that could cost the school district an estimated $6.8 million annually. The school district is the largest taxing body that would be impacted by the appeal if Rivian succeeds. Other taxing bodies, such as the Town of Normal and Heartland Community College, would also be impacted.
Rivian argues its EV plant and six other properties in Normal are worth $115 million, a fraction of the $527 million value which came from McLean County’s tax assessor. Rivian claims the property is overvalued because it would fetch a much lower price tag from a buyer due to its size and lack of adaptability for another purpose.
The matter remains pending before the state's Property Tax Appeal Board, after the McLean County Board of Review rejected Rivian's request for a lower value.
