Citrus County leaders are going to fight Progress Energy Florida in court over an unpaid tax bill.
Commissioners, the county’s school board and other leaders came to the decision after a meeting Monday.
The power company has only paid about $19 million of their $35 million tax bill because they say the county’s tax assessment is wrong.
County Administrator Brad Thorpe said he’s not sure how long the fight will last.
“They don’t know how long this process may take but I know it will probably, it may go past six months,” Thorpe said.
Commissioners and the school board also decided to put up $175,000 each to pay for six months of legal fees. If they are still at it after six months, they'll re-group.
Bob Schweickert, a county resident, said it never should have come to this.
“Do I agree with how Duke did things? No, but they have done this within the letter of the law for the most part, yes.”
Thorpe said the lawyers will be updating commissioners and the school board along the way.
The unpaid tax bill left big holes in the budgets of the school board and county but moves have been made to fill those gaps for now.