Judge: Olive Garden’s parent shortchanged county

A court ruled that the Orlando-based parent company of the Olive Garden restaurant chain must pay $330,373 in additional property tax to Orange County.  The ruling overturned Darden Restaurants’  successful appeal of Orange County’s valuations of the company’s tangible personal property, including furniture and computers, in 2013 and 2014.

The ruling by Orange Circuit Court Senior Judge Lawrence Kirkwood settled two lawsuits that Orange County Appraiser Rick Singh filed against Darden after the county’s Valuation Adjustment Board lowered the taxable value of interior items at Darden’s headquarters. The court action retroactively increased the company’s personal property valuation in 2013 and 2014 by $18.7 million. [Orlando Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth