| THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF GIBSON | ) | Direct Administrative |
| CITY-MELVIN-SIBLEY COMMUNITY UNIT | ) | Review of the |
| SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 5, | ) | Illinois Property Tax |
| Petitioner-Appellant, | ) | Appeal Board |
| v. | ) | Nos. 00-00275.001-I-3 |
| THE ILLINOIS PROPERTY TAX APPEAL | ) | 01-01242.001-I-3 |
| BOARD, AMEREN ENERGY GENERATING | ) | |
| COMPANY, and FORD COUNTY BOARD OF | ) | |
| REVIEW, | ) | |
| Respondents-Appellees. | ) |
JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:
In 2000 and 2001, petitioner, the Board of Education ofGibson City-Melvin-Sibley Community Unit School District No. 5,appealed to respondent Ford County Board of Review the 2000 and2001 property-tax assessments of a Gibson City power stationowned by respondent Ameren Energy Generating Company, allegingthat the Ford County supervisor of assessments failed to classifythe power station's permanently affixed machinery and equipmentas real property, thereby exempting it from taxation. In bothyears, the Board of Review denied the School District's appeals,and the School District appealed those decisions to respondentthe Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB).
In May 2003, the PTAB conducted a consolidated hearingon the 2000 and 2001 assessments of the power station. InFebruary 2004, the PTAB issued a 43-page decision in which it (1)upheld the Board of Review's assessment of the power station and(2) concluded that section 24-5 of the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS200/24-5 (West 2000)) precluded the assessment of the power-station equipment as real estate.
The School District appeals, arguing that (1) thePTAB's finding that Ford County had a general practice of notassessing permanently affixed machinery and equipment as realestate was against the manifest weight of the evidence and (2)the PTAB's conclusion that section 24-5 of the Code precludesassessment of the power station's permanently affixed equipmentas real property was erroneous as a matter of law. We disagreeand affirm.
Article IX, section 5(c), of the Illinois Constitutionof 1970 provides as follows:
"On or before January 1, 1979, the General Assembly by law shall abolish all advalorem personal property taxes and concurrently therewith and thereafter shall replaceall revenue lost by units of local governmentand school districts as a result of the abolition of ad valorem personal property taxessubsequent to January 2, 1971." Ill. Const.1970, art. IX,