Caterpillar is challenging Cooper County’s valuation of its Boonville plant’s property on grounds that the economic climate makes it worth significantly less, an argument one county official described as completely new.

Cooper County Clerk Darryl Kempf said Thursday afternoon that he’s not picking on Caterpillar. But he said that if the Missouri State Tax Commission upholds Caterpillar’s argument, it could change the complete dynamics of the state’s assessment process.

Boonville R-1 School District Superintendent Mark Ficken said that means the district will take an immediate financial hit. He told the Boonville School Board on Wednesday that the district could stand to take a roughly $180,000 hit in lost tax revenue because of tax protests by Caterpillar and Southern Star Energy.