A prominent southeast Kansas businessman and his wife are locked in a dispute over a $42 million tax bill and questions over which state they resided nearly a decade ago.

For the past two years, Gene Bicknell has fought the tax bill that was levied based on where he lived at the time of the 2006 sale of National Pizza Company – the nation’s largest Pizza Hut franchise holder.

He argues he was a Florida resident. But the Kansas Department of Revenue disagrees, citing its definition of domicile imposed around the time of the sale.

Bicknell, formerly of Pittsburg, lost a ruling from the Kansas Court of Appeals in March, but a petition for review by the Kansas Supreme Court is pending.