Two energy firms have filed suit against Krystle Uecke in her offical capacity as the Washita County Assessor in the District Court of Washita County, challenging the fair market value assessments of their properties in Washita County.
The first suit, filed by Midcoast Pipelines (Texas Gathering) L.P. and Midcoast G&P (Oklahoma) L.P. claims the assessor overvalued its properties in Washita County by more than $29 million dollars. The suit is in reference to seven pieces of property in Washita County, collectively known as the Anadarko System, which is used for gathering, treating, processing and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids. The property owner, Midcoast, claims the properties should be valued at a total of $1,696,504 instead of the fair market value determined by the county assessor to be $30,817,952.
Historically, the properties in the Anadarko System were valued at between $26.8 million and $31.2 million, before they were acquired by Midcoast in August 2018.
The difference in the properties’ ad valorem taxes, which go directly to the county’s schools, is roughly $2.8 million.
Midcoast requested an informal hearing on the properties, which resulted in small changes to the assessed values, but nothing close to the reduction they’d requested. A formal hearing was conducted Friday, June 26, 2019, by the Washita County Board of Equalization. The board denied the companies’ appeal and affirmed the assessor’s valuation, leaving a suit in district court as the next step in the process.
The second suit against Uecke’s office was filed by Rocky Ridge Wind Project LLC, owned by Enel Green Power North America. In the suit, Enel claims the wind farm property near Sentinel has a fair market value of $45,541,078 or less, but was assessed with a market value of $113,500,000.
During the preceding five years, the Rocky Ridge property has been valued at a high of $137.4 million (2014) and a low of $105.1 million in 2018. The 2018 valuation was initially $115 million, but was adjusted during the informal hearing process to $105.1 million by the assessor’s office in order to keep the county out of litigation. Such a compromise was not reached this year.
The difference in valuation could result in a loss of nearly $700,000 to the Sentinel School District.
At this point, Uecke said the discussions are now to be handled between the attorneys representing the parties, there will be no more direct negotiating between the property owners and county agencies and officals.
Uecke said the suits are not only the next steps in the resolution process, but also the right of every taxpayer.
“It is their right to file in district court,” she said. “It is every taxpayer’s right to do that. It’s the next step in the process.”