Woods County settles BCE-Mach tax protest
May 26, 2021
Woods County Assessor Renetta Benson had good news and bad news for the county Tax Roll Corrections Board Monday, May 24. The special meeting was called to finalize tax settlements that have been tied up in protest.
Present for the meeting were board members Bob Seivert, Randy McMurphy and Benson along with County Clerk Shelley Reed. The assessor said an agreement has been reached with BCE-Mach Energy for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The good news is the county will finally receive some of the tax money being protested. The bad news is the settlement cuts the tax to a small percentage of what was billed.
Although in some instances, company equipment may be included in both ad valorem and gross production assessments, the rules keep changing. Benson said now the county’s ad valorem tax cannot use the value of compressors. In the settlement, Woods County can use half the value of compressors in 2018 and none in 2019 or 2020.
The amount of ad valorem tax assessed on public service and energy companies is divided among several entities, but local schools are among the biggest beneficiaries of the tax. Benson broke down the settlement according to school districts, but the schools receive a portion of the tax.
For 2018, Woods County assessed BCE-Mach a total of $458,092, but in the settlement the company will pay only $258,992. This means the county receives 56.5 percent of the originally assessed tax.
In the 2018 settlement amount, $194,405 is in the Alva school district, $29,514 in the Waynoka school district and $33,985 in the Freedom school district. The remaining $1,088 is in the portion of the Aline-Cleo school district that falls within Woods County. The schools will receive a portion of this tax but not the entire amount.
The 2019 settlement allows the county to collect only 7.35 percent of what was originally assessed. BCE-Mach was billed $424,259 but will pay only $31,174. Of that amount, $20,145 falls within the Alva school district, $9,608 in the Waynoka district and $1,421 in the Freedom district.
The 2020 settlement is a little better with Woods County receiving 15.2 percent of what was billed. Originally BCE-Mach was assessed for $353,764 in taxes but will pay only $52,367. Of that amount, $34,182 is in the Alva school district, $16,890 in the Waynoka district and $1,295 in the Freedom district. Again, only a portion of that money goes to each school district according to their tax millage.
BCE-Mach paid the originally assessed taxes but that money has been held by the county without being distributed. Benson said, “We don’t ever count on this money.” Following this settlement, the excess will be returned to the company.
The board members approved the settlements for each of the three years.
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