By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Rover pipeline officials want to pay 54% of the utility’s property tax bill in Wood County. Nexus pipeline officials would like to pay 62% of the pipeline’s tax bill in the county.
Meanwhile, Wood County Auditor Matt Oestreich would like to see the state stick with its tax formula – and would like the pipelines to pay up.
“I hope the Department of Taxation adheres close to the original value their formula calculated on these pipelines. I would like to see the Department of Taxation protecting the local tax base and not siding with an out-of-state company poised to make billions,” Oestreich said in a statement Monday.
The county auditor’s office was notified of Rover’s request to pay 54% on Friday, and of Nexus’ request to pay 62% on Monday.
The Ohio Department of Taxation hopes to have a decision on the appeals filed by the pipelines by next December. However, both Rover and Nexus can keep filing appeals annually to reduce their tax payments, Oestreich said on Monday.
Until the appeals are finalized, the pipelines will be billed on their appealed amounts. If either company loses their appeal, they will be billed the difference plus interest for any years they paid tax on the appealed value.
Based on the appealed amount, Rover pipeline’s value in the Bowling Green School District will be approximately $39 million. That would result in the school district getting about $2.2 million a year – about half of what was projected earlier this fall when Oestreich reported on the preliminary public utility assessments of the pipelines.
“If the state grants the appeal and sides with the pipeline, that will be the amount,” Oestreich said.
“That’s still a substantial amount for the school district – it’s just not what we thought,” he said. “Which is why we had a cautionary tone in the past.”
In October, it was believed the Rover and Nexus pipelines would potentially add approximately $350 million to Wood County’s total taxable value, making the Rover and Nexus Pipelines the two top-paying taxpayers in Wood County.
Those tax assessments are now on hold while the pipeline companies protest the amounts.
Oestreich had repeatedly warned that Rover had until Dec. 6 to appeal the assessments. The hesitancy by school districts and other entities to bank on the pipeline was reasonable, he said.
The Bowling Green School District received $758,000 earlier this year for the first Rover pipeline to go into operation. The board previously voted to put all pipeline tax revenue toward capital projects.
The news in October, that Bowling Green would get about $3 million more a year from the second Rover pipeline, was welcomed by the district. However,school district officials have been very cautious about counting on the pipeline tax revenue.
Several school districts will be impacted by the Rover appeal – Bowling Green, Elmwood, McComb, North Baltimore and Penta. Affected by the Nexus appeal will be Eastwood, Otsego, Perrysburg and Penta.
Pipelines continue to pay local property taxes throughout a 30-year depreciation cycle. So each year of operation, the amount paid in taxes will decrease, finally bottoming out at 15 percent of the initial amount, Oestreich explained earlier this year.
