Allison (role: county staff) told the council on Sept. 2 that two centrally assessed property owners filed appeals this year: US Magnesium and PacifiCorp (referred to in the transcript as Pacific Corp/Pacific Court). Centrally assessed properties—mines, utilities and other properties assessed at the state level—are expensive to litigate and are typically joined by counties only when the county's distribution impact exceeds $100,000.

Allison said the county's estimated share of the PacifiCorp appeal would be about $107,000, while the US Magnesium appeal's estimated impact would be roughly $45,000. Because PacifiCorp's estimate exceeded the county's threshold, the county staff recommended participating in the PacifiCorp cross appeal and retained attorney Tom Peters, who works with multiple counties on such matters. The council approved the resolution to participate by unanimous voice vote.

Nut graf: Joining the PacifiCorp cross appeal is intended to protect the county's revenue distribution because centrally assessed appeals can alter the allocation of tax revenues across taxing entities.

Action: Motion to approve the resolution came from Councilman Thomas, seconded by Councilman Strumberg; vote recorded as unanimous.

Ending: Allison said participation is similar to filing as a “friend of the court” and noted such cases can drag on for multiple years.