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Appraisal firm says late data raised Dimmit County mineral values by $223 million
Summary
Capital Appraisal Group explained at the Dimmit County Commissioner's Court how delayed reporting from state agencies and operator ownership corrections led the firm to add roughly $223 million in mineral value after certification.
Leo Weidman, a petroleum engineer with Capital Appraisal Group, told the Dimmit County Commissioner's Court on April 14 that the firm added about $223 million in mineral value to the county appraisal roll after the board certified valuations in October.
Weidman said the firm’s process uses production data from the Railroad Commission and sales data from the Texas Comptroller to forecast cash flows and discount them to present value. “We collect data from the Railroad Commission on oil and gas production,” Weidman said. He described how production reported after the appraisal date, and later availability of that data on public websites, can cause supplemental changes mid-year.
That timing, Weidman said, explains why some production that should be captured as of Jan. 1 does not appear in public data until several months later: “the production would not typically be reported until the product is sold, which would happen at the end of the productive month. Hence, January after the appraisal date.” He added that Capital Appraisal Group performs perimeter sweeps and supplemental notices in the third or fourth quarter to capture deposits and correct ownership data.
Weidman characterized the specific change discussed to the commission as originating from an ownership correction the firm received from an operator; after balancing ownership records, the net change to county-attributable value was zero, he said, but the firm had also added $223,000,000 of value post-certification, changing the total mineral value from about $7.27 billion to $7.50 billion.
The presentation was informational; the court did not take a vote on the appraisal presentation. Weidman invited commissioners to an April 28 “roadshow forecast” event the firm planned to present to the court. Commissioners did not ask for formal action during the informational presentation.
Commission staff and the presenter noted that penalties and interest on tax bills relate to the tax office rather than the appraisal firm, and that supplemental appraisals are a product of late agency reporting and operator submissions that can occur after statutory notice windows have closed.
